Dad Man and the Horrible Hypnosis

Arttu Unkari

Original title: Isämies ja hyytävä hypnoosi

Author: Arttu Unkari

Illustrator: Kai Vaalio

Published: 2022

Publisher: Otava

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

Pages: 192

Part of a series: Dad Man series

Reading material:

English synopsis

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

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

- 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!

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 Horrible Hypnosis is a hilariously joyful work. There’s imaginative humour in the wild recklessness of the plot and the characters’ acts and mistakes. [--] Vaalio’s illustrations are also thrillingly full of expressions and instantly joyful. Some images also have so many small entertaining details that even if one spent minutes and minutes examining them, there’s always something new and fun to be discovered.

Toni Jerrman in Tähtivaeltaja 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