A young adder sets out to find a safe place to sleep through the coming winter, and meets the oldest creature of the forest along the way. A childlike look into the Finnish forest and its turning year — and the book whose original illustrations were exhibited at the Finnish Museum of Natural History in 2025.
Onnimanni 4/2024 translated from Finnish
Kissa Koskinen is still at the beginning of an illustrator's career, but their personal style already sets them apart from the rest. Their previous and first illustration work was for their grandmother Hannele Huovi's verse tale Simpukka. Koskinen's angles are exciting and varied; recognisable creatures and fantasy figures scurry along the forest paths together with ease.
Kangasalan Sanomat translated from Finnish
Illustrated as if it were a work of art, Kyni ja metsän vanhin tells of a young adder's adventure. Kyni is still small when it has to start looking for a safe place to sleep through the coming winter. — Beautifully written and illustrated, the story offers a childlike glimpse into the Finnish forest and its turning year.
The Kyni ja Kaarnakas exhibition takes visitors on a journey into the depths of the forest, following a young adder named Kyni on its way towards winter sleep. The exhibition shows both illustrations from the book and original works painted in watercolour. Adders are the subject of many misconceptions and beliefs. Kyni ja metsän vanhin is exceptional in that Finnish children’s literature has never before had an adder as its main character. With their book, Koskinen and Niemelä wanted to highlight the protection and empathy that the forest’s smallest inhabitants deserve.
…On my school visits we often talk about how the world — an ordinary nearby forest, or familiar species — holds a great many things we do not yet know. There is plenty left to study for the generations to come. On school visits, Kyni ja metsän vanhin (2024, illustrated by Kissa Koskinen), for example, usually gets the whole group telling their own adder stories and getting excited about all the wildly interesting things I found while researching the world of adders.…
