Agnes and the Garden of Dreams

Tuutikki Tolonen

Original title: Agnes ja unien avain

Author: Tuutikki Tolonen

Illustrator: Kati Vuorento

Published: 2020

Publisher: WSOY

Genre: Middle Grade (8-12 Years)

Pages: 200

Part of a series: Agnes series

Reading material

English sample & synopsis

Moving to a new city is frightening enough for 11-year-old Agnes. But when she makes an exciting discovery at the local cemetery, the summer isn’t the same anymore!

Everything began on that one summer day when Agnes walked through the cemetery gate. She had just moved to a boring new town and left behind her old home and friends. But then something strange happened and her life became more exciting than ever!

She finds a tombstone that has the name Agnes on it – and the same birthday as hers! From that day on, Agnes keeps having dreams of a girl who hides a key in a beautiful garden. When Agnes stumbles upon the same garden, she knows she must find the key. But what will it open?

Winner of LukuVarkaus Award 2021!

Nominated for Arvid Lydecken Award 2021!

Nominated for Runeberg Junior Award 2021!

Praise:

"Fast-paced mystery plot and relatable strong characters." – Helsingin Sanomat newspaper

”This book has the reader hooked up from the beginning! One has to read a chapter after chapter – even though it would be time to sleep.”
– Maaseudun tulevaisuus newspaper

”Oh how wonderful this book is! The story hooks you up immediately!” – Yöpöydän kirjat blog

”It was a book that made me want to scream of happiness and jump around the room in excitement. A perfect book!
– Hemulin kirjahylly blog

”The mystery plot begins from the first pages and fulfills all expectations. The characters are great, and the story manages to remind you of the importance of normal life, and the power of friendship.”
– Kallellaan kertomuksiin blog

”Mystery that grabs one’s attention, and is fast to read! – Lasten kirjahylly blog

Download reading materials

Rights sold:
FINLAND: WSOY (orig.)
CZECH REPUBLIC: Portál, s. r. o.
DENMARK: ABC Forlag
ESTONIA: Eesti Raamat
GERMANY: Carlsen Verlag
HUNGARY: Cerkabella
ROMANIA: Editura Paralera 45
RUSSIA: Rosman

Video

Foreign covers

About author

Tuutikki Tolonen

Tuutikki Tolonen is the author of several acclaimed children’s books, plays and academic articles. She teaches creative writing and has worked as an editor and reporter at Vinski, a Finnish literary magazine for children. For Monster Nanny she received the Arvid Lydecken award. Her inspiration for the Monster Nanny trilogy sparked during a family breakfast. “My son Leo, then six, said: ‘I heard on the radio yesterday that all moms have to go on vacation and monsters will take their places,” she says.

Her other bestselling series is the Agnes-series, of which the first book "Agnes and the Garden of Dreams" was in 2021 nominated for the Arvid Lydecken Award, received an honorable mention for the Runeberg Junior Award, and won the Luku Varkaus Award. Tolonen tells that the inspiration for Agnes comes for her interest for weird and inexpicable tales, ghost stories and mysteries: "I wanted to write a book my daughter Aili, then nine, would like to read - not too long, not too scary, but very curious."

Tuutikki is nominated for the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award 2026.

Photo credit: Otto Virtanen