Linda Bondestam
Linda Bondestam was born in Helsinki in 1977. She studied illustration at Kingston University in London. Bondestam has participated in exhibitions in eg London, Venice, Tetuan (Morocco), Helsinki and Kemi (Finland). Her pictures are constructed as puzzles: the pictures consist of fragments which can be drawn anywhere, at any time and almost on any kind of material. Mostly she draws / paints with ink and Indian ink and colours using a varied mix of paper types.
Links:
Prizes:
Catastrophes and Strophes on Dozing Off and Making a Din was nominated for the Finlandia Junior Prize, 2003. The jury’s commendation: ”Stella Parland and Linda Bondestam have produced an unusually rich picture book of poetry, which speaks to readers of all ages… Linda Bondestam has made an impressive debut as illustrator of two personal picture books.”
Catastrophes and Strophes on Dozing Off and Making a Din received an award from the Society of Swedish Literature in Finland: “…a book of verse and drawings produced jointly. Its crazy verbal acrobatics places it in the great Lennart Hellsing tradition. The rhymes, verbal rigmarole and madness that ennoble the protagonists make the verse so memorable. Playful readers of all ages will find tools and stimuli here for their own linguistic creativity.”
The Finnish Book Arts Committee nominated Linnéa and the Angels as one of the most beautiful books of 2003 with the commendation: ”The anarchic, uninhibited illustrations and the warm colours and materials make an extremely attractive children’s book with a whiff of nostalgia from the 60s and 70s.”
The Finnish Book Arts Committee named Splendid Mr Happy as one of the most beautiful books of 2004.
The International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY) selected The Splendid Mr Happy for their Honour List 2006 for the book’s illustrations.
The work In a Hollow in the Kalahari was granted an award by the Society of Swedish Literature in Finland with the commendation: ”In this colourful, clever fable about quarrelling and peace, rows and attitudes, the story comes alive in its splendid pictures and charming text. His close, secure relationship with his mother makes the young animal clever as he becomes a model in his struggles with his environment. The moral outcome is as clear as its expression is poetic, unexpected and happy.”
In October 2010 Bondestam was nominated for the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award (ALMA).
Works illustrated by Bondestam published by Söderströms:
The Dictator (text Ulf Stark), 2010
Gnatto Pakpak (words Stella Parland), 2010
Linx Protected (text Minna Lindeberg), 2009
Who’s Afraid Of…? Tales of the Wolf (anthology), 2008
My Brother Lev (text Minna Sundström), 2007
In a Hollow in the Kalahari (text Minna Lindeberg), 2007
Milja and the Neighbours (text Annika Sandelin), 2006
Delirium – The Novel about a Dog (text Stella Parland), 2004
Splendid Mr Glad (text Malin Kivelä), 2004
Linnea and the Angels (text Mikaela Sundström), 2003
Catastrophes and Strophes on Dozing Off and Making a Din (text Stella Parland), 2003
Written by Annika Sandelin | Illustrated by Linda Bodestam
Businnan Falls in Love
Soon the tousled head of a dog peeps out. “My name’s Rackham. What’s yours, pretty snout?” Businnan blushes, appears so shy, For Rackham’s natty, handsome and spry. One softie hound’s another one’s found. Two joyful hearts make a single sound.
That’s what happens when softie-dog Businnan falls in love. She runs away with Rackham, and Petra, her owner, misses her terribly. But it isn’t easy to keep romantic love alive for two divas. Businnan returns home pregnant. And there she finds a more lasting love: the puppy Valpinnan. Businnan is back, and this time she has even bigger, wilder and happier adventures. Annika Sandeli n’s rhymes are still more enchanting, and Linda Bondestam’s pictures equally colourful and expressive. And once again we meet Nickan, Flowery Pig, Myrika and all the other toys from the nursery.
Written by Stella Parland | Illustrated by Linda Bondestam
Gnatto Pakpak
Iiii – bzzz – pippip. Or something quite different? What sounds do insects make? This little collection of pictures and letters is swarming with creepy-crawlies of all kinds: familiar, unfamiliar and completely unknown ones – ones never seen before. Here colours and letters swarm around one another.
The creepy-crawly book Gnatto Pakpak can be a pointing book for the very youngest, a child’s first art gallery with letters to read aloud – or quite simply a small dose of concentrated joy between two covers for anybody at all.
In the company of Linda Bondestam and Stella Parland anything can happen – just as it has already in their previous books: Catastrophes and Strophes on Dozing Off and Making a Din and Delirium
Written by Annika Sandelin | Illustrated by Linda Bondestam
Businnan
After Milja and the Neighbours, Annika Sandelin and Linda Bondestam collaborate once again. A classic story of the lost, self-centred, difficult softie-dog Businnan, a real diva in a fine cloth coat, who is plucked from the street by a young girl, Petra. Businnan has to find her place in the nursery, where her desire to be the centre of interest isn’t always appreciated.
This fast-paced book is written in rhymed verse, always popular with children, who can join in.
“I love you a lot though you’re noisy and mad,
‘Cos otherwise life would be boring and sad!”
The book is filled with a whole gallery of toys, with the monkey, Snory Cat, and the Flowery Pig out in front. Bondestam portrays these characters in sparkling, wild, joyful images.
Written by Ulf Stark | Illustrated by Linda Bondestam
The Dictator
Rights sold: Finnish, Belarusian, Danish, Italian, Latvian, Norwegian, Russian,
Dictators are people who only want to write “I, I, I”, who think it’s hard work always having to make decisions and all the time having to check that the sun rises and the moon goes down. Dictators must not be kissed. “There’s a lot to think about when you’re a dictator. He thinks of himself.”
Dictators may be children of overindulgent parents, they can be artists or past rulers of the Soviet Union. But in the end they all become quite lonely.
Ulf Stark is one of Sweden’s best, best-loved and most multifaceted authors of children’s books. He tells the story of a little dictator with humour and sensitivity. Finland-Swedish illustrator Linda Bondestam and Swedish author Ulf Stark have worked together to produce wholly new sparks of genius. A revolutionary picture book.
Praise:
The Dictator is an empathetic, very amusing, intelligent tale. This pearl of a picture book has a moral but is liberating enough, with no rigid commandments.
–Ylva Larsdotter, Ny Tid
Written by Sinikka and Tiina Nopola | Illustrated by Linda Bondestam
Gecko and Puupponen
Written by Sinikka and Tiina Nopola | Illustrated by Linda Bondestam
Gecko, Puupponen and the Lovely Rose
Written by Sinikka Nopola | Illustrated by Linda Bondestam
Anna Winter’s Strange Delay
Browse the book here!
Written by Sinikka and Tiina Nopola | Illustrated by Linda Bondestam
Simo, Sonia and the Missing Kerala
Elina Ahlbäck Literary Agency Oy Ltd.
info(at)ahlbackagency.com | +358 400 512 101 | www.ahlbackagency.com | Korkeavuorenkatu 37, FI-00130 Helsinki, Finland
