Vesta­-Linnéa in the Moonlight

By Salla Savolainen Tove Appelgren

Vesta-Linnéa wants to go outside. She wants to and she doesn’t want to. Her sister cheers her up with a chocolate and they start playing. Suddenly her sister asks how it is that Vesta-Linnéa is so sad at times. “I always want to get up and play!” says her sister. Vesta-Linnéa doesn’t know why but then starts thinking about being sad. How sad can you be? But she also thinks about happiness and what makes her happy. Mum, pancakes, sisters… How does that work? The story offers a wonderful combination of philosophy and insight, valuable to children and adults alike.

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About the author

Salla Savolainen (b. 1962) is a celebrated and productive illustrator, who excels in children’s books and is known for her varied styles and successful collaborations with many authors. She has also written four picture books herself.Savolainen’s drawings have been shortlisted and awarded several prizes including the Kukko award in 2013 for non-fiction. She has also been nominated for the Finlandia Junior Prize three times.In 2021, Savolainen began her Construction book series which the illustrator has also written herself. The detailed and fact-filled series consists of titles, Asphalt!, Concrete!, and Junk!, of which the third will come out in 2023. Masterfully created, Savolainen has made a series that is both incredibly informative and fun to read. The series has already been pre-empted in its entirety in Sweden, Estonia, and Germany. 

Tove Appelgren is an author, a director and a playwright.Her first book, Vesta-Linnéa and the Monster Mum, was published in 2001. The story about the headstrong young girl with a stressed-out mum gained international interest and since then, the books about Vesta-Linnéa have been translated into 13 different languages and nominated for several prizes, including the Finlandia Prize.