Dad Man and the Impossible Time Warp

Arttu Unkari

Original title: Isämies ja mahdoton aikasolmu

Author: Arttu Unkari

Illustrator: Kai Vaalio

Published: 2023

Publisher: FINLAND: Otava (orig.)

Genres: Chapter Books (6-9 Years), Middle Grade (8-12 Years)

Pages: 174

Part of a series: Dad Man series

Reading material:

English sample & Synopsis

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

  • For fans of David Walliams and Captain Underpants
  • A perfect “Gateway series to literature” for reluctant readers
  • Books in the series have been nominated for the Storytel awards 2020, 2021, and 2022 (Best children’s audiobook), Best Newcomer of the Year 2020, and the Runeberg Prize 2023!
  • Bold and fresh 4-colour comic-book style artwork that add visual jokes to the narration
  • 140,000 copies sold in Finland!
  • 4 books available and more to come, with 5th book coming in 2024 - work as standalones and can be read in any order!

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.

A funny and engaging series [--] The series has such delightful characters, carefree school anarchy, and flight of imagination, and one is looking forward to the continuation.

Ilkka Valpasvuo on Kulttuuritoimitus magazine

Download reading materials

Rights sold:
FINLAND: Otava (orig.)

About author

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 Dad Man 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: Dad Man 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.  All of his previous books (Dad Man and the Exploding poop, Dad Man and the Evil Little Brother,  Dad Man and the Horrible Hypnosis and Dad Man and the Impossible Time Warp) have been nominated for best children’s audiobook in the 2020, 2021, 2022 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.

Bibliography


2024, Chapter Books (6-9 Years), Middle Grade (8-12 Years)

Arttu Unkari

Dad Man and the Doppelgänger Disaster


2023, Chapter Books (6-9 Years), Middle Grade (8-12 Years)

Arttu Unkari

Dad Man and the Impossible Time Warp


2022, Chapter Books (6-9 Years), Middle Grade (8-12 Years)

Arttu Unkari

Dad Man and the Horrible Hypnosis


2021, Chapter Books (6-9 Years), Middle Grade (8-12 Years)

Arttu Unkari

Dad Man and the Evil Little Brother


2020, Chapter Books (6-9 Years), Middle Grade (8-12 Years)

Arttu Unkari

Dad Man and the Exploding Poop