Ant that went to the doctor's

Z. Topelius: Myran som for till doktorn
Illustrated by Aleksander Lindeberg 2011
In Finnish: Muurahainen joka lähti lääkäriin

An old fairy tale about a child ant that breaks his leg. His mother is takes him to town to look for help and finds a doctor who can do that with the help of a grasshopper.

The mother never gives up and the child finally gets his leg back.





The story's lesson is never to give up and if you want something work hard at it. This seemed to be Topelius' main purpose in his stories: to teach the children about life.


Are the modern fairy tales just for fun or do they have some deeper meaning as well? I am glad that these old stories still get published. In some way they are part of our cultural history and maybe some child will learn someting. At least they can enjoy the fantastic illustrations of Alexander Lindeberg. He illustrated this book back in the 1960s, but the book got published only few years ago.

Pictures from Finnish Children's lives

Rudlof Waldemar Åkerblom 1983: Kuvia suomen lasten elämästä
first edition printed in 1882
rhymes Juhani H. (=P.J. Hannikainen)



Ten drawings about the children's lives in Finland in 19th century. This book was the first picture book written in Finnish and printed in four colors. P.J Hannikainen (1854-1924) was a famous finnish music educator and composer. At the same time this book was published in Swedish by the name Finsk bilderbook.


 

The pictures are delicate and it amazes me that even today the children ride their hobby horses and sled during the winter. The equipment for playing have changed. In the book is also a drawing of a child in Lappland. He takes care of the reindeer. In another picture the children are fishing with a trident in a near by river. You can see the white water. To me it looked scary.

Finnish picturebook

Venny SoldanBrofeldt and Juhani Aho 1983,
first edition 1894

Artist couple writer Juhani Aho and his painter wife Venny Soldan-Brofeldt made this book over hundred years ago. The drawings portray the lives of ordinary people. Every drawing has a kalevala type of rhyme.

This book was an accomplishment in time when picture books were not yet set as a type of literature.

This book was printed again in 2009 to celebrate WSOY's 125 anniversery.

The images are very delicate. Needless to say that my boys  were not interested in this book at all. The title says this was meant for children and youths. I cannot imagine any teenager reading this book today, exept for studying the drawing style or rhymes. Did they read it in the late 1890s? What did they get out of it?