Lemming Fall

Heikki Willamo 1998: Siiri Sopulin syksy

Siiri is a young lemming, who has been eating well in the summer. In the fall, she notices that the other lemmings are getting restles. Where are they all going?

Siiri wants to go with and she follows them. The lemmings form queues. She even swims when the walkabout takes her to the lake shore.

Siiri also visits a human garden, where she meets chickens, a cat and children.  She has to get back to the forest. There she meets another danger: a harvester, which cuts down trees.  She keeps on walking and soon she is back home.

When she has spend a few days, she meets Sampo. Siiri had thought all the other lemmings had left and was glad to see some body else.


Sampo and Siiri meet and old lemming, two years old, who tells them stories about walkabout. The lemmings in the forest do not start walking every year, but it occurs usually, when there are too many lemmings in the forest.  Also those who leave, often do not come back.

Lovely photos of forest lemmings.

Swatter

Kaija Pispa 2006: Kärpäslätkää
Illustrations: Elina Warsta

This name was hard to translate, since "lätkä" also means hockey in Finnish. Cute poems about bed bugs, cows that go crazy. Swans that leasurely swim by the lake, whining crow and many ohers.

My personal favourite is the "Biological reality", where the lesson is that if the owl does not feed its young, the young keep crying.

Second favourite is the "Spastic asparagus", which really does not make any sense, but is fun to read.

Biological reality on the right.

I, Sweetie and Forest

Lena Frölander-Ulf 2016: Minä, Muru ja Metsä

Mom loves the cottage and the forest, but for a small child it is a scary place. It is so dark and you are supposed to go to the forest to pee. Mom says take a flash light.

The dark forest is full of scary noises and suddely the battery of the flashlight dies. The child, which can be a boy or a girl, meets strange creatures and finally pees under the stars.

At the end s/he finds a way back to the cabin and s/he is not so afraid any more.







The August nights are getting darker, but I assume that this book happens in September or October. The illustrations remind me of  the illustrations of Hans Arnold, but with a modern twist.  Again here is a reminder of the value of the summer houses or cottages to Finnish people, the simple life is precious - at least some for some parts of the year.

Daugther of the Sun - Sámi fairy tales

Elina Helander-Renvall ed. 2012: Auringon tytär Saamelaisia satuja
English translation: Liisa Reinikainen

Five fairy tales in three different languages: Finnish, Sámi and English. The illustrations are made by the art Sudents of University of Lapland.

The stories explain for example how yoik singing was found. How nothing good comes from seeing the Christmas Spirits or Wanderers.

Ville Kanabro: Christmas Wanderers

A beautiful book with, even to me, exotic illustrations.

Nose toward school

Tuula Korolainen, Marjo Nygård 2010: Kuono kohti koulua

The school for small mice opens its doors and the teacher is just as nervous as the students. The beginning is a bit slow, but soon the teacher and the children learn, how to work together.

The book tells about learning and getting along with different personalities, even though some are moles and others are mice. In the end even a magpie wants to come to school, while it seems so much fun.









This week school is starting in Finland and the first graders are eager to be big kids. The difference between the preschoolers and first-graders couldn't be bigger. I get a little crazy every year withe the school supplies: all the lovely pencases and pencils that aren't for sale at any other time of the year.

Good, good night

Karoliina Blackburn 2008: Hyvää, hyvää yötä
Illustrated by Tuomas Mäkelä

Bear Eikka Messevä's best friend Canada goose Siiri is moving south for the winter. Eikka is going to miss her very much, so he tries to glue the leaves back to the branches and hopes that winter won't come. Siiri leaves, Eikka is supposed to start hibernation, but he cannot.

Eikka meets rabbit family and  herd of reindeer, but they just irritate him. Finally gang of Foxes are so energetic and get him to "fall asleep".


Hibernation is talviuni in Finnish, which directly translated is winter sleep. Many Finns have sleeping problems. This book doesn't actually apply to the humans.

This book has classic streotypes of the animals: rabbits have many kids, reindeers are kind of goofy and foxes are quick and sly.

