Kari Stai
Yesper and Noper. The Neighbour

The fourth book in the series about Yesper and Noper deals with the unfamiliar. One day, Yesper and Noper see that they have a new neighbour. Yesper is happy, while Noper is extremely sceptical, building a tall fence to stop their neighbour coming to see them. Yesper builds a bridge precisely to enable the neighbours to visit each other. Hasn’t Yesper heard that you’re not supposed to talk to strangers? When their neighbour suddenly closes the curtains, Noper thinks this is clear proof: the neighbour has something to hide!
The team of Yesper and Noper still have totally different approaches to life and to the world: Yesper always says ‘yes’, while Noper always says ‘no’. This time, Noper manages to persuade Yesper that their neighbour must either be a thief or a monster, so they decide to do whatever they can to stop the thief or monster getting into their house. Of course, things don’t go quite according to plan, and their neighbour turns out to be somebody who can help then when things go wrong, as this person who has moved into the neighbourhood is actually a firefighter. The Neighbour deals with fear of the unknown and the realisation that what might seem unfamiliar or scary can be quite wonderful, if only you can bring yourself to reach out to the unknown.

Previous titles:
1: Yesper and Noper (2008), 2: Yesper and Noper. The Thief Strikes Back (2012), 3: Yesper and Noper and the Empty Room (2014)

Kari Stai

Kari Stai (b. 1974) is a Norwegian illustrator, author and artist. She is graduated from the Oslo National Academy of the Arts with an MA in Visual Communication, in addition to studies at other Norwegian art colleges. Besides the Yesper and Noper-series she has published other picture books including the board books Mopp and Mikko (2010). In 2021 she made the illustrated novel So-so Happy (for readers 9 – 12). She has also illustrated a wide range of books by other writers.