Crane's Map – Adventure in the Forest of the Aaltos

Written by: Reetta Niemelä
Illustrated by: Eri Shimatsuka
Release date: May 2025
ISBN: 978-952-7581-10-0
Number of pages: 32 pages
Size: 19 x 23 cm
Age recommendation: 3+

The sky is deep blue. Bear and Bunny are practicing somersaults on Kotiniity. A scream echoes in the air. Kra kra kra, kra kra kruu! It's the crane itself. Something falls in front of Bunny's paws. A piece of paper. A strange curl had been drawn on the paper. Does that represent a flying squirrel? Bunny wonders. Or a ghost? - No, Bunny! That's a path in the forest.

Bunny and Bear set out to follow the path left by the crane and discover familiar shapes from Alvar Aalto's designs in their surroundings. The Crane's Map – Adventures with the Cranes
The book in the forest tells about creative thinking and how it is reflected in everyday life. This insightful book gives children the tools to use their own creative thinking. The Crane's Map - Adventure in the Forest of Waves begins the Bunny and the Bear book series.

Eri Shimastuka is a Japanese textile designer, writer and illustrator based in Helsinki. Her designs are inspired by Nordic nature and everyday life, and she has written many books on these subjects. She has designed print designs for various brands in Japan and Finland.

Reetta Niemelä is a distinguished poet and children's author who has written around forty works. She has received, among others, the Runo-Kaarina Prize, the Finnish Writers' Association's First Book Prize, the Southwest Finland Art Prize, the Kaarina Helakisa Prize and the Finnish non-fiction writers' Tietopöllö Prize. Niemelä's works have been translated into Lithuanian, Norwegian, Swedish, German, Danish, Hungarian, Russian and Estonian.

KEYWORDS:
bunny, bear, crane, Alvar Aalto, imagination, forest adventure, design, design education, creative thinking