Christmas of Topelius

told by Kirsti Mäkinen 2015: Topeliuksen joulu
illustrations by Rudolf Koivu

Zacharias Topelius (1818–1898) was no doubt the one of the most influential person in our culture and society. He also enjoyed writing to children. In this book Kirsti Mäkinen has collected the poems and Christmas stories written by Zacharias Topelius.  She also writes about Christmas in 19th century Finland in the farms, cities and even in Zacharias Topelius' home.  We learn about the traditions that we still have: the potato and carrot casseroles, feeding birds and giving gifts.

The stories and poems are some what sad. The poems are familiar to me through Christmas songs: Sylvian joululaulu  or Varpunen jouluaamuna (Sparrowon a Christmas Eve), where the younger brother dies. The translations are at the end of this post.

Talk about Finnish melancholy. Luckily we do have some more up beat songs as well, thanks to our long history with Sweden.  If the  songs of Topelius makes me cry, here is a Christmas song that makes me smile: Nisse-polkka.

Lyrics of Chistmas Song of Sylvia
(Sylvian joululaulu)

The illustrations are from another master: Rudolf Koivu. His illustrations are familiar to all Finns.

Sylvia's Christmas Song 
And now it is Christmas in my loved north,
Is it Christmas as well, in the heart?
And bright Christmas candles do spread their light forth,
To each little cabin and hearth.
But up in the rafters there hangs high above,
The cage that imprisons my soul's turtledove;
And quiet are now all the prisoners' groans,
But oh, who pays heed to a prisoner's moans?
 Oh shine you, the brightest of stars in the sky,
On my Finland so far, far from here;
When finally your light in the darkness doth die,
Oh, bless you that land, oh so dear!
I never will find one of equal worth,
My dearest will always be my land of birth;
My country to praise, I sing Sylvia's song;
It e'er will remain as a song pure and strong.

Sparrow on a Christmas Eve

Snow has already covered the flowers in a valley,
the comber of a lake frozen in the winter freeze,
 A sparrow, little one, has eaten the summertime food,
the comber of a lake has frozen in the winter freeze.
 On the stairs of a little cabin there was a dear girl,
come, sparrow, with joy, take a seed from me!
It is Christmas, homeless my sparrow, miserable,
come here with joy, take a seed from me!
 To the girl the dear sparrow flew joyously:
with gratitude I do take the seed from you.
The God will want to reward you sometime.
With gratitude I do take the seed from you!
 I am not, my child, a bird from this land,
I am your small brother, I came from the Heavens.
 The tiny seed, that you gave to the poor,
the small brother of yours, from the land of the angels, got.

Nursery rhymes

Edited by Ismo Loivamaa
Illustrated by Rudolf Koivu
Kas kuusen latvassa -Suomen lasten runolipas 2012
Jos sul lysti on -Suomen lasten leikkirunot 2014

Unen sinistä maata päin -Suomen lasten tuutulaulut ja iltarunot 2014

Three different collections of nursery rhymes and poems. The illustrations to all three books are made by Rudolf Koivu (1890-1946), one of the most beloved childrens illustrators in Finland

At the top of the spruce (Kas kuusen latvassa) 

- The poems of Finnish children
This collection  tells what the Finnish childhood is made of: good mood, home, warm arms to hold, games and nature. The poets of this book are familiar to Finns: Sakari Topelius and Immi Hellen just to name few.  Many of the poems are more known as childrens songs: Such as "Kas kuusen latvassa" and "Maan korvessa kulkevi".

Jos sul lysti on (If you' re happy)

- the playing poems of Finnish children
These poems were used in children's games. The poems take the reader to summery beatches and wintery hills. The poems are familiar to many generations.

Olle, dolle, doff

In the book is also an american poem that still is sung in Finland "Jos sul lysti on". Some of the rhymes are from Sweden and they haven't even been translated. An example  is "olle, dolle, dof", which at leas in our games is used to deciding who's turn is it.

Unen sinistä maata päin (Toward the blue land of sleep)

-Finnish Children's lullabies and evening poems

Again these lullabies are sung from generation to generation.  These poems are written by Immi Hellen, Kirsi Kunnas, Martti Haavio and Hannele Huovi.

Kieku and Kaiku (and piggy)

Mika Waltari 1934-1970
illustraded by Asmo Alho

Mika Waltari is probably the most famous Finnish writer. His most successful novel is Sinuhe, the Egyptian. Mika also wrote rhymes to the comic Kieku and Kaiku.

In the 1930s Kieku and Kaiku were the most popular comic strips there were. The comics have elaborate rhymes and educational stories. The stories reflect the values of that time: diligence, thriftiness and cooperation are good and the good will always be rewarded.

Kieku and Kaiku are young roosters that get into all sorts of trouble. The characters were influenced by Donald Duck even though the comic itself was drawn European style: the text was always at the bottom of the picture.

Logcutter's mistake

Mika Waltari prided in the comic: the words are rhymed with three syllables. He considered rhyming Kieku and Kaiku as a break from his regular work and he continued to write them after he retired from other writing.

