Tuija Lehtinen (born 12 December 1954 in

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...

) is a Finnish writer. In 1973 she graduated from high school in

Kuopio Kuopio (, ) is a Finnish city and municipality located in the region of Northern Savonia. It has a population of , which makes it the most populous municipality in Finland. Along with Joensuu, Kuopio is one of the major urban, economic, and cult ...

, then in 1978 graduated with a BS from the

University of Oulu The University of Oulu ( fi, Oulun yliopisto) is one of the largest universities in Finland, located in the city of Oulu. It was founded on July 8, 1958. The university has around 13,000 students and 2,900 staff. 21 International Master's P ...

, majoring in statistics. Lehtinen was a freelance journalist from 1979 to 1984 and has since worked as a freelance author. Her best-known works include the ''Mirkka'', ''Laura'' and ''Janne'' novel series. They have been translated into Danish, Swedish, German, Estonian and Japanese. With the love for children as well as for dogs, Tuija took part in the creating of animation series

The Dibidogs ''The Dibidogs'' is an animated television series originated from children's ideas and developed with cooperation between Finnish and Chinese producers. The idea of the series is to build a world of children's creativity where participants are wel ...

as chief scriptwriter. The series’ dog characters and canine world settlement was entirely originated from children's creation, which Tuija became highly enthusiastic about.

animated series has now gained a popularity among children in 28 countries worldwide.Dibitassu
Tervetuloa Dibitassujen maailmaan!
2014 Lehtinen lives in

Espoo Espoo (, ; sv, Esbo) is a city and municipality in the region of Uusimaa in the Republic of Finland. It is located on the northern shore of the Gulf of Finland, bordering the cities of Helsinki, Vantaa, Kirkkonummi, Vihti and Nurmijärvi ...

, is married with two children and has three dogs. She is Chairperson of the Finnish youth writers.

References

Finnish writers Finnish children's writers 1954 births Living people Writers from Helsinki University of Oulu alumni Finnish women children's writers {{Finland-writer-stub