MAARJA KANGRO The Fruit Dragon

MAARJA KANGROThe Fruit DragonMaarja KangroThe Fruit DragonIllustrated by Kirke KangroPublishing House Koolibri, 2006www.koolibri.eeISBN-13: 978-9985-0-1486-8ISBN-10: 9985-0-1486-3Hardback255 225 mm32 pagesFor pre-school ageMAARJA KANGRO (1973) isa translator and poet. “The Fruit Dragon”is her first children’s book. The sculptorand book illustrator KIRKE KANGRO(1975) has illustrated a couple of dozenchildren’s books and text books. Maarjaand Kirke are the daughters of thewell-know children’s author Leelo Tungal.Awards:2006 Estonian Children’s LiteratureCentre Raisin of the Year AwardA giant dragon is harassing Appleland, Pearlandand the orchards of other countries. No one canget the better of the dragon: it spits crushed apples into the barrels of the cannons, blocking them.Neithershells nor rockets can penetrate its scales.The creature won’teven be tempted bya gorgeous princess- the dragon is convinced that eatingpeople makes youfat. Leaders fromaround the worldmeet to discuss whatto do. Little Eikfinds the solution.The boy has read ina book somewherethat the dragon is avery rare fruit dragon, related to the brontosaurus,an animal that should be protected, not killed. Thedragon is to be coaxed onto an island and given anadequate stock of fruit. Everyone is satisfied withthis solution, however, they do grumble a bit by thefruit tax that has now been introduced. Travel agentsand tourist companiestry to even exploitdragon tourism.

Hush-a-By Baby!Bedtime Storiesby Estonian FathersElla the Witch doesn’t like children running aroundand shrieking. When she was a child, she alwayshad to do work and was never allowed to play. Inrevenge, the witch invokes the wind and therain to harass the children, and sometimesturns them into frogs ortrees. Little Venno convinces Ella to turn herself back into a child sothat she can join in andplay with him. Thereare also other storiesin this bedtime book,ones which are nice toread and listen to whenchildren are ready to goto sleep. The stories have been written by the Estonian authors Karl Martin Sinijärv, Veiko Belials,Andrus Kivirähk, Juhani Püttsepp, Contra, JürgenRooste, Jaanus Vaiksoo, Kivisildnik, Peeter Sauter,Jaan Tätte and Peep Pedmanson. The pictures weredrawn by Jüri Mildeberg (1965), also known by hisnom-de-plume Mildebergius.2Hush-a-By Baby!Bedtime Stories by Estonian FathersIllustrated by Jüri MildebergPublishing House Ajakirjade Kirjastus,2005www.kirjastus.eeISBN 9985-9633-4-2Hardback225 225 mm108 pagesFor pre-school ageAwards:2005 25 Best Designed Books,Certificate of Merit2005 5 Best Designed Children’sBooks, Certificate of Merit2005 Estonian Children’s LiteratureCentre Raisin of the Year Award

Nighty-Nighty!Bedtime Storiesby MothersI’m sure that you have sometimesheard, when sitting in the bath, howthe pipes make a burbling sound.Or how the radiators mumble. Yourmother might tell you that it’s because the neighbours are having awash, but in fact it’s because of thePipe Gnomes. You can find in thisbedtime book stories about ghostsand poltergeists, the good fatherdragon Peeter, a talking bicycle, aAwards: mother earthworm with a hat and2006 5 Best Designed Children’slots of other unusual things. The auBooks, Certificate of Meritthors of these stories are well-knownEstonian mothers: Piret Raud,Kerttu Soans, Kauksi Ülle, KristiinaKass, Aidi Vallik, Eva Koff, KatiMurutar, Maarja Undusk, Merca andTiia Kõnnussaar. The collection ofstories has been illustrated byPiret Mildeberg (1957).Nighty-Nighty!Bedtime Stories by MothersIllustrated by Piret MildebergPublishing House Ajakirjade Kirjastus,2006www.kirjastus.eeISBN-13: 978-9985-9684-4-4ISBN-10: 9985-9684-4-1Hardback175 295 mm84 pagesFor pre-school age

