Mauri Tapio Kunnas (born 11 February 1950) is a Finnish

cartoonist A cartoonist is a visual artist who specializes in both drawing and writing cartoons (individual images) or comics (sequential images). Cartoonists differ from comics writers or comics illustrators/artists in that they produce both the litera ...

and children's author. Kunnas was born in

Vammala Vammala is a former town and municipality of southwestern Finland, chartered in 1907. On 1 January 2009, Vammala was consolidated with the municipalities of Mouhijärvi and Äetsä, to form a new city named Sastamala. Geography Vammala was locat ...

. He

matriculated Matriculation is the formal process of entering a university, or of becoming eligible to enter by fulfilling certain academic requirements such as a matriculation examination. Australia In Australia, the term ''matriculation'' is seldom used now ...

in 1969 and graduated from the University of Art and Design in Helsinki as a

graphic designer A graphic designer is a practitioner who follows the discipline of graphic design, either within companies or organizations or independently. They are professionals in design and visual communication, with their primary focus on transforming ...

in 1975. He has worked as a

political cartoonist An editorial cartoonist, also known as a political cartoonist, is an artist who draws editorial cartoons that contain some level of political or social commentary. Their cartoons are used to convey and question an aspect of daily news or current ...

in many Finnish

newspaper A newspaper is a Periodical literature, periodical publication containing written News, information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as poli ...

s. He lives in

Espoo Espoo (, ; ) is a city in Finland. It is located to the west of the capital, Helsinki, in southern Uusimaa. The population is approximately . It is the most populous Municipalities of Finland, municipality in Finland. Espoo is part of the Helsi ...

with his wife Tarja, children Jenna (1983) and Noora (1987) and their cat. Kunnas is most famous for his numerous children's books, illustrated by himself and featuring

anthropomorphic Anthropomorphism is the attribution of human traits, emotions, or intentions to non-human entities. It is considered to be an innate tendency of human psychology. Personification is the related attribution of human form and characteristics to ...

animals. His most famous children's book series is called ''Koiramäki'' (Dog Hill), set in historical Finland, featuring anthropomorphic

dog The dog (''Canis familiaris'' or ''Canis lupus familiaris'') is a domesticated descendant of the gray wolf. Also called the domestic dog, it was selectively bred from a population of wolves during the Late Pleistocene by hunter-gatherers. ...

s. His other works include ''Riku, Roope ja Ringo'' (Ricky, Rocky and Ringo), some "horror" books and books about

Joulupukki () is a Finnish Christmas figure. The name literally means or in Finnish; the word comes from the Old Swedish word ''bukker'', a cognate of English " buck", meaning . An old Nordic folk tradition, the figure is now often conflated with S ...

. The hordes of clothed animals present in his books by the end of the 1970s led people to compare him to

Richard Scarry Richard McClure Scarry (; June 5, 1919 – April 30, 1994) was an American children's author and illustrator who published over 300 books with total sales of over 100 million worldwide. He is best known for his ''Best Ever'' book series that tak ...

, but as he became more popular and produced even more work the similarities lessened. Kunnas' children's books usually feature some recurring background characters, like Herra Hakkarainen (Mr. Clutterbuck), a sleepwalking goat. Aside of children's books, Kunnas has also drawn a

rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock-n-roll, and rock 'n' roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from African ...

parody comic called '' Nyrok City'' for teenagers and adults. The comic parodies 1970s-1980s era rock and roll culture such as

The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...

and

The Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for over six decades, they are one of the most popular, influential, and enduring bands of the Album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the band pione ...

in a Finnish style. It is one of the few Kunnas works in which the characters are drawn as humans. Despite his fame, he remembered his origins. Much of the scenic imagery in his work comes from his hometown of

with glimpses of its churches and rustic atmosphere. He also did valuable PR work for the Finnish home of

Santa Claus Santa Claus (also known as Saint Nicholas, Saint Nick, Father Christmas, Kris Kringle or Santa) is a legendary figure originating in Western Christian culture who is said to bring gifts during the late evening and overnight hours on Chris ...

in ''Twelve Gifts for Santa Claus'' (USA 1988), and ''Santa and the Magic Drum'' (Otava 1996), the latter of which has also been made into an animated film of the same name in the same year. He recently worked on a grander scale with ''The Canine

Kalevala The ''Kalevala'' () is a 19th-century compilation of epic poetry, compiled by Elias Lönnrot from Karelian and Finnish oral folklore and mythology, telling a story about the Creation of the Earth, describing the controversies and retaliatory ...

'', a new version of the classic Finnish epic more accessible to children as well as cultural sidestep in his version of ''The Knights of King Arthur'' featuring cats in Camelot. He attributes a large part of his success to his good wife Tarja Kunnas who has worked for twenty years as his assistant doing the painting for her husband's drawings.

Awards

Kunnas received the

Pro Finlandia Pro is an abbreviation meaning "professional". Pro, PRO or variants thereof might also refer to: People * Miguel Pro (1891–1927), Mexican priest * Pro Hart (1928–2006), Australian painter * Mlungisi Mdluli (born 1980), South African reti ...

medal in 2002. He was shortlisted for the

Finlandia Prize The Finlandia Prize (; ) is a set of Finnish literary prizes awarded by the Finnish Book Foundation to "celebrate reading and highlight new Finnish first-rate literature." Considered the most prestigious in the nation, they are awarded annually in ...

in the children's and youth literature category in 2017. In 2014 he won the "Vittoria Samarelli Literary Award" (

Castel Goffredo Castel Goffredo (; ) is a (municipality) in the province of Mantua, in Lombardy, northern Italy, from Mantua and a few more from Brescia. It lies in a region of springs at the foot of the slopes that drain into Lake Garda, towards the plain of th ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

).Il premio Vittoria Samarelli all'illustratore Mauri Kunnas

References

External links

Official site
1950 births Living people People from Sastamala Finnish comic strip cartoonists Finnish children's writers Finnish children's book illustrators Finnish comics artists Finnish graphic designers Finnish graphic novelists Finnish parodists Writers who illustrated their own writing {{cartoonist-stub