Eenie meenie miny moe

Mika Wickström 2010: Entten tentten
Illustrated by Mervi Lindman


A book of different games to play outdoor, indoors. These games have been played in Finland. My mother has told me that they played church rat when she was a child, we played it and now my boys play it.

This book also has some "newer" games like larping, parkour and footsack. These did not exist when I was a child, at least not in the country side. 

Some of the games need more than five players for it to be fun. But the broken telephone can be played by two. At least my husband and I practice it regularly: one says something and the other hears something totally different. Not fun. But when there are ten sitting in a row and one whispers something and the message gets distorted until it reaches the end. That is kind of funny.

Church rat

The name of the book is children's rhyme, which is gibberish.  I thought it came from Swedish, but now Google tells me it comes from German: Entel, tentel. Imagine that!

Broken telephone

Princess Daredevil's winter magic

Elina Hirvonen 2017: Prinsessa Rämäpään talvitaika
illustrated by Mervi Lindman

Princess Daredevil has many crowns: the golden is for Important Thoughts, yellow is for Fun Thoughts, Pink is for Great Adventures and the silver is for Calm Sleep. She wears her crowns when the need calls for them.  But her most important treasure is her Great-Grandmother's ring and it is magical.

Right now Mom is calling Princess Daredevil to get dressed and go outside.  Princess Daredevil is still looking for her pearls: the amber pearls are for superpower and the white are for occasions when you want to cry but you absolutely do not want to. Princess Daredevil decides to put on princess gown, golden crown, turquoise ring and the fairy wings. You never know, you may want to fly when sledding.

I can so relate to the mother's mood.

 Mom's really getting angry and already counting down.  Princess Daredevil rushes to the door. Mom asks, who is going sledding in a princess dress?  Princess Daredevil tells her that something might happen. Mom orders her to take off the glitter and dress and put on overalls. Her brother is already dressed and getting hot.

 Mom is not always angry, she can be fun, too. In Princess Daredevil's opinion she just doesn't understand the Princess Daredevil has something important going on, which can't be dropped just because it's bed time or time to go out.

Besides Mom is wrong: princess dress can be under the overalls. The dress gets caught between the zipper. Mom  gets angrier and then Daredevil's brother poops so that it comes out of the neckline of his overalls. Mom tells Daredevil to be ready when they get back from the clean up.

Instead of getting dresses, Princess Daredevil puts on the crown of Important Thoughts. She makes the living room a sunny beach and creates ice cream portions for her and her mom.

At first Mom gets really mad. Then she sees the ice cream. She realizes that Daredevil only wanted to make her glad. She also sees the magic and together they spend a day on the beach instead of going sledding.  Mom apologizes for yelling at her and together they dance on the warm beach.

Sometimes parents and children do not understand each other at all. Grown-ups think its all about schedules and order. Kids on the other hand see things adults do no. Some times it is good to stop and put on the Imagination Crown.

Brave little Memmuli

Mervi Lindman 2005

Memmuli is a brave little girl. She just doesn't know that. She is afraid to go to the toilet, because she heard that crocodiles live there. She is afraid to eat, because her dad said that the food takes his tongue with it (strange Finnish saying when the food is so good "vie kielen mennessään).

At night Memmuli is afraid of the shadows. Everyone tells her that she is a big girl now, she shouldn't be afraid. But she is. Then she dreams about being small.

Memmuli in a forest

Luckily Mom is there and she explains, what it really means to be brave. It means that you acknowledge  that you are afraid.

The illustrations are full of detail and they support the story very well.

Siiri

Siiri and horrible ghost -cover

Tiina Nopola
illustrated by Mervi Lindman
Siiri books have been translated to six languages: among others Swedish, German, Danish, Russian and Chinese. Siiri is a energetic girl, who solves problems that the kids nowadays have: making friends, dealing with loneliness and fear. The illustrations are fresh and support the stories well. There are several Siiri books:

Siiri and three Ottos (Siiri ja kolme Ottoa 2002)
Siiri and Onni upstairs (Siiri ja yläkerran Onni 2003)
Siiri and messy Kerttu (Siiri ja sotkuinen Kerttu 2004)
Siiri and terrible Piggy (Siiri ja kamala possu 2005)
Siiri and Kerttu's flee (Siiri ja Kertun kirppu 2006)
Siiri and fierce Hunskeli (Siiri ja hurja Hunskeli 2008)
Siiri's christmas surprise (Siirin jouluyllätys 2009)
Siiri and horrible ghost (Siiri ja kauhea kummitus 2010)
Siiri scores a goal (Siiri tekee maalin 2011)
Siiri and yeti (Siiri ja lumimies 2012)
Siiri and wild toddler (Siiri ja villi taapero 2013)


Siiri and the three Ottos
Siiri wants a friend, she wonders if mom has a baby in her belly. When there is no baby, Siiri wants a dog. Siiri’s parents aren’t too thrilled and forget all about it. Siiri decides to get a dog on her own. On her way to pick up a dog, Siiri meets three Ottos: Little Otto, Middle Otto and Big Otto. Are they solution to Siiri’s problem?