ANDRUS KIVIRÄHKLotte from GadgetvilleThe little puppy girl Lotte and her best friend, thekitten Bruno, live in the Gadgetville, where the inhabitants spend most of theirtime inventing new technicaldevices. One day, the childrenfind a soaked book in the sea.Out of the book crawls thebee Susumu who, as it turnsout, comes from Japan. Lottedecides to help Susumu toget back home. Lotte’s fatherhas constructed a clever airship where all you have to dois rise up into the clouds andwait for the Earth to rotatebeneath you until you are atthe right spot. While waitingfor suitable winds, they trainjudo and make friends withthe rejected leveret Albert, invent radio, electricityand a fountain that emits Morse code.The book ends with a judo contestin Japan where the“Lotte” teambeats the localmasters in the“Tamogochi” team.Andrus KivirähkLotte from GadgetvilleIllustrated by Heiki Ernits,Laima Puntule, Mariann Joa,Tõnis Kenkmaa, Katri HaardePublishing House Eesti Joonisfilm, 2006www.joonisfilm.eeISBN-13: 978-9949-13-936-1ISBN-10: 9949-13-936-8Hardback210 290 mm256 pagesFor pre-school age / ages 5-10ANDRUS KIVIRÄHK is one of thebest know and most appreciated writers inEstonia. His works have been translatedinto French, Finnish, Hungarian andNorwegian. “Lotte from Gadgetville” hasbeen created from materials byJANNO PÕLDMA’s (1950) andHEIKI ERNITS’ (1953) animatedfilm of the same name. Lotte’sadventures are also toldin “Lotte’s JourneySouth” (2002).

HELJO MÄNDMõmmi’s BestABC StoriesHeljo MändMõmmi’s Best ABC StoriesIllustrated by Epp MargusteTEA Publishers, 2006www.tea.eeISBN 9985-71-484-9Hardback215 255 mm224 pagesFor pre-school ageHELJO MÄND (1926) has writtenover 70 books for children, both poetryand prose, plus a further 20 books foradults. Her children’s books have beentranslated into Russian, Spanish,English, German, Finnish and otherlanguages. “Mõmmi’s Best ABC Stories”has reached Number One in the salesfigures for children’s literature.The book tells the story of a family of bears whoselife the author has been following over the years. Thefirst Mõmmi book waspublished back in 1971.Soon, Mõmmi appearedon TV to teach children the alphabet. Little Mõmmi is therefore35 years old by now andhas become the headof a school. His wifeBear-Kati and himselfhave brought up threechildren. The familylives with the grandparents. When mother andfather go out to work,the children are lookedafter by granddad andgrandma. As the children are very keen to goto school, granddad setsup a schoolroom in thehome.

PEETER SAUTERA Bookfor Lazy ChildrenPeeter Sauter (1962) isa major author in the Estonia of today. He sometimes puts his readers tothe test by his straightforward and blunt narrative style. The authorhimself has said of his“A Book For Children”:“I wrote this book alongwith my own children:the 4- and 6-year-oldtold me the story and Iwrote it down. The 10year-old wrote down whatshe thought. I was fascinated by children’s logicand their vocabulary”. When the children could nolonger manage to invent something themselves, theauthor himself had to intervene. The result was “ABook For Lazy Children”. The stories are amusing,serious and a little sad - about the hard lives of thedead, old women that smoke from the mouth, theBottom Snake and the Tooth Snake, the lonelinessof the Devil, God’s flying house and the Moon thatdidn’t want any cheese.Illustrated by Alvar Jaakson (1968) who works inadvertising.6Peeter SauterA Book for Lazy ChildrenIllustrated by Alvar JaaksonPublishing House Huma, 2006www.huma.eeISBN-13: 978-9949-408-51-1ISBN-10: 9949-408-51-2Hardback215 250 mm47 pagesFor pre-school ageAwards:2006 Children’s Literature Award ofthe Cultural Endowment of Estonia2006 5 Best Designed Children’sBooks, Certificate of Merit

