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.