Franken Claus (2022)

The questions echoed in Fjola’s head. What in the world could they mean? Don’t exist? Then who had left gifts in her shoe? And who would bring her gifts from now on? What had happened to them? Who hobbled over wood floors if not Sheep-Cote Clod? Who slammed doors if not Door-Slammer? Who licked bowls if not Bowl-Licker?

Christmas is coming and Fjola is excited. Soon she’ll put her shoe out in the window, the first Yule Lad comes to town in two days. But then her parents tell her the preposterous news that the Yule Lads don’t exist. Fjola can see right away that this can’t be the case and sets out to put things in order. In the process, it comes in handy that her big brother Hrolfur is obsessed with werewolves, selkies, mermaids, and other creatures of the deep and knows all there is to know about Frankenstein’s monster.

Franken Claus is a side-splitting and exciting Christmas story by Eirikur Orn Norddahl, who has earned a good reputation for his novels and poetry. This is his first book for children, richly illustrated by Elias Runi.

Nominated for the Icelandic Literary Prize 2022, for Children and Young People’s Books Nominated for The Reykjavik Children’s Literature Prize 2022