The Hard Lives of the DeadThe dead live in a house in the suburbs. They have to live somewhere, after all. Theylive quietly and happily. They play and sing.Then an unusual dead person turns up. No end of annoyance. He thuds upand down the stairs, runs around the house shouting. Never stops. How does hemanage to keep it up? But he does.“That’s not the way dead people should behave”, he is told, but it makes nodifference. He slams doors, grits his teeth and farts. The good dead people shaketheir heads, and say: “He’s making our lives hell. What a ghastly business”.The dead see that they will never regain their peace and quiet, so they dig ahole. They crawl into it, pull the grass over their heads. Now everything is peacefulagain.The bored dead man remains on his own and can no longer be bothered tokick up a fuss. He is a little bit sad and starts to make amends. Some sad people startto do the right thing. A sad story.Peeter Sauter7

RULL AND EKKE AND PIPA AND PEETER SAUTERA Bookfor ChildrenRull and Ekke and Pipaand Peeter SauterA Book for ChildrenIllustrated by: Alvar JaaksonPublishing House Huma, 2004www.huma.eeISBN 9949-408-23-7215 250 mmHardback43 pagesFor pre-school ageAwards:2004 5 Best Designed Children’sBooks, diploma from the EstonianGraphic Designers’ Union “For AnInteresting Newcomer”8

ANDRUS KIVIRÄHKSirli, Siimand the SecretsAndrus KivirähkSirli, Siim and the SecretsIllustrated by Ilmar TrullPublishing House Varrak, 2006www.varrak.eeISBN 9985-3-1224-4Hardback135 215 mm192 pagesFor ages 5-10ANDRUS KIVIRÄHK (1970) is oneof the best know and most appreciatedwriters in Estonia. His works have beentranslated into French, Finnish,Hungarian and Norwegian. The bookhas been illustrated by the cartoonist andpoet ILMAR TRULL (1957).An enchanting tale about an ordinaryfamily, whose everyday life is brightenedup and enhanced by dreams. The daughter, Sirli, goes to visit a cloud ballerinawhile the son, Siim, is a good conjurorin the little world located under the writing desk. The mother occasionally runsaway to the royal castle, where she is royally treated. In his dreams, the father ofthe family is a famous boxer Ironfist, aswell as the ice-hockey player and figureskater Silver Heels. The rather eccentric caretaker of the building dreams ofbecoming the Prince of the Waters, andthis dream comes true. Only the writerSheep doesn’t dream and for this reasonhe grows hardened and bitter. His life ischanged when he again meets a childhood dream, alittle hedgehog, which again finds living space underSheep’s bed. The author deletes from his computerall the bleak tales he has been working on and startsto write a children’s book called “The Adventures ofthe Jolly Baby Hedgehog”.9

AINO PERVIKDixi and XixiThe clown Dixi and his talking poodle Xixi live ina clump of wild roses under an old boat. The circusthey used to work for has closed long ago, and without the circus their life lacks any meaning. When theformer tightrope-walker Desdemona inherits an olddilapidated manège, theydecide to join forces andstart a new circus and beginto look for old colleagues.They all agree with pleasure to pool their efforts, butover the years their skillshave grown rusty. Desdemona doesn’t look as prettyas she used to, the trapezeartist has grown alarminglyfat, the fire-eater has turnedinto a fire-raiser. Theyhave to invent tricks andfind new partners. Beforethe first night the excitement is at its height. Canthe old clown still manage to amusetheaudience,will the knifethrower’s handtremble? Will thesawing a lady intwo come off allright, and whataboutthebelly-dancingelephant?10Aino PervikDixi and XixiIllustrated by Piret RaudPublishing House Ilo, 2005www.ilo.eeISBN 9985-57-717-5Hardback195 217 mm143 pagesFor ages 5-10AINO PERVIK (1932) is one of thebest-known authors of Estonian children’sliterature, whose works have beentranslated into many languages.The book has been illustrated by thewriter’s daughter, the well-known graphicartist PIRET RAUD (1971).