Dad Man and the Horrible Hypnosis

If students act well-behaved and don’t cause trouble, something’s seriously wrong.

·  The third Dad Man title nominated for Runeberg Prize 2023 & Storytel Award 2023 (best children’s audio book)!

·  4 books available and more to come

·  For fans of David Walliams and Captain Underpants

·  A perfect “Gateway series to literature” for reluctant readers

·  Anarchist plotlines and multilayered humour that appeals to all ages

·  Bold and fresh 4-colour comic-book style artwork that add visual jokes to the narration

When Oona and Eeli’s class gets a substitute teacher, strange things start to happen at school: the students become obedient, and at the same time get all excited about playing the recorder. Meanwhile, a strange series of factory fires keep policeman Dad Man busy, who, as usual, is vigorously chasing a false lead.

The appearance of the new teacher at the crime scenes makes Oona suspicious. Even the adults start to become obedient as the weird flute playing trend is spreading like wildfire and this time Eeli is of no help to Oona. Will Oona succeed on her own in stopping the substitute teacher from taking over the world?


Dad Man and the Evil Little Brother

Little siblings are always up to no good – sometimes they even get tangled in thefts!

·  The second Dad Man title published in 2021!

·  Nominated for Storytel awards 2021 (Best children’s audiobook)

·  4 books available and more to come

·  For fans of David Walliams and Captain Underpants

·  A perfect “Gateway series to literature” for reluctant readers

·  Anarchist plotlines and multilayered humour that appeals to all ages

·  Bold and fresh 4-colour comic-book style artwork that add visual jokes to the narration

Something odd is going on, because adults have started to behave stranger than usual – they are telling the truth!

At the same time, there’s a wave of mysterious gold thefts in the city – even goldfish go missing! Oona is sure that her cute little brother Veikka knows more than he lets on. But how to prove it? As usual, the totally incompetent policeman Dad Man is mishandling his robbery investigations, and Oona must rush to the rescue. But the evil little brother is always one step ahead.


Dad Man and the Exploding Poop

Adults who think they know everything and children who are forced to clean up the messes – the Dad Man series offers hilarious adventures!

·  The first Dad Man title published in 2020!

·  Nominated for Storytel awards 2020 (Best children’s audiobook) and Best Newcomer of the Year 2020

·  4 books available and more to come

·  For fans of David Walliams and Captain Underpants

·  A perfect “Gateway series to literature” for reluctant readers

·  Anarchist plotlines and multilayered humour that appeals to all ages

·  Bold and fresh 4-colour comic-book style artwork that add visual jokes to the narration

A horrific poop explosion flies the minister of education to the Moon in the middle of a regular evening. And even worse is yet to come: it turns out there’s a mad inventor behind it all, who is threatening more explosions if no one solves his twisted riddle.

The pride and role model of the police force, the heroic Dad Man, is not one to flinch and immediately sets out to solve the case. However, his nine-year-old daughter Oona knows that Dad Man’s investigations lead to nothing but disarray. Oona has no choice but to take matters into her own hands.


Dad Man and the Impossible Time Warp

The quirkiest cop in town! The Dad Man Series offers fast-paced adventures and humour for all ages  – especially lower middle grade

·    The newest Dad Man title was published in January 2023!

·    4 books available and more to come

·    Book 3, Dadman and the Horrible Hypnosis, is nominated for the Children*s Runeberg 2023!

·    For fans of David Walliams and Captain Underpants

·    A perfect “Gateway series to literature” for reluctant readers

·    Anarchist plotlines and multilayered humour that appeals to all ages

·    Bold and fresh 4-colour comic-book style artwork that add visual jokes to the narration

Dad Man is a dad, and a policeman – but he also has a superpower! Too bad his superpower is one shared by almost all dads – an unwavering belief in himself and his own abilities. Dad Man truly believes he knows everything and can do anything, but as it goes with most dads, the reality is quite different. And it follows that Dad Man’s nine-year-old daughter Oona needs to solve all of the issues herself.

Oona and her friends find out that Dad Man would never have gotten into police school without help – from them! How is that possible? The friends have no choice but to jump into a time machine and go back to Dad Man’s police academy years to find out.

The four friends find themselves at the centre of a mysterious series of art theft. The case is being investigated by the police academy’s quirkiest cadets, including, of course, Dad Man! Luckily, Oona and friends have a clue of their own. There is a criminal in the police school who they have already caught once.


Arttu Unkari

Arttu Unkari is a teacher from Helsinki and a Master of Education (University of Helsinki, 2015) who majored in ethics and philosophy.  He combines his educational background and experience as a teacher in his books – his stories are anarchist and zany, but at the same time the humour often revolves around profound and intriguing concepts such as honesty, obedience, and morality in ways that speak to children in their own language. His books are enjoyed by adults as well because they contain layers that open up differently to readers of all ages. This is one of the reasons Dadman is such a great series for the whole family.

As an author Unkari is a Runeberg prize nominee 2023 for the third instalment of the Dadman series: Dadman and the Horrible Hypnosis (Isämies ja hyytävä hypnoosi, Otava 2022). The Runeberg Prize is a literary prize awarded by the newspaper Uusimaa, the City of Porvoo, the Finnish Writers’ Union, the Finnish Critics’ Association and the Finland’s-Swedish Writer’s Association. The prize was established in 1986 and it is awarded annually in Porvoo on 5th February, the day when Finland celebrates their national poet Johan Ludvig Runeberg. Three of his books (Dadman and the Exploding poop, Dadman and the Evil Little Brother, and Dadman and the Horrible Hypnosis) have been nominated for best children’s audiobook in the 2020, 2021, and 2023 Finnish Storytel awards. He’s also participated in making a Finnish language schoolbook (Loikka 3, Otava 2022).

Unkari is a sought after inspirational speaker in his home country. He’s visited schools all over Finland advocating for the importance of reading.