Fleak

Original title: Fleak - kekseliäs ystäväni

Authors: Antti Haikala, Teemu Auersalo

Published: 2025

Publisher: Otava

Genre: Middle Grade (8-12 Years)

Pages: 160

Reading material:

English sample, Finnish edition

Based on the upcoming Finnish animated film, Fleak is a heartwarming and wildly imaginative journey for the whole family!

✓ In the spirit of Pixar films - a magical tale that is funny and moving.

✓ An adventure about resilience, family, and the courage to face your fears

✓ Perfect for readers +8

✓ Film rights sold to 50 countries, including the USA, France, Spain, the Nordics, and Poland

The life of 11-year-old Tuomas is turned upside down when tagging along with his older sister and older brother leads to a horrible accident. Tuomas loses his ability to walk and ends up in a wheelchair.

Amid his gloomy thoughts, a spark of hope glistens when a mysterious creature appears in Tuomas’s room. The small, colorful creature that calls itself Fleak takes Tuomas to his home dimension where the newly found friends are drawn into a fast-paced adventure.

Fleak is an enchantingly written and abundantly illustrated story about the power of imagination, courage, and friendship. The book is based on a Finnish animated film by the same name premiering in fall 2025.

Download reading materials

Rights sold:
FINLAND: Otava (orig.)

Antti Haikala

Antti Haikala co-founded his animation studio Anima Vitae year 2000 in Helsinki and since then has been working as producer, writer and director in top European animation productions. His mission is to create meaningful stories and experiences for kids, youth and families. The best known works that Antti is credited for are animated Niko feature films (2008-2024) and Moominvalley animated series (2017-2023). In 2017 Antti started to work with the story of Fleak which will premiere around the world by the end of the year 2025. In his free time Antti enjoys being in nature with friends or in complete solitude.

Photo credit: Janne Mäkinen

Teemu Auersalo

Teemu Auersalo is a screenwriter and animator. He lives in Ireland with his wife, two sons and three cats. As a child Teemu loved cartoons, nature documentaries, Star Wars, computer games, drawing, cycling, writing stories and making music. He still loves all the same things. He gets excited about new story ideas, monsters and funny creatures, and likes to use fantasy and humour to tell important stories about humans. The adaptation of his screenplay for the film “Fleak” is his first book. He is now working on his second book.

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About author

Antti Haikala

Bibliography

Fleak

About author

Teemu Auersalo

Bibliography

Fleak