{{Short description|Finnish writer}} [[File:Timo Parvela.JPG|thumb|225px| - Timo Parvela at the annual Helsinki Book Fair in 2009.]] '''Timo Parvela''' (born 19 May 1964 in Jyväskylä) is a Finnish author of juvenile fiction.

Parvela matriculated from secondary school in 1983 and graduated from Jyväskylä Teacher Training College in 1988.<ref name="cv">[http://www.kolumbus.fi/timo.parvela/sivut/cv.html Timo Parvela, partial bibliography], accessed 7 May 2011.</ref> He worked at a series of elementary school teaching posts for six years &mdash; first in Petäjävesi in the Jyväskylä sub-region and later in Espoo &mdash; until the mid-1990s.<ref name="cv" /> Since 1996 he has been a freelance writer.

In addition to numerous children's books he has written television screenplays both for children's audiences and for adults, as well as scripts for Finnish radio.

==Brief story summaries== In ''Poika'' (1989) an uncertain Everyboy, who communicates more easily with his grandfather and with his dog than with his parents, meets Everygirl.<ref name="ibby92">[http://www.literature.at/viewer.alo?objid=14789&viewmode=fullscreen&rotate=&scale=2.5&page=11 Finland (Finnish)], ''IBBY Honour List 1992'', p. 9, Austrian Literature Online (ALO), 2009. Accessed 7 May 2011.</ref>

''Keinulauta'' ("Seesaw", 2006) portrays Pii, a lonely girl meditatively seeking a second person to sit on the empty end of her seesaw.<ref name="fin2006">[http://www.hs.fi/english/article/1135223381047 "Finlandia Junior Prize awarded to children's book"], ''Helsingin Sanomat'', 12 January 2006. Accessed 7 May 2011.</ref>

==Recurring-character series== One of Parvela's series relates the adventures of the twins Anna and Antti, but he is perhaps most popular for his series of ''Ella'' books, which are prescribed as school readers in his native Finland. The focus of the latter series is Ella, a primary-school student who tells of her daily life and schooling. In the series are at least 18 books, a few of which have been translated from Finnish into German and Polish. All of the German translations have been recorded as audiobooks as well. In ''Ella luokkaretkellä'' ("Ella's class trip", 1997), for example, a solicitous teacher, concerned that each schoolchild's day pack is aboard the bus, forgets his own bag in the schoolyard; travelling without money, the class's adventures during the outing to the city are humorously narrated by seven-year-old Ella.<ref name="ibby2000">[http://www.literature.at/viewer.alo?objid=14793&viewmode=fullscreen&rotate=&scale=2.5&page=15, Finland (Finnish)], ''IBBY Honour List 2000'', p. 13, Austrian Literature Online (ALO), 2009. Accessed 7 May 2011.</ref>

Producer Juha Wuolijoki is also planning a film, based on some of the books in the ''Ella'' series, to be directed by Taneli Mustonen. Wuolijoki expects filming to begin in the summer of 2011.<ref name="biopic">Juha Wuolijoki interview, "[http://www.nordiskfilmogtvfond.com/news_story.php?cid=2601&sid=11&ptid=4 From Santa To Hella Wuolijoki Biopic]", Nordisk Film & TV Fond, 28 January 2011. Accessed 6 May 2011.</ref>

Other popular characters created by Timo Parvela are '''Maukka and Väykkä'''. Maukka is a cat and Väykkä is a dog and they live in a sky blue house on the top of the hill. Below the hill there is a village where their friends live. Maukka and Väykkä are totally different characters and their life is familiar and safe but also crazy and fun. Books feature many kind of topics from getting old ("Maukka, Väykkä ja Karhu Murhinen", 2012) to being the first and being famous ("Maukan ja Väykän satukirja", 2013). Maukka and Väykkä books are targeted for children around 3–7 years and adults can also enjoy reading them as they describe everyday events in a very truthful and compassionate way. There are 9 Maukka and Väykkä books created by Timo Parvela. Books have been translated into German, Japanese, and Chinese. All books are illustrated by Virpi Talvitie, a Finnish illustrator and graphic artist.