An example of Waltari’s rhymes:
”Tässä Possu jälleen jököttää.
Puuro maistu ei, hän mököttää”

(Here piggy sits again. He doesn’t want to eat porridge, he is being grumpy)

Kieku ja Kaiku ja Possu tulevat taas -book is a collection of the best Kieku and Kaiku stirps from 1945-1962

Jason

Mickwitz, Camilla:
Jason (1975), Jason's summer (1976),
Jason moves out of the country (1978),
Jason and the angry aunt (1982).

Jason is a small boy, who lives with his mother, Kaarina. His mother works hard in a factory and models nude inorder to make enough money. Kaarina seems to be always in a hurry: in a hurry to go to work and to get home to make dinner. Toghether Jason and his mother watch tv and bake.

Jason and Kaarina in a pension

There are four Jason books, my favourite is Jason's summer. In this book Jason and his mother take a bus to a Pension. The other guests sit and nobody talks to one another. Jason fixes this and soon every one is enjoying themselves.

Jason and Kaarina watch tv.

In the third book, the factory, where Kaarina works is shut down and Kaarina and Jason have to move out of the country for Kaarina to have a job. Jason is a bit confused, since he does not speak the language. He feels like an outsider, he doesn't understand others and they do not understand him. Jason's motto is: "I have two eyes, two ears and one mouth. But with that one mouth I speak languages."

Jason rollerblading

In the fourth book, Jason and Kaarina live in an apartment house. In the same house lives an elderly woman, who is disturbed by all the noises in the house. Every one in the house tiptoes around her. Jason breaks the ice and soon the angry aunt has other friends in the building.

Jason feels left out.

The Jason -stories are about every day life and Jason deals with problems that we all could have. Jason is a happy boy, even if he does not have everything. It is natural that he does not have a father, it is natural that his mother worries about money.








Camilla Mickwitz wrote another book series about a girl named Emilia and a small witch named Mimosa. Camilla Mickwitz made several animations, such as the look out for weak ice film. She also created the theme for the Finnish children's program Pikku Kakkonen.

Pictures from Finnish Children's lives

Rudlof Waldemar Åkerblom 1983: Kuvia suomen lasten elämästä
first edition printed in 1882
rhymes Juhani H. (=P.J. Hannikainen)



Ten drawings about the children's lives in Finland in 19th century. This book was the first picture book written in Finnish and printed in four colors. P.J Hannikainen (1854-1924) was a famous finnish music educator and composer. At the same time this book was published in Swedish by the name Finsk bilderbook.


 

The pictures are delicate and it amazes me that even today the children ride their hobby horses and sled during the winter. The equipment for playing have changed. In the book is also a drawing of a child in Lappland. He takes care of the reindeer. In another picture the children are fishing with a trident in a near by river. You can see the white water. To me it looked scary.

Finnish picturebook

Venny SoldanBrofeldt and Juhani Aho 1983,
first edition 1894

Artist couple writer Juhani Aho and his painter wife Venny Soldan-Brofeldt made this book over hundred years ago. The drawings portray the lives of ordinary people. Every drawing has a kalevala type of rhyme.

This book was an accomplishment in time when picture books were not yet set as a type of literature.

This book was printed again in 2009 to celebrate WSOY's 125 anniversery.

The images are very delicate. Needless to say that my boys  were not interested in this book at all. The title says this was meant for children and youths. I cannot imagine any teenager reading this book today, exept for studying the drawing style or rhymes. Did they read it in the late 1890s? What did they get out of it?

Onneli and Anneli

Marjatta Kurenniemi 1966

Marjatta Kurenniemi wrote four books about Onneli and Anneli. The first book was published in 1966. In 2003 a book that had all four stories was published.

The first book, the House of Onneli and Anneli (Onnelin ja Annelin talo), tells a story of two girls, best friends tha find a sum of money and buy a house. Anneli lives part time with her mother, part time with her dad. Onneli is the middle child of nine children. No one notices that they are not there anymore.

The house that they buy is made for little girls. Mrs. Ruusupuu (Rosetree), who sells the house, cannot live there herself. The neighbours are two ladies Tingelstiina and Tangelstiina, who have chickens that lay easter eggs and have balloons growing in their garden. The other neighbour is a widow, who has a cupboard full of piggy banks and is a bit grumpy. (Luckily Onneli and Anneli fix that).

Onneli and Anneli find a house

Second book tells about the first winter the girls stay in their house "Winter with Onneli and Anneli" (Onnelin ja Annelin talvi). They receive guest, the tiny family of Vaaksanheimo (Vaaksa is the distance between the thumb and the middle finger, heimo means tribe or family). The family moves into Onneli's and Anneli's doll house. All kinds of adventure awaits.

The third book, Onneli, Anneli and the orphans (Onneli, Anneli ja orpolapset) start with an orphanage moving across the street from Onneli and Anneli. The director of the orphanage is an old acquaintance of the girls. Happy ending, the girls and the adults in the street fix the orphanage to be a happy place.

