This is the first story of the adventures of farmer Pettson and his cat Findus. Pettson wants to bake a pancake birthday cake for the cat who has three birthdays a year. But how can they get the eggs when the bull is in the way? Findus and Pettson live in a red farmhouse, with a toolshed, henhouse, garden and outside toilet. They are surrounded by the forests, fields and meadows of rural Sweden. Every picture tells a story, with a fascinating, magical world of tiny creatures. Here are little bathtubs full of mice, a bunch of telephone poles jammed into a jar, small pink striped creatures peeking over the edge of a table....
October 19th, 2007
After spending all of August trying to persuade Daughter to make me a pancake cake and failing, the witch was pleased to find that Findus of Swedish pancake fame is coming this way. The sensible people at Hawthorn Press are publishing Sven Nordqvist's hilarious tale of crusty old Pettson and his cat Findus, who has three birthdays a year. (Between you and me, I always associated the name Findus with frozen peas, but that's beside the point.) Offspring have enjoyed the pancake tale for years, and now it's your turn, at long last.
Pettson and Findus live in a little red cottage in the country, and in this first story they encounter some obstacles to their plans for birthday pancakes. But obstacles are there to be overcome, aren't they?
Sven Nordqvist, author and artist, grew up in the same town as the witch, though I don't think our paths crossed. The Retired Children's Librarian remembered that Sven made the posters for an event at the library as he was local talent. And I did come across the man in Gothenburg last year in my search for more signed books for the collection. (Artists do good signings.)
More coincidence here for the Pullman quote mad family—Philip is a fan, and this is what he has to say:
""It's not often that we come across books with such immediate and lasting appeal as Sven Nordqvist's Pancakes for Findus and his ""Findus"" series. The stories are ingenious, the characters are quirky and original, and the illustrations are absolutely delightful—I've seldom seen such an endless, apparently effortless flow of invention. Readers young and old will spend happy hours poring over them to find all the details, and revisit them again and again. I can't recommend them highly enough. Hurrah for Findus!""
Hawthorn's contact with my local bookshop mentions the book as being liked by the witch, and by Pullman. And it's not often that the witch and Philip get bracketed together like this, so I shall shut up here and leave it to Pettson and his pet to charm you.
