The Estonian Children’s Literature Centre and the Ministry of Culture have a lovely custom of presenting all newborns with the book ‘Tiny tree’ (‘Pisike puu’ in Estonian). In 2018, on the initiative of the organisers of the Estonian centenary celebrations, every child born to an Estonian citizen abroad and added to the Estonian population register will also be gifted the book.
The title of the book ‘Tiny tree’ derives from a poem of the same name by poet Ott Arder and is also included in the book. The collection contains poems and stories selected from the works of renowned and beloved authors of children’s literature. The book includes beloved old stories that many generations have grown up with some brand new tales, as well as some fairy tales and poems for children that are linked together by the wonderful illustrations of artist Catherine Zarip. The idea behind the collection is to present a varied selection that would address everyone – those reading the book to a child, the little ones who are listening, and every young reader. The presentation of the book is combined with formal events organised by Estonian local governments to welcome the newborns and congratulate the new parents. Parents who are unable to participate in the festive event can collect their child’s gift from their local library. The book can be collected abroad at Estonian Representations. The Estonian Ministry of Foreign Affairs is helping with the distribution of books.
See the list of Estonian Representations.
Read more about the book from here (in Estonian).