STELLA by Ted Forsström and Åsa Lucander nominated for the Finlandia Prize!

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We are thrilled to announce that STELLA is nominated for this year’s FINLANDIA PRIZE in the category BEST CHILDREN’S & YA TITLE 2023!

STELLA is an interactive and humorous bedtime picturebook by Ted Forsström and illustrated by Åsa Lucander. Originally written in Finland-Swedish, the rights have already been sold into 7 languages.

Motivation of the Finlandia jury:
“In the book, a storytime during a weekday evening derails when the family’s dog starts barking. The expressive illustrations and colour palette contribute nicely to the atmosphere of the story and the language is packed with inventive rhymes and details where imagination wins over everyday life. In the work, the cozy weekday evening is interrupted by chaos in a way that gives your laughing muscles a good workout. A guaranteed fun reading time in both Swedish and Finnish.”

Finlandia is the most prestigious literary award in Finland, worth 30 000 euros. The winner will be announced on November 29th.

Warmest congratulations to Ted Forsström and Åsa Lucander!

Curious to find about more about the nominee? We have a full English translation for you to read!

Download the materials for STELLA here!

 

Snälla Stella, sluta skälla!
Förlaget, March 2023, 44 pp.

Rights sold:
FINLAND: Förlaget (orig. Finland-Swedish), Etana Editions (Finnish)
SWEDEN: Förlaget
DENMARK: Gads Förlag
ESTONIA: Tammerraamat
GERMANY: Mixtvision
HUNGARY: Cerkabella
NORTH MACEDONIA: Ars Lamina

Reading materials:
English PDF
Finland-Swedish PDF

About author


Åsa Lucander

Åsa Lucander is a director and designer, working in illustration and animation both in the UK as well as Scandinavia.

Originally from Finland, she moved to London in 2001 where she was introduced to animation while studying illustration. After graduating she joined the animation studio 12foot6 where she stayed until 2014.

In 2015 she joined Aardman Animations in Bristol, where she is now based.

With multi-faceted strengths in storytelling, design and animation she loves exploring various creative styles, be it in 2d, stop motion or CGI. Åsa has a passion for hand rendered drawings and explores many different textures and mediums in all areas of her work. She loves mixing humour with melancholy and thrills in bringing characters of every shape and form to life with compelling scripts and inventive visions. She nimbly blends music, authentic dialogue, film segments, hand drawn characters and dolls in innovative ways.

Åsa has directed multiple shorts, including her award-winning film Lost Property, as well as many heart-warming commercial films for clients including Blue Peter, Alzheimer’s Research UK, Project Every- one and Childline, and a VR documentary film for BBC. Most recently she directed the music video for Coldplay’s track Daddy that has won numerous awards.

The Finlandia-nominated Stella (2023) was the first picture book by Åsa Lucander, who, in addition to being a director and illustrator at Aardman Animations, has also animated music videos for artists such as Coldplay. She created the book together with Ted Forsström. In spring 2025 her and Ted's second collaboration, Stiven, was published.

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About author


Ted Forsström

Ted Forsström is a Finnish-Swedish media personality, author, and comedian based in Ostrobothnia. He has worked as an actor, director, and screenwriter, and is widely known as one half of the popular duo Ted & Kaj. Together with Kaj Korkea-aho, he co-wrote the Finlandia Junior-nominated YA trilogy ZOO! and currently co-hosts Ted & Kaj, the most popular Swedish-language podcast in Finland.

Forsström also creates children’s content for Svenska Yle. In 2023, he published the Finlandia-nominated children’s book Stella together with illustrator Åsa Lucander. In spring 2025, the follow-up Stiven was published. His new book The Blue Flame (Den blåa flamman) will be published soon...

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