Who Decides?

In this book we meet the teddy bear from Who’s Angry? and the teddy’s mummy or daddy – we’re not sure which. When the book begins, they’re sitting on the sofa, reading. “Look! A little teddy bear. And a big teddy bear. They’re reading. It looks cosy.” But by the very next picture, the trouble begins. “They’ve finished the book. It’s time for bed. That’s what the big bear thinks. No, that’s wrong! They can just go back to the beginning of the book! That’s what the little bear thinks.” And so it goes on. They need to go to sleep, and in the morning they’re supposed to have breakfast, and every time there’s a problem. The little bear thinks one thing, the big bear something different. Both of them have to learn to give and take, and somehow they sort everything out, despite arguments and lots of tears.

Who Decides? is a little book about big feelings. It deals with a highly topical theme at a time when supernanny is so often needed to sort out problems, and we are beginning to question whether we do too much for our children.

Sold in over a million copies in Sweden alone, Stina Wirsén’s Who series deals with important and difficult topics with impressive simplicity and commitment for both young and old. With sensitivity and a genuine interest for the child’s perspective, Wirsén is masterful at finding the conflict and drama in everyday situations and guiding both the child and parent through all of life’s big emotions.

The stories are seemingly straight-forward, but never one to shy away from the complexity of life, the Who series tackles questions of grief, frustration, jealousy, loneliness, excitement, and joy, always written with warmth and humour. A Swedish Modern Family for children, the family constellations are a reflection of our time, with single mothers and fathers, stepparents, nuclear families and families of two moms or dads. Wirsén is known and beloved for writing the world as it is, rather than how we wish it would be, perfectly suited for the age group without sugar-coating reality.

Madelene Hovstadius

Literary Agent | Fiction & Non-Fiction, Childrens' & YA

madelene.hovstadius@bonnierrights.se

+46 8 696 89 10

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