Big Walrus and Little Walrus

Maire Uotila 2009: Isomursu ja pikkumursu

Little Walrus is waiting for his dad Big Walrus, who is a sailor. Satyrday is sauna day and blueberry pie day, but this Saturday is special, because dad is coming home.

Big Walrus has a surprise: he is taking Little Walrus with him. Together they see cities with trams, eat ice cream, speak mur-mur language with bears. Walrus is mursu in Finnish and therefore they can speak it.

Usually I like illustrations that are very accurate, but this book is so retro and the illustrations are black and blue that it is very cute.

I do not know anything about sailing and waiting for dad, but I can relate to the fact that Saturday is sauna day and on Saturdays Mom would have the time to bake,blueberry pies or sweet rolls.

The reptiles and amphibians of Finland

Antti Koli 2016: Suomen matelijat ja sammakkoeläimet

Since Finland is so cold, there are few reptiles and amphibians. There is only one poisonous snake and two others, which get mixed up all the time. So innocent snakes get killed far too often. Then there is a legless slowworm that gets also whacked, because people are afraid of snakes.



This book is full of photographs of these mysterious animals. Everyone should read it and try to live in peace with them.





 It is good for me to say all this, since I have never seen alive snake, so I cannot tell, how I would react to a snake.  All I know is tha my grandfather was bitten by a viper in the 1970s and he spend a week in he hospital. I am sure it was a frightening situation for my mother, but it was 40 years ago. Maybe it is time to move to the next millenium.

The mousefamily von Harmaja protects nature

Irja Nikkinen 2009: Kotimetsän paras kirja, von Harmajan hiiriperhe suojelee luontoa
illustraded by Milla Koivunen

Von Harmaja family lives a buzy life. Then Grandpa and Tiina find a eco learning book and they get the family to save water, recycle and save energy. The kids swap their toys, they stop taking baths and stop buying unnessary plastic bags.

The book teaches kids how important it is to think about the environment and make responsible choices. I am big on turning out the lights, but today the led lamps really do not spend that much energy, but I have been taught to turn them out so that is what I do.

Life in the iron age

Aira Savisaari and Janne Harju 2004: Possu Annikki, Ilves Ilomieli ja Karhu Ilmari : kertomus siitä kuinka karhu Ilmari takoi veden hopeasta onnen: kilkutteli ja kalkutteli, kolme päivää kolisteli

Pig Annikki, Bear Ilmari and Bobcat Ilomieli live near a birch rattling rapids. Annikki is worried about the food running out after a hard winter. She believes silver would make her happy. Bear Ilmari thinks about it and decides to forge a silvery blanket out of the silver of the water for Pig Annikki. After all he is a smith. After finnishing the blanket, it is so cold that they cannot sleep under it.

Then arrives the vikings, Fox Sinihammas the viking chief wants the blanket, but he does not have enough silver for it. He steels it along with pig Annikki's cauldron. Pig Annikki gets mad, not about the blanket but the pot. How is she supposed to make dinner without it?

All three go after the vikings, it turns out the blanket turns into water outside the home waters. The vikings return the cauldron and promise to help with the household chores. Bear Ilmari gives them three iron nails as a token of good will. They will trade in the future. Pig Annikki also realizes that silver does not bring happiness. The wind in the birch branches and the light of the sky is may be.

At the end is a list of different months in the iron age. There used to be seven of them. Some months like Wintermonth in November-December and Summermonth in June-July were longer than others.

I especially like the wording in this book: "possu Annikin peittoa oli paikattu: pitkin poloisen possun peittoa pötkötti paikka paikan päällä." It describes, how pig Annikki's blanket was patched.  I also liked the simplisity and teaching of the book. I guess in every Finn there still is a part of the iron age left. In my opinion, we don't need much.

This book has also been translated into French:Dame Cochon, messire l'Ours et le Lynx chanteur : ou comment Ilmari, l'Ours forgeron, en forgeant, martelant et battant pendant trois jours, transforma l'argent de l'eau en bonheur.