The fourth book about Onneli and Anneli (Onneli, Anneli ja nukutuskello) tells about Tingelstiina's and Tangelstiina's brother. He is an inventor and invented a sleeping clock. It is like an alarmclock but reverse: everyone falls a sleep when the clock rings. A factory owner wants to make a high way near Onneli's and Anneli's house. He also wants the clock. Needless to say there is a happy ending.

Family Vaaksanheimo moves in.

The drawings in the book are made by Maija Karma (She also illustrated Adalmina's pearl.)The drawings fit the book very well.

In January 2014 was made a movie of the first book. Even a house was built according to the story.

The stories are very optimistic with some sad nuances: the fact that no one misses the girls, the sad orphanage, homeless tiny people and gready business man. Despite all of these the tone is very optimistic and every story has a happy ending. Real good mood books.

Metsänväen suojatti

Virkkunen, Elsa 1977
Illustrator Martta Wendelin

Little Sami is spending summer at Grandma’s and Grandpa’s house in the country. With them lives also Granpa’s dad. Grandma is baking bread indoors and tells Sami not to go anywhere from the front yard. Sami forgets this soon and walks into the forest.  Grandma notices this and panics. She looks for Sami in the well, the lake shore and then continues the search in the forest. 

 

She meets all forest animals and they help her, because she has always taken care of the injured animals. She also meets the daughters of Ahti, the god of water. She meets Tapio, the god of forest. Finally Tapio’s son shows her were Sami is. He is well, but he is sorry that he caused so much worries to his Grandma. All is well.

At first I thought the protégé is the boy, but maybe it is the grandma. She’s been so kind to the forest animals that the forest king wants to be kind to her by protecting her grandson. The illustrations are made by Martta Wendelin, who is one of the most respected illustrator of the 20^th century.  

Hui kauhistus

One Spooky Night And Other Scary Stories

Kunnas, Mauri 1985

I am not a horror fan. Halloween decorations at my home are more cute than scary. This book was my first contact with ghosts, vampires and yetis.  The book begins in a dark and gloomy manor, where the butler is ready to go to bed, before the ghosts wake up…..

Well, they did. And spent an ordinary day washing dishes, scaring people. Other characters are Count Creepy, a vampire that has terrible tooth ache;  Witch Snaggletooth, who can’t really fly a broom and many others my favourite is  Shelly the Skeleton,  who loves dancing until she meets a dog, who sees only delicious dancing bones.

Strange guest at Moominhouse

Jansson, Tove 1980

This was my first contact with the Moomins. The Japanese animation came around in early 1990s and has become more or less the norm of how Moomins are seen. When we read this book, my four-year old son asked why does Stinky look so odd.  I had to remind him that the first Moomin story was written in the 1940s so the characters are interpreted by many people, so they may look a bit odd from time to time.
Maybe it’s because this was the first book I read about the Moomins, it is my favourite Moomin book. It’s the house: the pictures are actual photos taken by Tove Jansson’s brother, Per Olov Jansson. The house was buit by Tove Jansson, Tuulikki Pietilä and Pentti Eistola in 1976-1979.

Today the miniature house can be seen in Tampere Art Museum.

The story is begins, when late at night little My smells something funny and starts to look for the reason. Soon the whole house is up looking for the source.

Moomin house in Moominworld

Moomins are a big thing in Finland. The Moomin wolrd in Naantali is on the list of must see places of many kids. The Japanese are very enthusiastic about Moomins as well,  in Moominworld many Japanese couples have gotten married.

Doghill farm

Kunnas, Mauri, Koiramäen talossa 1980

“Life on Doghill Farm is the same as on all other farms in the olden days. Except that all Doghill residents are dogs. “is written at the Mauri Kunnas website.

The book has big pictures that are full of details and it doesn’t hurt that you learn something about. Why people think history is boring is beyond me, here the book tells about everyday life in the 19^th century farm with a funny twist. The Finnish society was built on agriculture and this book illustrates just  how much work farming is. Even the children of Doghill participate in the upkeep of a farm and have fun doing it.  Family is very important to the Doghill dogs, Grandma and Grandpa are a part of the core family and they all live in the same house.

The inspiration for this book came from a real farm house Yli-Kirra in Punkalaidun, an hour away from Tampere.








Doghill Pransi and Fiina at Särkänninemi

Later came out other books about the Doghill dogs:
The Doghill kids go to town,
Doghill winter,
Doghill Martha And The Christmas Pageant,
Doghill Christmas Church,
Tales from Doghill and
Doghill Marha and Runeberg.

Mauri Kunnas started with the Finnish Elf book, but as a small girl I thought there were too much text and too few pictures. But now I appreciate the stories and admire the images.

In spring 2013, Doghill themepark was opened in Särkänniemi, Tampere. We visited it right away and if you like Doghill books, you’ll love Doghill.

Doghill family, Pransi, Martta, Fiina and Kille,
 at Mr. Clutterbuck's house

Other Mauri Kunnas characters can be seen in Mr. Clutterbuck’s house  in Sastamala. This house we visited in 2012 and the boys and I loved it. There is lot to see and do.