When Findus was Little and Disappeared by Sven Nordqvist

In 1983 he won first prize in a picture book competition and since then he has been working solely as and author and illustrator. Nordqvist became an architecture lecturer, but continued to seek illustration work in advertisement and posters. He always wanted to be an illustrator, but amazingly was rejected by several art schools! Instead he went on to study architecture, and to this day describes himself as a draughtsman rather than an illustrator. Sven Nordqvist was born in Helsignborg, a coastal city in southern Sweden. As soon as you open any Sven Nordqvist book, you’ll fall in love with his characters, his humour and his style. Which just goes to show the blinkered vision of the English speaking world when it comes to what the rest of the planet is reading! He's not well known in Ireland, but we've found that anyone who buys one of his books from us always comes back for another, and another. Findus and Pettson are household names in much of Scandinavia and central Europe, and the books have been translated into 44 languages and read by millions. This month we’ve chosen the amazing Swedish illustrator Sven Nordqvist, best known for his Findus and Pettson series.

This is a chance to learn more about the people who illustrated your favourite books, the influences that shaped their art style and storytelling, and some of their lesser known projects. Our Illustrator of the Month blog series focuses on some of our favourite illustrators, their lives and their works.

When Findus was Little and Disappeared by Sven Nordqvist