Alphabet City Kids: Story Hour with Marika Maijala

Featuring quarterly visits from authors writing books for elementary-aged children, the Alphabet City Kids series continues this month with Marika Maijala. These family-friendly programs include a reading, followed by a Q&A and an engagement activity with the author to help further bring the book to life for children and their families. 

In this program, Marika shares her newly translated book Rosie Runs as part of its two-week book tour. An energetic creation that began on the pages of Marika’s notebooks, Rosie Runs is the story of a greyhound named Rosie who escapes her track and leaps to freedom. Trapped at the racetrack, Rosie dreams of forests, meadows, and hares and she sprints in endless circles.  One day, Rosie makes a fearless beeline to the enormous world beyond the track. Scared and a little excited too, Rosie runs through shadowy forests, a circus, a bustling train station, and even takes a quick dip alongside a ferry. She keeps running through small towns and whirling cities, observing the gentle, giddy moments of passersby. A starred Publishers Weekly review praised that the book “offers many pleasures: riveting, sustained motion; the suspense of wondering whether Rosie will be captured; and acute observations.” A book about taking in the wide world around you, Rosie Runs beckons young readers to rediscover their favorite hobbies and passions, and revel in the joy of playing and being among new friends

You can purchase your own copy of Marika’s book, Rosie Runs, at City of Asylum Bookstore.

About the Author:

Marika Maijala (she/her) lives and works in Helsinki as an illustrator and children’s book writer. Her debut writing project, Rosie Runs, was nominated for the Nordic Council Children’s and Young People’s Literature Prize, and selected for the Bologna Illustrators Exhibition. In 2020, Marika was nominated for the ALMA Award. Marika works across writing, illustration, visual arts and animation. Her artistic practice draws from play, experiment, and trial and error in the spirit of DIY. Marika’s main creative sources are the realm of narration, which she has loved since childhood, as well as her relationships with other living and non-living creatures. Her versatile body of work includes picture books, art books, paintings, drawings, texts, animations, videos, installations and illustrations for public spaces. Her stories and illustrations have been published worldwide.

About Your Visit: 

The in-house restaurant 40 North will be closed. 

The City of Asylum Bookstore is open after the program, from noon to 6pm.