Author(s)
Timo Parvela
Illustrator(s)
Mervi Lindman
Publication date
2015
Publisher
Tammi
Format info
approx. 100 pages

Ella & Friends in a Pickle

Ella ja kaverit liemessä

Ella &Friends in a Pickle takes readers on a fast-paced adventure bursting with quirky wisdom, offbeat humour and zany situations.

What happens when Ella and her friends drink a milkshake that transforms them into supergeniuses? Their teacher thinks it’s all thanks to his own superior teaching skills and decides to milk the situation for all the happiness, reputation-building and recognition he can. As a result, the teacher and the kids all end up in a real pickle.

Timo Parvela (b.1964) is the number one children’s author in Finland and Ella & Friends is his longest standing series. He is a true master of capturing how children think in familiar situations and he always does it with a sense of humour and a touch of magic.

Schedule

Ella & Friends Role Reversal, 2022
Ella & Friends on a Poop Trail, 2021
Ella & Friends Remote Schooling, 2021
Ella & Friends Finally in 3rd Grade, 2020

Ella & Friends Ahoy There!, due 2020
Ella & Friends Save the Earth, 2019

Ella & Friends as Kings, 2019
Ella & Friends in Concert, 2018
Ella & Friends as Master Chefs, 2018
Ella & Friends on their Way to Scout Jamboree, 2017
Ella & Friends – Horseplay, 2017
Ella & Friends in a Pickle, 2015
Ella & Friends in His Majesty’s Secret Service, 2016
Ella & Friends Build a Magic Machine, 2016
Ella & Friends Babysit, 2015
Ella & Friends Skip School, 2014
Ella & Friends in the Woods, 2013
Ella & the Lost Pointer, 2012
Ella & the Great Deeds of Sampo, 2011
Ella & Friends Have a Party, 2010
Ella & the Night Knight,
2010
Ella Hits the Jackpot, 2009
Ella & F1, 2008
Ella & the Seven Sillies, 2007
Ella – Watch Out for the Children!, 2006
Ella at Sea, 2005
Ella & the Superstar, 2004
Ella in Lapland, 2003
Ella at Night School, 2001
Ella & the New Boy in Class, 2000
Ella & Pete, 1999
Ella & the Holiday Camp, 1998
Ella on a School Trip, 1998
Ella in the Theatre, 1996
Ella & the Blackmailer, 1995

Format

100pp
Black and white drawings

Rights sold

The Ella books have been published in Arabic/ME, Belarusian, Czech, Danish, Estonian, French, German, Hungarian, Italian, Korean, Latvian, Lithuanian, Norwegian, Russian, Slovenian, Spanish, Turkish, Ukrainian, Vietnamese, Sámi and Persian

Reading materials

English series synopsis
French translation
Finnish edition
German translation

Reviews

“Parvela is in in his element. Gorgeous blundering that keeps you entertained.”– Anita Ruckerbauer, BN-News, Germany

“The Ella books are one of very few book about school that you even want to read during the holidays!”– Die Zeit, Germany

“Guaranteed nonsense and deliusions with Ella and her friends!” – Stéphane Larue, France

“Clever, genuinely funny… with a perfect dose of emotion.”– Savon Sanomat newspaper 

Extract:

Ella’s teacher is stressed out. He’s got tummy-ache and he’s nervous. That’s why his wife made him a stress milkshake. However, the milkshake has some unexpected effects on the pupils after the teacher gives his nasty-tasting morning drink to them.

“Anna, Anu and Ari want to share these nine apples equally among themselves. How many does each one get?” the teacher asked.

“Three,” said Tuukka.

“Wrong,” Hanna objected. “The picker should get one apple extra as a bonus for their trouble.”

“Right, so the shares would be 4, 2½ and 2½,” Tiina responded.

“But the apples are different sizes. The question shouldn’t be how many apples each person gets, but how much,” I reasoned.

“So they should mash up the apples first, weigh them and measure their volume. That’s the only fair way to divide them up,” Samppa added.

“But what if Ari’s allergic to apples? What does he get then?” asked Pukari.

“I think it’s stupid to eat the apples right away. It’d be better to bury them in the ground and grow three whole apple trees for each person, and then they can either eat or sell the harvest,” Pate said, ending the discussion.

We grinned. Suddenly we had become really smart.

Our teacher, on the other hand, stared at us and then pinched himself. We didn’t think that was very smart.