Hello!
I’m Jenni Erkintalo, and I create picture books for children.
Artist Statement
In my picture books, I explore questions of identity, belonging, and emotional growth through visual storytelling and narrative playfulness. I am especially interested in how images and words can work together to create space for empathy, curiosity, and imagination.
When creating books for children, my goal is to make them feel seen, accepted, and empowered just as they are. I believe that picture books can offer children both comfort and courage: comfort in recognizing themselves in stories, and courage to grow into their own voice and tell their own story.
Nature, the sea, and the forest are recurring elements in my work, reflecting both my everyday surroundings and my interest in slowness, wonder, and observation. As an author, illustrator, and publisher, I work from a creator-driven perspective and value artistic integrity, collaboration, and the international dialogue of picture books.
Watch a short video in which I share reflections on my creative process and approach to making picture books.
Biography
I am Jenni Erkintalo (b. 1978, Rauma), a children’s book author, illustrator, and publisher. I studied at the University of Art and Design Helsinki (TAIK) and at Konstfack University of Arts, Crafts and Design in Stockholm. I live in Lauttasaari, Helsinki, close to the sea, and I also have a part-time cabin in Nuuksio.
I have written and illustrated ten picture books, as well as two non-fiction books, and I have illustrated one picture book and one non-fiction book by other authors. The most recent book I have both written and illustrated is Jalkapallojahti (Football Hunt), to be published in January 2026. Mato ja metsä (Worm and the Forest, Etana Editions, 2024), my latest authored picture book prior to that, is currently traveling the world as part of the Kollektivet exhibition. It is an independent sequel to Mato ja meri (Worm and the Sea, Etana Editions, 2019), which received the White Ravens distinction in 2020.
The picture book Kuka ihana? (Who Is My Treasure?), which I both wrote and illustrated, was shortlisted for the Finlandia Prize for Children’s and Young Adult Literature in 2024. The illustrations from the book were selected for the longlist of the Illustrators Exhibition at the Bologna Children’s Book Fair in 2024 and is representing Finland at the Biennial of Illustration Bratislava in 2025.
I received an honorary mention of the Punni Prize for my book Millainen minä? (What Am I Like?, Etana Editions, 2016). My books have been translated into Spanish, Galician, Japanese, Hindi, Chinese, and Korean.
In recent years, I have focused on leading Etana Editions, a picture book publishing house specializing in children’s picture books, which I co-founded with Réka Király in 2014. Etana Editions was awarded the State Prize for Children’s Culture in 2020. The jury highlighted the publishing house as a new, creator-driven model for children’s picture book publishing in Finland, praising its artistic quality and its role in internationalizing Finnish picture books.
Over the past ten years, I have been involved in publishing approximately 100 children’s picture books. Books I have illustrated or designed have received Most Beautiful Books of the Year awards from the Finnish Book Art Committee in 2009 and annually from 2015 to 2025.
From 2016 to 2019, I served on the board of IBBY Finland and represented Finland at the IBBY International Seminar in Bratislava in 2017. I am currently serving for the seventh consecutive year on the international jury of dPICTUS, evaluating Unpublished Picture Book Cases, and I will serve on the board of the Finnish Institute for Children’s Literature for a two-year term from 2023 to 2025. In 2026, I will also serve as a juror for the Illustrators Exhibition at the Bologna Children’s Book Fair.
Before moving into the book field eleven years ago, I worked as an Art Director at Miltton and as a freelance graphic designer.
