Freya and the Snake

Fredrik Sonck & Jenny Lucander

“MURDERER!” I shout at dad.
He looks surprised. Then he says it was a shame to have to kill the snake.
“Then why did you?!” I say and run away.

Freya and her family are at their summer cottage. Under the patio, a viper lives. Little brother Hugo is only a year old and toddles around carelessly. What are they going to do? Dad tries to trap it in a bucket but fails, and finally kills it. Freya sees it and cannot forgive him.

A picture book about the first time a young child sees her dad do something wrong, how he shrinks in her eyes. About snakes and people, about different generation’s view on nature, and how hard it can be for parents to truly say sorry. This is the second book about Freya and her family.

Awards

Nominated for the 2024 Nordic Council Children and Young People’s Literature Prize

The jury’s praise: “It is an extraordinary everyday story about existentialism and humanity told from a child’s perspective, with masterful illustrations that interact well with the story.”

Press voices

“Can be read multiple times. (…) Every page is like an artwork in itself, and a joy to the eye, both for children and adults.”  Sydsvenskan

“Together Sonck and Lucander have created an exciting and warm book about feelings – Both for the child itself and also for the relations in the family.” Svenska Yle

“This is a great picture book that asks a lot of questions about life and death and whether a snake has the same right to exist as any other living creature.” BTJ

”The book shows with responsiveness and warmth how to handle a conflict in the family, that dads also can make mistakes, that you can like each other anyway and do better next time” Vasabladet

Books by the same illustrator