Early Ghost catches the worm

edited by Tuula Korolainen 2010: Haamuhetki kullan kallis
Illustrations Anne Vasko

For person who does not like poems, I read awfully lot poem books. The Finnish title of the is book is an adaption of the Finnish saying "Aamuhetki kullan kallis" which is direct translations of the Swedish and German proverbs: "Morgon stund har guld i mund/ Morgenstund hat Gold im Mund". The meaning being the same as in "Early bird catches the worm."   Again these saying show how similar Swedish and German are. In my brain they get mixed alot especially if I am speaking German and all of sudden have to say something is Swedish. It is as if they were in the same box, when English is in another box.

Any way back to the book. Cute poems about Ghosts, boogeyman and vampires. One story is about a ghost who is unemployed because of the light nights in the summer. I never thought about it, but the vampires must also have difficult time in the summer, when the sun never sets. They don't have it easy in the winter either, because even though the sun never rises, people are covered with scarfs and wool, so no skin is available.

This book also made me think how difficult it is for vegetarian vampires. Talk about outcasts. My husband and I were watching one vampire show (must have been True blood), when I asked, if it is common knowledge that vampires must be invited, before they can enter. My husband answered that he thought it was common knowledge vampires do not exist.  He keeps me down to earth.

One poem tells about a ghost that goes to sauna and leaves its "rags" on the fence. One boogeyman is afraid of ghosts and it waits anxiously for morning while the ghost is afraid of the boogeyman. One ghost child wants to be a vampire when he grows up.

I guess most of the children aren't afraid of ghosts or vampires any more, but after reading this book they most certainly are not.