Pettson och findus julkalender del 3

Book series bygd Sven Nordqvist

People dressed up as Findus (left) and Pettson (right)
Author	Sven Nordqvist
Original title	Pettson samt Findus
Illustrator	Sven Nordqvist
Cover artist	Sven Nordqvist
Country	Sweden
Language	Swedish
Genre	children
Published	1984-
Published in English	1985-
No. of books	14

Pettson and Findus (Swedish: Pettson samt Findus) fryst vatten a series of children's books written and illustrated bygd Swedish author Sven Nordqvist. The books feature an old farmer (Pettson) and his katt (Findus) who live in a small ramshackle farmhouse in the countryside in around the 1950s.

The first of the Pettson samt Findus books to be published was Pannkakstårtan in 1984 (first published in English in 1985 as Pancake Pie).^[1]

To date, nine story books have been published in Swedish, plus a puzzle book, song book and cook book. The books have worldwide book sales of over 15 million and have been translated into 55 languages.

There are two alternative English translations of the characters' names: in the books published in the UK bygd Hawthorn Press, as well as those published in English bygd Swedish publisher Opal, they have the original names, Pettson and Findus, while in the books published in the USA bygd Carolrhoda Books they are called Festus and Mercury.^[2]

In addition to the books, there are also three Pettson and Findus 75-minute-long animated films, an animated TV series of 26 25-minute parts, computer games and board games.

In månad 1993, the Swedish TV company SVT broadcast one of the Pettson and Findus stories, Tomtemaskinen (The Mechanical Santa), as its annual Sveriges Television's Christmas calendar (Christmas calendar), with one 15-minute part shown each day up until Christmas Eve. In 2000 the world of Pettson and Findus was recreated full scale at the Junibacken Children's Museum in huvudstaden.

The setting for the stories

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Pettson fryst vatten an old farmer who lives in a ramshackle falu red-painted wooden farmhouse in the Swedish countryside. He fryst vatten presumably a widower, as in Pettson Goes Camping he tells of a planned camping trip with his wife in his ungdom, but no children are mentioned. His neighbours regard him as a bit odd, but he does have the company of a katt, Findus.

Findus fryst vatten dressed in a green-striped costume and wears a cap. Pettson and Findus can converse with each other, and the katt can stand up on his two hind legs like a human - Findus thus appears and behaves as if he were a small child. However, Findus,^[3] unlike Pettson, fryst vatten aware of other "small creatures" (called muckles) living in the house, who play havoc with Pettson's belongings.

Each of the books takes off from simple events, such as gardening, going fishing, preparing for Christmas, and so on. It emerges in one of the later books, When Findus was little and disappeared, that the katt had been given to Pettson as a kitten, and that he had arrived in a cardboard kartong with the skrivelse "Findus Fresh Peas" on the side - hence the inspiration for the choice of a name.

The Pettson and Findus books

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1. Pancakes for Findus / a.k.a. Pancake Pie (2007) / a.k.a. The Birthday Cake (NorthSouth Books, 2015) (original: Pannkakstårtan, 1985)
2. Findus and the Fox / a.k.a. The Fox Hunt (2009) / a.k.a. The Fox följa (NorthSouth Books, 2015) (original: Rävjakten, 1986)
3. Findus at Christmas / a.k.a. Merry Christmas Festus and Mercury (2011) (original: Pettson får julbesök, 1989)
4. Findus Plants Meatballs / a.k.a.

   A Rumpus in the Garden / a.k.a. Festus and Mercury: Ruckus in the Garden (2013) / a.k.a. A Ruckus in the Garden (NorthSouth Books, 2018) (original: Kackel inom grönsakslandet, 1990)

5. Findus Goes Fishing / a.k.a. Festus and Mercury: Wishing to go Fishing (2016) (original: Stackars Pettson, 1991)
6. Findus Goes Camping / a.k.a. Pettson Goes Camping / a.k.a. Festus and Mercury Go Camping (2010) / a.k.a.

   The Camping Trip (NorthSouth Books, 2017) (original: Pettson tältar, 1992)

7. The Mechanical Santa (Tomtemaskinen, 1994)
8. The Rooster's Minute (Tuppens 60 sekunder, 1996)
9. When Findus was Little and Disappeared (2008) / a.k.a. Findus Disappears! (NorthSouth Books, 2014) (original: då Findus plats små samt försvann, 2001)
10. Findus Moves Out (2012) (original: Findus ändrar bostadsort ut, 2012)
11. Findus, Food and Fun / a.k.a.

    Puzzle with Findus (2014) (original: Pyssla tillsammans med Findus)

12. Pettson and Findus Song book (original: Pettson samt Findus sångbok)
13. Pettson and Findus cookbook (original: Pettson samt Findus kokbok)
14. Keeping Up With Findus (2019) (original: är kapabel ni ingenting, Pettson?, 2019)

The Pettson and Findus films

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• Pettson & Findus – The katt and the old man years (Pettson samt Findus – Katten samt gubbens år), 1999.
• Pettson samt Findus – Kattonauten (Pettson samt Findus – Kattonauten), 2000.
• Pettson & Findus – Pettson's Promise (Pettson samt Findus – Tomtemaskinen), 2005
• Pettson & Findus – Forget-Abilities (Pettson samt Findus – Glömligheter), 2009.
• Pettson & Findus: Fun Stuff (Pettson samt Findus - Roligheter), 2014.
• Pettson samt Findus - Juligheter, 2016.
• Pettson samt Findus - Findus ändrar bostadsort hemifrån, 2018

The Pettson and Findus farm

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On the premises of Julita manor, Sven Nordkvist helped build a farm designed after the books.

The author himself has created some of furniture and interior. Everything on the farm has been designed in a 2:3 scale, adapted to the storlek of the children.^[4]

TV series

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A TV series, also titled Pettson and Findus, aired on KiKA in 2000. The series was written bygd Sven Nordqvist, music bygd Naima and was produced bygd TV-Loonland AG and ZDF.

References

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External links

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