Chop Chop

Linda Bondestam is one of the most celebrated illustrators in the Nordic countries. She is the illustrator and author of dozens of children’s books that have been translated into more than ten languages, including Good Night, Earth (2021) and My Life At the Bottom (2022). She was awarded the Snöbollen for Swedish Picture Book of the Year in 2016 and the Nordic Council Children and Young People’s Literature Prize in 2017 for Djur som ingen sett utom vi (Animals no one has seen except us). She lives in Helsinki, Finland. A. A. Prime is an award-winning translator who particularly enjoys magical stories for young people. She loves her work because it is the perfect combination of fastidious academia and dreamlike nonsense.

"Part of the book’s appeal is its humour. Bondestam includes jokes for the adult audience such as a reference to the song ‘Öppna landskap’ (Open Landscapes) by Ulf Lundell. The irony of one robot being replaced by another robot is also not lost on mature readers (...) Children may especially connect with Chop Chop’s size in the illustrations. Unlike the other robots, he is small, not the height of the adult characters in the book, but just the size of the children."— Elizabeth Lutz, Swedish Book Review"In Chop Chop, Bondestam curiously explores the picture book format through landscape panoramas, illustrations that bleed beyond their frames, and an unusually high page count for a picture book. The contrasting yet subtly smudged colour palette works effectively alongside sharp and concise phrases and snappy dialogue. Form, colour, and text combine seamlessly into a cohesive and compelling picture book narrative. With Chop Chop, Bondestam continues to boldly explore the picture book format both in content and form. As in My Life at the Bottom, she demonstrates a unique ability to (children’s) literarily portray burning contemporary societal issues. Neither climate catastrophe, war, nor the end of the world are foreign themes in this cohesive body of work, which warmly and rebelliously insists on conversations about the conditions for life on our planet. Even within the themes of robotics and AI versus working life under capitalist terms, Bondestam manages to squeeze out a hopeful vision of new possibilities."— 2025 Nordic Council Children and Young People’s Literature Prize Jury"The size of the book and the choice of materials do justice to the insightful illustrations, which play a key role in the narrative. The illustrations use a wide range of narrative imagery in a varied and justified way. The element of surprise remains until the end of the work. Apart from the effect varnish on the cover, the book has a matte finish throughout, which soothes the reading experience."— The Most Beautiful Books of 2024 Jury