What Does The Animal Say?

Original title: Hur låter djuren?

Who knows what the frog, the blowfish or the snail sound like? What about the forest mouse and the enormous tiger? And when the bumblebee sneezes, what sound echoes through the woods? Guessing right is trickier than it seems! In Clara Dackenberg’s giggling bestiary, every answer is a surprise. What Do the Animals Say? is a colorful, witty, and delightfully noisy picture book to read aloud again and again.

Clara Dackenberg is a children’s book illustrator and visual artist based in Malmö. She studied at University of Design and Crafts in Gothenburg and holds an MFA from Konstfack University of Arts, Crafts and Design in Stockholm. Her illustrations often blend humor, folklore, and meticulous craftsmanship, resulting in images full of texture and imagination.

Dackenberg has been nominated for the August Prize, the Elsa Beskow Plaque, and the Runeberg Junior Prize, and received the Ilon Wikland Scholarship. What Do the Animals Say? is her first self-authored picture book and a 2025 August Prize nominee.

“What sound does the frog make in Clara Dackenberg’s elegant flirtation with the medieval bestiary? Well, it’s certainly not ribbit! With page-turning as its engine, this interactive picture book invites readers into a witty play of surprise, where drama and comedy hide within the visual details. A riot against facts and a delightful artistic experience, wrapped in an irresistible package.”

— The August Prize jury (2025)