Representing the best
Finnish authors abroad
Finnish authors abroad
Christmas is only a week away and Ficelle can’t stop worrying about whether she will get enough presents.
In town she spots a charity collecting donations for children in need at Christmas and immediately feels a kinship with them. Surely she is counted as one of those poor children who’d otherwise go without! Her masterplan includes wearing a coat she digs out of a bin and holding a cardboard with a plea: “Giv pour child pressents”.
To Ficelle’s disappointment, she is not very successful as a pauper. Maybe people might give more generously to a Christmassy street performer instead? But it is not to be.
At home, as if to add insult to injury, Ficelle overhears mum and dad calling the sweet and helpful Ruby a “proper Christmas child”. What on earth could Ficelle do to try to match her perfect sister in their eyes? A multitude of comical blunders paves the long week towards the awaited arrival of Father Christmas and the true gift of the day.
Sinikka Nopola (b. 1953) and Tiina Nopola (b. 1955) have been writing in partnership for over 30 years! Ruby & Ficelle, which was published in 1989, was their first co-authored book and it marked the beginning of their award-winning career in books, films, plays and music that continue to delight and entertain new generations.
R&F: The Chicken, 2019
R&F and the Silly Angel, 2018
R&F and the Christmas Gift, 2017
R&F and the Arty Neighbours, 2016 (originally published in 2001 with illustrations by Majaluoma)
R&F as Poets, 2015
R&F and Big Elsa, 2014 (originally published in 1997 with illustrations by Majaluoma)
R&F and the Annoying Pest, 2014 (originally published in 1999 with illustrations by Majaluoma)
R&F and the Sassy Schoolgirl, 2013
R&F and Baldy Bob, 2012
Illustrated by Salla Savolainen
R&F’s Year, 2006
R&F and the Forbidden Fish, 2005
R&F and the Dancing Constable, 2003
R&F on the Chase, 1995
R&F Look for Christmas, 1993
R&F and Need a Holiday, 1992
R&F and Grandpa, 1991
R&F and the Baby, 1990
Ruby & Ficelle, 1989
Illustrated by Markus Majaluoma
104pp
Age: 6+
Finnish PDF
Series synopsis
Chinese (Hubei Children’s Press)
Danish (Turbine)
French (Didier Jeunesse)
German (arsEdition)
Hungarian (Cerkabella)
Latvian (Petergailis)
Lithuanian (Nieko Rimto)
Turkish (Beyaz Balina Yayinlari)
The Ruby & Ficelle books have also been published in (rights reserved): Estonian, Japanese, Latvian, Russian, Serbian and Swedish.