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.

Maltti and Valtti on an almost deserted island

Jerry Mikkelinen and Jussi Ollila 2016: Maltti & Valtti melkein autiolla saarella
illustraded by Teemu Åke.

Maltti and Valtti are back! After their visit to Grandma's, they have a new job to save a shipwreck man. The two traffic park officers get themself also stranded on an island and find many curious things, such as a poo trap, which turns out to be a ancient way to use the toilet.

Maltti and Valtti learn valuable things on the island and it turns out the man was not shipwrecked after all. Ingeniously they get help by sending smoke signals.  The pair teaches wilderenss skills to the reader.

Maltti and Valtti find food on the island.

Maltti and Valtti are terrific charachters, the kids love when adults are clueless. We happend to see the two live at a near by festival and they were funny. Not only the kids but adults too were chuckling at their stories.

Maltti & Valtti live.

Eelis at summer house

Tittamari Marttinen 2006: Eelis mökillä
Illustrated by Anne Peltola

Eelis and his family are packing all kinds of useful stuff to take on their vacation on a summer house. The house smells funny and mice had eaten everything that was left in for the winter.

The vacation starts with cleaning, but luckily Eelis does not have to participate, he can go check his treasures in a secret hiding place. Then his best friend Iiris, arrives with her family. The dad's play darts (the Finnish kind, with only ten circles, most points "10" can be received in the middle).

Then it is time to fo fishing.  Mom is calling everyone to sauna, but the kids ride their bikes to the cafe near by, where they get ice cream.  Back at the summer house Eelis tells Iiris about the outhouse monster, which hides. Suddenly, surprise guests arrive by boat. You never know if they stay for the night or for the week. With sauna the families and friends roast sausages by the fire.

Next day is beautiful and the children spend the day in the lake swimming. Then the weather changes and it starts to rain. The kids play inside.

When you are invited to a summer house, be prepared: it can be a cartboard box with no electricity and an out house or it can be a luxurious log house with a hot tub. Nonetheless all Finns are very proud of their summer houses and are very hospitable. Be also prepared to work in a summer house, there always is something to do, if not chopping wood then taring the roofs.

After Midsummer all Finland closes and most of the Finns can be found in their summer houses.

Mr. Clutterbuck's singing lullaby book

Mauri Kunnas 2015: Herra Hakkaraisen soiva iltalaulukirja
edited by Maarit Pöytsiä

Song by illustrated by images from Mauri Kunnas' books. Most of them are traditional Finnish songs, but the books also includes the famous lullaby by Johannes Brahms and many Swedish songs that have been translated into Finnish.


List of songs: 
Aa-tuuti pientä / trad.
Ro, ro, barnet, suomi (Aa, aa, Heikki) / Tegnér, Alice
Aa, aa allin lasta / trad.
Tuutilullaa lasta / trad.
Iltalaulu / Nyberg, Mikael
Unilintu / trad.
Nuku, nuku nurmilintu / Hannikainen, P. J.
Nuku, nuku lapsi / trad.
Tuu, tuu tupakkarulla / trad.
Tuutulaulu / trad.
Tuuditan tulisoroista / trad.
Lennä, lennä leppäkerttu / trad.
Kuu ja tähdet / trad.
Pii, pii pikkuinen lintu / trad.
Pikkuinen poika / trad.
Kotini / trad.
 Lasse liten, suomi (Pikku Lauri) / Lithenius, Sofie
Körö-körö kirkkoon / trad.
Kehdon ääressä / trad.
Paimenen syyslaulu / Hannikainen, P. J.
Ihme ja kumma / Pokela, Marjatta Satu (Pokela) / Pokela, Marjatta
Tanssivarpaat / Perkiö, Soili
Väriarvoituksia / Perkiö, Soili
Aurinkoa, lintuja ja ystäviä / Kaikkonen, Markku
Ihahaa / Meritähti, Marjatta
Pieni tytön tylleröinen / trad.
Frogg, suomi (Saku Sammakko) / Foley, Dick & Flick, Bob & Kirkland, Mike & Paine, John
Kolme varista / trad.
Mummin luona / Hannikainen, P. J.
Päivänsäde ja menninkäinen / Helismaa, Reino
Sairas karhunpoika / Malmstén, Georg
Mirri sairastaa / Hannikainen, P. J.
Oravan pesä / Hannikainen, P. J.
 Sömanden og stjernerne, suomi (Tähti ja meripoika) / Karlsson, Bror
Etkö ymmärrä / Ohls, Petter
Veden pinnan alla / Meritähti, Marjatta
Intiaanien laulu / trad. Buffalo-Jim / Ollaranta, Jorma
Suutarinemännän kehtolaulu / trad.
Vaggvisa för en liten grön banan, suomi (Kehtolaulu pienelle vihreälle banaanille) / Riedel, Georg
Pikkunoitien iltalaulu / Memrik, Marjukka
Trollmors vaggsång, suomi (Peikkoäidin kehtolaulu) / Holmberg, Margit
Videvisan, suomi (Pienelle pajulle) / Tegnér, Alice
Hyvin hiljaa / Ohls, Petter
Unihiekkaa / Siikavire, Jukka Nukku-Matti / Malmstén, Georg
Sininen uni / Rautavaara, Tapio
Laulut, lauluääni, piano, op49. Nro 4, Wiegenlied, suomi (Kehtolaulu) / Brahms, Johannes
Loppulaulu / trad.

Angry bag of Cat Killi

Tuula Korolainen 2007: Kissa Killin kiukkupussi
illustrated by Christel Rönns

Cat Killi has a temter tantrum as soon as he gets out of bed. Breakdast sucks and everything is wrong. The house elf gives him a bag, where he can blow his bad temper into.  Kiukkupussi in Finnish means also a person that has a bad temper.

Killi goes out doors and meets dog brothers who are arguing and after they blow into the bag, play nicely with each other. A sheep is fighting with his car and Killi helps him to be in a better mood. Finally Killi goes into a soccer match, where every one are shouting at each other. Killi's bag gets really big and it is punctured by a crane.




The lesson here is that kids are always taught to control their temper, but in this book it is the adults that need the control more then the kids. And how are the kids supposed to learn, when adults are throwing temper tantrums?

It is ridigulous, how the tempers rise in trafic and in sports events. It is as if our generation were not taught enough to deal with our feelings and then they explode in sports events and traffic. Parents, take a note and pay attention to your own behavoiur.

Cheerful ABC pictures

Alexander Lindberg 2007

This book was first published in 1965. The illustration is fantastically retro. I had a hard time deciding, which spread to take a picture, they were all beautiful. But I guess my favourite is "Ä" like äitienpäivä, Mothers' day.

The illustrations are a bit old, nobody knows, what is a oil lamp anymore and I am afraid this book is not politically correct.









By the way, school is ending this week in Finland, so this is the last chance to learn the alphabet. But as I remember the grades were in two weeks before school ended, so we were just playing around.

Summer in the city

Kirsi Hutri, Tom Björklund 2002: Kaupungin kesä

Gray Cat is ready for an adventure in summer night. He/she/it meets strange creatures and the reader learns about the plant and animals that can be seen in the city. The cat wonders around, but returns home to sleep at dawn.

A hedgehog is a night animal

All plants and animals have an info box containing details of the subject.


The book includes birches, rabbits, jackdaws, crows,seagulls, pidgeons,bats and hawkmoths.

I guess all cities are beautiful in the summer. Helsinki is no exeption. Although you can see more tourists then natives in the summer, when the locals have their vacation somewhere else.

Linnanmäki lights at night