Heyflower, Quitshoe and the Christmas rascall

Sinikka & Tiina Nopola 2017: Heinähattu, Vilttitossu ja jouluvintiö
Illustrated by Salla Savolainen

It is almost Christmas and Quiltshoe is afraid that she won't get enough presents. She sees a charity collecting toys for the less priviledged kids and decides to be a begger to get some toys for herself. That does not work, so she becomes a player at the Star singers on the street. That does not work either.

The girls' parents call Hayflower the Christmas child, because she is being nice and doing all the chore. Now what can Quiltshoe do to be called the same? She sure is going to try. Her family is worried, because she has never been this helpful and selfless.




When Santa brings the presents and there is just as many for Quiltshoes and there is for Hayflower, Quiltshoe gets mad. She has been so nice!

How to teach a child the meaning of Christmas?

Pea soup fog

Tapani Bage 2010: Tahvo ja Bella hernerokkasumussa
illustrated by Salla Savolainen

Tahvo is a cat, who thinks he is a siberian tiger, Bella is a dog, who live on an island. One autumn day the fog is so thick, we Finns would call it pea soup fog. Tahvo and Bella collect drift wood from the shore.  The fog is cold and Tahvo wants to catch it and taste it. Does it taste like pea soup?

Suddenly they catch a penguin! He is Pablo and he wants to go back home to the Antarctic. Tahvo and Bella help him to find a vessel to get there.

The weather is always a good toppic to talk about. Usually the weather is too cold or rainy. On some rare occation we complain about the heat. The peasoup fog is where I live quite rare.  What I like about this book, is the cat who thinks he is something he is not and everyone else is ok with it and the mystique the fog brings and finally the helping others.

Tahvo is trying to get some of that pea suop.

Janne from Hämeenlinna: How Janne became Jean Sibelius

Tapani Bagge 2015: Hämeenlinnan Janne: kuinka Jannesta tuli Jean Sibelius
illustrated by Salla Savolainen

Young master Janne has a very powerful imagination. He lives with his mother, aunts and grandma in Hämeenlinna.

The story tells about Jean Sibelius's early years in Hämeenlinna, which at the time was one of the most cosmopolitan cities in Finland.

Janne tells about his childhood, which resembles Astrid Lindgren's Emil i Lönneberga. Among other things, he tells his aunts piano student not to come to lessons so often that they obeyed. Janne had an absolute pitch and the practising kids really hurt him.

The Russian soldiers at Hämeenlinna.

In Jean Sibelius's childhood, most people he knew, spoke Swedish. He started at a Swedish school, but changed to a Finnish school.

Janne and his friends live for music. The book ends, when on his grandmothers orders, Janne moves to Helsinki to study law.

The illustrations are very lifelike. The sadness of Janne's death is portrayed with a black swan the magnitude of Janne's imagination by a giant cat fish.

All important places of Jean Sibelius in Hämeelinna.

This year i a jubilee of  150 years of Jean Sibelius's birth.  I really enjoyed Katri Kirkkopelto's Melody Forest, which was very artistic and had fabulous illustrations. This book is about the same topic, but focuses only in the childhood of Jean Sibelius. My six year old son was not interested in Melody Forest, but this book he wanted to read.

The book even tells where the name Jean came from. Very informative, I learned a lot about the 1860s in Hämeenlinna, different instruments and Jean Sibelius. I guess to Finnish children Jean Sibelius is a serious person, but this book makes him more approachable. More books like this, please.

Heyflower, Quiltshoe and the bald robber

Sinikka Nopola and Tiina Nopola 2012
illustrations: Salla Savolainen

Helga and Halise Alibullen have been invited to Heyflower's and Quiltshue's playhouse for some cake. When the ladies get to the house, they see the girls fitting. Heyflower, who is the older sister, has made her little sister, Quiltshoe, mad by telling her that she was bold as a baby. The neighbor ladies try in vain to settle the girls. Quiltshoe wants to see pictures. Heyflower shows her the pictures and indeed Quiltshoe was bold.

When Heyflower falls asleep that night, Quiltshoe cuts her pigtails. In the morning Heyflower is very upset. Quiltshoe tells the family that someone stole the hair. Then she runs way and bumps into Policeofficer Bigbelly. Quiltshoe tells him about the theft and he deducts that it must be the famous Bald-robber.

Mom and Dad are looking for Quiltshoe and the police is looking for the robber. In the end Quilshoe admits that she cut the hair. Mom gives Hayflower a nice box to hold her pigtails and Hayflower forgives Quilshoe. Mom also shows that Hayflower was as bold as Quiltshoe, when she was a baby.




Sinikka and Tiina Nopola are sisters and they have written several Hayflower and Quiltshoe books. The first book was published in 1989 and the twelfth book in 2006. The other books are novels. Sinikka and Tiina have told that the adventures of Hayflower and Quiltshoes are based on their own experiences ad kids and adults with their own kids. The books have a lot of dialog, because the Nopola sisters create the stories by talking. Several plays have been made based on the books and in 2003 was released a Heyflower and Quiltshoe movie.

The girls in the books are very likable and as a mother of two boys it is nice to see that even girls can pick a fit over the silliest things. I had forgotten how we fought with my sister.