==Selected works== ===Books in Finnish=== * 1989: ''Poika'' ("A boy"). {{ISBN|978-951-31-2133-4}}. * 1990: ''Puhuva koira'' ("The talking dog"). {{ISBN|978-951-30-9519-2}} * 1992: ''Pelkotiloja'' ("Anxiety") * 1993: ''Pikkuveljet ja taika-avain'' ("Little brothers and the magic key") * 1994: ''Ohutta yläpilveä'' ("Cirrus clouds") * 1995: ''Hilma ja Pingviini'' ("Hilma and the penguin") * 1996: ''Isäni on supermies'' ("My dad the superman") * 1997: ''Ella luokkaretkellä'' ("Ella's class trip") {{ISBN|951-31-1063-X}} * 1999: ''Ansa ja Oiva'' ("Ansa and Oiva") * 2000: ''Outo juttu'' ("A strange tale") * 2000: ''Ansa ja Oiva suurkaupungissa'' ("Ansa and Oiva in the city"). {{ISBN|978-951-0-24894-2}} * 2001: ''Sanoo isä'' ("Dad says") * 2002: ''Mitä siihen sanot, isä?'' ("What do you say, dad?") * 2004: ''Hilma ja täydellinen lemmikkieläin'' ("Hilma and her perfect pet") * 2005: ''Hilma ja hyvä harrastus'' ("Hilma and her fine hobby") * 2006: ''Keinulauta'' ("Seesaw"). {{ISBN|978-951-0-31901-7}}

===School texts=== * 2002: ''Tammen Kultainen aapinen'' ("Golden oak primer")<ref name="cv" /> * 2003: ''Tammen Kultainen lukukirja'' ("Golden oak reader")<ref name="cv" />

===Published German translations=== * 2007: ''Ella in der Schule'' ("Ella at school"), Carl Hanser-Verlag, 144&nbsp;pp., {{ISBN|978-3-446-20893-3}} * 2008: ''Ella in der zweiten Klasse'' ("Ella in second grade"), Carl Hanser-Verlag, 160&nbsp;pp., {{ISBN|978-3-446-23110-8}} * 2009: ''Ella auf Klassenfahrt'' (originally ''Ella luokkaretkellä'' (1997), "Ella's class trip"), Carl Hanser-Verlag, 160&nbsp;pp., {{ISBN|978-3-446-23385-0}}; also available as an audio CD read by Friedheim Ptok. Igel Records, {{ISBN|978-3-89353-284-1}} * 2010: ''Ella und der Superstar'', Carl Hanser-Verlag, 160&nbsp;pp., {{ISBN|978-3-446-23590-8}}; also available as an audio CD read by Friedheim Ptok. Igel Records, {{ISBN|978-3-89353-330-5}}

=== Published English translations === * 2016: ''Bicycling to the Moon'', 128pp., {{ISBN|978-1-776570-32-4}}<ref>{{cite book|last1=Parvela|first1=Timo|title=Bicycling to the Moon|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Mb5eDAAAQBAJ&q=bicycling%20to%20the%20moon|publisher=Gecko Press|language=en|date=1 August 2016|isbn=9781776570317}}</ref>

==Awards== * 1991: Central Finland Regional Arts Award * 1992: One of the IBBY Honour List awardees for his 1989 book ''Poika'' ("A boy"), of which the judging committee wrote, "The author shows an extraordinary command of modern Finnish, and he conveys his protagonist's thoughts in fresh and authentic language not often found in books for young people."<ref name="ibby92" /> * 2000: One of the IBBY Honour List awardees for his 1997 book ''Ella luokkaretkellä'' ("Ella's class trip").<ref name="ibby2000" /> * 2006: Finlandia Junior Award (€26,000) for children's and youth literature, for ''Keinulauta'' ("Seesaw"), a prize shared equally by his illustrator Virpi Talvitie, who helped develop the idea for the book.<ref name="fin2006" /> Contest judge Jukka Virtanen praised ''Keinulauta'' as "exciting, funny, wise and beautiful."<ref name="fin2006" />

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== {{Portal|Children's literature}} * [https://web.archive.org/web/20110607205742/http://lue.wsoy.fi/parvela Timo Parvela's website] * [https://www.amazon.com/Timo-Parvela/e/B0045AQPL4/ref=dp_byline_cont_book_1 Timo Parvela's Amazon biography] * [https://geckopress.com/author_illustrator/timo-parvela/ Timo Parvela biography on Gecko Press]

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Parvela, Timo}} Category:1964 births Category:Living people Category:People from Jyväskylä Category:Finnish children's writers Category:Writers from Central Finland Category:Finnish-language writers Category:21st-century Finnish writers