International Companion Encyclopedia of Children’s Literature

Marita Lindquist (b. 1918), both depicting children’s experiences of everyday life. Books
for young adults, focusing on social and psychological problems, have been written in
Finnish: for example, the drug problem was discussed in Tabut [The Pills] (1970) by
Margareta Keskistalo (b.1921). A typical protagonist is the male anti-hero, as in the
novel Sigmund Freudin kaamea flunssa [The Fatal Cold of Freud] (1972) by Uolevi
Nojonen (b.1939).
In the field of picture books, there was a revival in the 1980s: the number of books
published was many times that of the previous decade. Clear colours, and a sometimes
ascetic but highly visual aesthetic unite many of the new illustrators: Kaarina Kaila,
Hannu Taina and Kristina Luohi are known abroad, Luohi with her portrayal of daily life
in the Aino books. The modern picture books must be considered as the most interesting
feature in the 1980s and 1990s.

Iceland

Few books were published in Iceland until the twentieth century. The first children’s
title was Vigfus Jonsson’s poems for children (1780). Influenced by H.C.Andersen, the
poet Jonas Hallgrimsson published children’s stories in the first half of the nineteenth
century. In the early twentieth century Sigurbjörn Sveinsson (1858–1950) with his
childhood memories, Bernskan (1907–1908) introduced a highly influential genre in
Icelandic children’s literature. Memories by Jon Sveinsson (1857–1944), one of the few
writers of children’s books known abroad, followed a few years later. His books were
originally published in German, the first as Nonni: Erlebnisse eines jungen islanders
(1913). Children’s books mainly consisted of short stories, memories and fairy tales. The
first author to publish a children’s novel was Gunnar M.Magnuss (1898-?) in the 1930s.
The foremost name in modern Icelandic children’s literature is Gudrun Helgadottir (b.
193?), author of popular books for smaller children. Notable is her picture book story
about the love story of a female giant, Astarsaga ur fjöllunum [The Tale of Flumbra]
(1981), with pictures by Brian Pilkington.

Norway

Willum Stephanson’s Lommebog for Børn (1798) was an early attempt to create a non-
didactic book for children, but an independent children’s literature did not develop until
the middle of the nineteenth century. Of literary interest is the children’s tale Lille
Alvilde (1829) by the romanticist Maurits Hansen. The epoch’s foremost author, Henrik
Wergeland (1808–1845), interpreted European children’s literature for Norwegian
children. In 1840 he launched his classical collection of verses, Vinterblommor i
Barnekammaret [Winter Flowers in the Nursery]. Folk-tales were collected by Jørgen Moe
and P.Chr. Asbjørnsen in the 1840s. Of importance is also Moe’s/Brønden og i Kjœrnet
[In the Well and in the Pond] (1850), regarded as an artistic precursor to the realistic
tradition of the twentieth century. It is characteristic that the greatest authors of the
epoch wrote for children as well as for adults. In Norway writing for children is generally
said to be the literary equivalent of ‘crop-rotation’ (Vold 1989).

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