Specific poetics of Sven Nordqvist's series about Pettson and Findus

The subject of study is the components of the poetics of a literary fairy tale, which is based on the folklore and mythological tradition transformed through the creative consciousness of a Swedish writer Sven Nordqvist. The object of the research is the children’s series about an elderly farmer Pettson and his cat Findus. The research novelty and the relevance of the topic are, on the one hand, in the referral to the works that previously have not received sufficient attention from researchers, and on the other hand - in the fact that Nurdqvist is a representative of Swedish children’s literature and thereby continues the tradition laid down by Selma Lagerl of and Astrid Lindgren. The study was carried out using the genetic historical, biographical, and intertextual methods. As a result of the study, the author of the article establishes that Nurdqvist borrows the image of a magic assistant from fairy tales, endows it with the features of the mythological trickster and subjects it to anthropomorphization. Such a transformation pursues not only an entertaining, but also a didactic goal: taking up all the owner’s free time, a magic cat helps him cope with loneliness.