Martin Widmark

Elderly and alone, obviously still grieving for his deceased wife, far away from his grown children, Niles was barely getting by. Living in a big old house full of dust and memories, abandoned even by his cat, he was simply going through the motions. Then one night a neighbor boy knocked on his door, announced that he was going on holiday, and asked Niles to look after his new plant. Not given a chance to refuse, our hero suddenly found himself with something, however small, to do, and the show more change it provoked in him was dramatic. For from this small beginning, a beautiful poppy grew, and an old man found a new lease on life...

Originally published in Sweden as Huset som vaknade, this beautiful picture-book was written by Swedish children's author Martin Widmark and illustrated by Polish artist Emilia Dziubak, and is presented to the English-language market by the Edinburgh-based Floris Books. The narrative is immensely poignant, capturing the depression of Niles, the morass of despair into which he had fallen, and the slow process whereby, simply by doing, he emerged again into life. The artwork is breathtakingly beautiful, using darkness and light on the page, as well as judicious splashes of color, to capture the blighted world around Niles at the beginning of the story, and then the gradual opening up of his heart. The scene in which his cat, Johan Sebastian, returns, is delightfully depicted, with our feline hero looking speculatively at the small shoot of leaves beginning to emerge from the potted plant. Needless to say, this scene pleased the cat-lover in me! A sensitive, nuanced depiction of grief, depression, and isolation, and how a new interest can help to heal old wounds, The House of Lost and Found is a beautiful, moving book. Highly recommended, to anyone looking for picture-books addressing these themes, or depicting intergenerational friendship, as Niles eventually is befriended by the little boy whose actions lead to such change. show less

Sonia und Adam sind zwei Kinder, die getrennt durch ein Meer an der Küste mit ihren geliebten Tieren wohnen: die elternlose Sonia mit ihrer Katze Miezi, Adam bei seiner Grossmutter mit seinem Hund Rufus. Als Rufus stirbt, ist Adam todunglücklich und hat seinen ganzen Lebensmut verloren. Gleichzeitig startet Miezi zu einer langen Reise und Sonia folgt ihr.
Es sind wunderschöne Bilder, die die Illustratorin Emilia Dziubak zu dieser Geschichte gezeichnet hat, fast schon Gemälde. Viele davon show more gehen über zwei Seiten, was die beinahe märchenhaft anmutenden Illustrationen noch beeindruckender wirken lässt.
Die Geschichte fällt im Vergleich hingegen schwächer aus. Sie ist rührend und macht schlussendlich Hoffnung, doch selbst für Fünfjährige, insbesondere diejenigen, die schon mal am Meer waren, dürfte sich die Frage stellen: Wie kommen Sonia und Miezi da auf die andere Seite? Auch der Sprachstil reicht nicht an das Niveau der Bilder heran, gerade bei den längeren Passagen wirkte es zumindest auf mich als Erwachsene viel zu nüchtern und profan.
Fazit: Eine nette Geschichte mit herausragenden Bildern. show less

Me and Elis read this one in a single sitting, and both agreed it’s the most intricate mystery yet. Saffron for 10.000 has been stolen from the local supermarket, and the scheme that unravels is cleverly constructed, with lots of steps, without being outrageous. Another thing that emerges more and more in these books is a nice theme of forgiveness. Valleby is a very small community, and culprits from earlier books are often bit players in later ones. Here we encounter the bad guy from one show more earlier book, fresh out of jail and happy with his new job as baker, and the crook from another innocently buying a christmas tree. After five of these I still have only the barest hunch of the inner mechanics and personalities of Lasse and Maja, the kid detectives, but this is the best one yet. show less

I’m beginning to run out of space to put these… But wise from the last few year’s challenges failings, I’d rather finish early than start a silly bonus category. Nothing much is new under the sky of Valleby. This time the über-clever duo stumble on a theft from the security lockers at the local swimming hall at Christmas Day, the day the Olympic diver is there to perform. This mystery features a major red herring, but unfortunately a very silly one (the local priest set out to show more sabotage Jesus’ competition in a Santa mask, anyone?). The biggest perk of this book for me is that a woman being in love with another woman is presented as something completely ordinary. A critical eye to normativity is becoming a regular feature in Swedish children’s books, so much so it doesn’t need to be stressed. Good. show less