New Swedish Books, Autumn 2017 1
39 Autumn 2017 In a Big Big Hurry Ebba Forslind (
b. 1985) In a Big Big Hurry Publisher Urax www.uraxforlag.se Rights Koja agency Catharina.Lantz@kojaagency.com Ebba Forslind is an illustrator and artist living in Stockholm. In a Big Big Hurry is her first book. Ebba Forslind debuts with a pitch perfect picture book that takes place during an ordinary but stressful morning, something easy to identify with. A mum and a child rush to work and pre-school, even though neither really wants to go. The bus has already left, they have to gobble down some breakfast on the run, and when they arrive at the pre-school a substitute teacher is there to meet them. The eyes of the child sting and itch. What if something’s gone wrong? What if they have to go home and watch The Little Mermaid instead? The internal struggle is clearly visible in the simple close up of the child and the mother looking at each other. Can we? Are we allowed? Shall we? The strength here lies in recognition. The pre-school children’s bulky shapes beneath layers of autumn outerwear, the child hugging a favourite soft animal tightly when the drop-off becomes difficult, the substitute’s cheerful attempts to lure the child over to the sandpit, the child’s little hand within the mum’s bigger one. The relationship between child and parent is very tenderly portrayed. Photo: Noak Lönn