The first Onnimanni of the year focuses on the most interesting societal topics in children’s and young adult literature. Themes of poverty, power, money, and political decision-making are now even visible in fiction and non-fiction picturebooks for preschool children.
In her essay, Sanna Kivimäki reminds us that the contrast between the rich and the poor has been a common theme in Finland ever since the fairy tales of Zacharias Topelius (1818–1898). Today’s children may no longer come across ”real money” in their daily lives due to digital payment methods, making topics related to financial management potentially more challenging. Previously, children’s and young adult books mainly depicted the everyday life of middle-class, financially secure families, but now the voices of children and young people from low-income families are also being heard.
Children and young people today can hardly be shielded from domestic and world politics or news about war. In her detailed reading of Riina Katajavuori and Martin Baltscheit’s picturebook Oravien sota (2021, ”The War of the Squirrels”), Milena Komulainen shows how a fictional children’s book can, at its best, provide ways to handle the challenging topic of war in shared reading moments between children and adults. In order to do so, this picturebook uses euphemisms, as well as linguistic and visual avoidance and distancing. According to Komulainen, this picturebook is also a good example of radical children’s literature that expands the target audience of picturebooks.
Distancing is also used in picturebooks that feature a diversity of body images. Fat children are still rare heroes in children’s books. Instead, stories feature big-bodied animals, fairy tale characters, or adults. In their article, Åsa Warnqvist and Mia Österlund analyse Swedish and Finnish picturebooks in which the depiction of bodies aims in various ways to change or challenge the prevailing ideals of thinness. This topic has only recently appeared in Finnish picturebooks, which clearly follow in the footsteps of Swedish picturebooks.
J. S. Meresmaa has interviewed three Finnish young adult authors whose works particularly highlight themes related to mental health issues, social influence, and peer pressure on one’s appearance. Maria Mustranta’s young adult novel Te olette liian nuoria (2024, ”You Are Too Young”) encourages its readers to take an interest in political decision-making.
Translation: Maria Lassén-Seger.