Siiri and horrible ghost: adventure is over

Siiri and Onni upstairs
Mr Cloud’s dog Onni comes to Siiri for day care. Siiri takes Onni to an outing and Onni disappears. Siiri’s friends the Ottos are nearby and help Siiri to find Onni. That is not an easy task. After his adventure Onni does not want to be a pocket dog anymore.

Siiri and messy Kerttu
Little Otto is visited by his cousin Kerttu. Siiri has never seen such a messy child. Kerttu jumps in the puddles, rolls in the sand box and smudges Little Otto’s house with cake batter. Kerttu gets all Ottos to play with her. Siiri is all alone, because she thinks making a mess is childish. Finally Siiri plays the messy games. That is the only way to keep Ottos as friends. When Siiri is real messy, she meets the Ottos and a clean girl in the park. It is Kerttu and she is going home.

Siiri and terrible Piggy
Siiri’s dearest soft toy, Bunny, has a hole. It needs to be mended. Siiri and all Ottos take Bunny to the soft toy hospital. Siiri can not live without Bunny and the hospital sends her a Piggy. Siiri does not like Piggy.Siiri thinks Piggy looks mean. When Bunny is released from the hospital, the hospital says Siiri can keep Piggy. Siiri decides to toss the Piggy in the corner. Suddenly Piggy seems sad and lonely. Siiri invites all Ottos to celebrate Bunnys return and Piggy sits next to Bunny.

Siiri and Kerttu's flee
The messiest girl in the neighborhood Kerttu says she has a flee. Siiri, Little Otto, Middle Otto and Big Otto want to see it. Kerttu accepts, if she can play Big Otto’s French horn. But the flee has flown from Kerttu’s box. Kerru cries, since the flee was her only friend.

Siiri and wild toddler -cover

Siiri and fierce Hunskeli
It is Siiri’s birthday and she gets a puppy as a gift. The dog’s name is Hunskeli and it is awfully energetic. Hunskeli goes to a dog daycare, but does it calm down there?

Siiri's christmas surprise
Mr Cloud’s dog Onni comes to Siiri for day care. Siiri takes Onni to an outing and Onni disappears. Siiri’s friends the Ottos are nearby and help Siiri to find Onni. That is not an easy task. After his adventure Onni does not want to be a pocket dog anymore.

Siiri and horrible ghost
Little Otto says he has seen a ghost at the attic. Siiri wants to see it and it turns out to be curtains. Little Otto still thinks there is a real ghost. Siiri, Big Otto and Middle Otto have a sleepover with Little Otto is afraid that Siiri will tell the other boys that Litlle Otto was afraid of a ghost. Little Otto shows the others how brave he actually is.

Siiri scores a goal
Little Otto, Middle Otto and Big Otto play soccer too, and they think Siiri is a lousy player. Siiri toughens up and decides to show Ottos. In the team, Siiri is the smallest and she is run over. Karoliina, the best player in the team, thinks that Siiri is a set back to the team. Siiri wants to show her.

Siiri and yeti
Siiri gets skies as Christmas present. She practices hard and then asks the three Ottos to a skitrip. Ottos would rather play hockey. Siiri is upset, because she want’s to show her skills to the boys. Finally Siiri comes up a story that she has seen yeti’s foot prints near the ski trail and she gets the Ottos to ski with her. Siiri skis a head and makes the foot prints. Suddenly Siiri can’t find back to the trail and gets lost.

Siiri and wild toddler: boys follow toddler.

Siiri and wild toddler
Siiri wants to play mother and Little Otto is her baby. Siiri pushes Little Otto around town and he starts to enjoy the attention. Big Otto and Middle Otto do not recognize Little Otto as a baby. Siiri asks them to baby sit,while she goes to the store. When Big Otto and Middle Otto are not lookin, Little Otto jumps out of the baby buggy and runs into the amusement park. Big Otto, Middle Otto and Siiri follow.