Ilo elää : Selkonovelleja / Opike ja Selkokeskus

Ilo elää : Selkonovelleja

STORY: This compact book features 13 short stories by various authors. Each story embraces joy or happiness - finding joy, experiencing joy, sharing joy. According to the back cover, Opike and Selkokeskus held a writing competition in 2022, where stories showed joy. This book contains the competition's best selections. One story, "Kaikki on niin iloisia," (Everything is so joyful) by Kari Tapaninen won the top prize.

LANGUAGE: Each story is short, around 2 -5 pages in length. The book features the page layout similar to other selkokirja novels, with white spaces on each side of the page. Each short story is finished with a color illustration or full page color page. The short stories are set in present day, in shopping centers, outdoors, in homes, on the job. The book is less than 100 pages (82 to be exact), making it as easy read to pick up and put down and finish in a short time. The paperback and square format makes it easy to pack along in a bag. Based on the language, I would classify this as a B1 - B2 level book. Because the stories are short, there is not a not of repetitive vocabulary, so the reader would need a good base vocabulary or be prepared to learn new words for each story. 

CHARACTERS: The characters in the collection are very diverse, from teenagers to mothers, a patient in the hospital to a city tunnel painter. 

WHY YOU SHOULD READ THIS BOOK:  This is a great book for teens or adults. Some stories, where the main characters come across as younger, would appeal to teens, around yläkoulu age (grades 7-9). The main characters in other stories are adults, but are still appropriate for teens. Adults of any age would enjoy all of the stories, remembering a first job or being a new resident as well as identifying with the adults in their stories. Some of the stories are about joy and happiness in general, others are directly linked to mental health, such as anxiety and panic attacks. I believe this will appeal to many readers and it is positive to see this in a selkokirja collection. 

Supermarsu lentää Intiaan - Paula Noronen, selkomukautus Riikka Tuohimetsä #gift

image (c) Goodreads

 

STORY: Emilia is an 11 year old girl from east Helsinki. In her diary, she writes about her schooldays, family, and about her amazing adventures with her new pet guinea pig. One evening her guinea pig bites her and that night she sees dreams about a giant guinea pig, who declares Emilia to be Super GuineaPig. She will gain superpowers by drinking from her pet guinea pig's water bottle. 

LANGUAGE: This is a children's book, the original aimed at younger readers, approximately 2-4th grade. The selkokirja version is at an ideal 99 page length and includes a character list at the beginning. Black and white illustrations appear throughout, some filling part of a page, some full page illustrations. 

The vocabulary and grammar in this book are not too difficult, but does require an understanding of verb tenses such as past tense and possessives (-ni, -ään). Because the story contains fantastical elements, this book and the vocabulary would appeal most to fans of superheroes and younger readers. While teens and adults would naturally benefit from the reading, the appeal of the storyline would be less motivating. I rate this book a B1 level, though readers below B1 are certainly able to pick it up and read parts, if not the entire book. 

CHARACTERS: Emilia lives with her mother, who works as a nurse, and is often away from home. Other characters include Emilia's father and his new girlfriend and schoolmates and teachers. Chapter 4 is exclusively written as descriptions of three side characters. And let's not forget the guinea pig (both real and fantastical)!

WHY YOU SHOULD READ THIS BOOK: This is a popular series among younger readers in school and as free time reading. It's an excellent choice for younger readers who want to read the same story/series as their friends. Readers will enjoy the school life elements, along with the fantastical adventures as Super GuineaPig. There are some elements of school bullying addressed, but they are described and dealt with in a very light manner, with the help of Super GuineaPig. 

Happy Reading!

Avaruuden rajalla - Satu Leisko #gift

 STORY : Teenager Visa lives with his engineer father. His mother, also an engineer, is in a coma in the hospital, after an accident on a space station. One afternoon, his father's boss asks him to come work on the same space station where Visa's mother was injured. A new spaceship is there and they want his father to work on it. The work could be very dangerous. 

LANGUAGE :  This is a sci-fi book, set it the future with technology not yet available in our world. Because of this world building, it requires some vocabulary to explain to the reader how things work. The book is less than 100 pages and has black and white full page illustrations throughout. 

Because of this slight learning curve, I would recommend this to B1+ readers. 

WHY YOU SHOULD READ THIS BOOK : This is a good book for someone new to the sci-fi genre. There is no hard science or formulas in here, just a different time and setting.  It's great that selkokirjat are seeing more genre books, so give this one a try if you are looking for something a bit different.

Thank you to Opike for allowing me to be a beta tester reader of the book before it was published and allowing me to be a part of the publishing process. Thank you for a copy of the published book as a review.

HAPPY READING!

GIVEAWAY

 Thank you for reading my blog posts about selkokirjat. I hope you have found some useful information and some good books to add to your TBR. Thanks to your comments for sharing if you have read them or own them. It's great to hear from everyone, especially around the world!

I just posted about Tarhapäivä by Eve Hietamies / Hanna Männikkölahti. I happen to have two copies of the book. I'd like to give away my extra copy (a 30€ value, in mint condition) to someone who'd like to read it or share it with a selkokirja reader.

To participate in the giveaway, 

1) leave a comment under this post, stating in what country you live

2) send an email to selkokirjatinreview@gmail.com with the heading TARHAPÄIVÄ GIVEAWAY and a short message about selkokirjat - why you would like to win, what selkokirjat you have read, why do you like selkokirjat, etc.

I'll keep this giveaway open until MARCH 31, 2024.

Terms and Conditions: You must be 18 years old or older to enter. One entry per person. If your email to me does not match the requirements in section two, it will be deleted and disqualified. If your email contains attachments, it will be deleted and disqualified.  I will choose a winner randomly and contact them via e-mail in April. If you live in the Helsinki-Espoo-Vantaa, I'd be happy to drop the book off in person at a public location. If you live outside the tri-city area, I will mail the book to you by post. This giveaway is open internationally, I will post the book if you live outside of Finland.  If I have not heard from a winner by May, I will donate the book to a library or school. 

Thank you and happy reading!

Tarhapäivä (#2) - Eve HIetamies / Hanna Männikkölahti

Tarhapäivä #2 - Eve Hietamies / Hanna Männikkölahti

STORY: Father Antti Pasanen is back at work and little Paavo is now five years old! Paavo is now in daycare, and Enni and Terttu remain good friends with the boys. They even go over vacation together to Cyprus. 

This is the second book in the series, the first being Yösyöttö (read my review here). While it is a sequel and involves many of the same characters, this book can be read also as a standalone. The first couple of chapters provides a summary of the first book.

LANGUAGE: Set in Helsinki in the near present, mostly told from father Antti's perspective. This book is 178 pages long, but the chapters remain short at only a couple of pages or so. There are black and white illustrations throughout. If you have read Yösyöttö or other full length adult selkokirjat, then you should be comfortable reading this book also. 

I rated Yösyöttö a B1+ language level recommendation and I suggest the same for this book.

CHARACTERS: Antti is a 45 year old single father. Pia, Paavo's mother, lives on her own, but is unable to take care of herself due to mental health issues. Paavo is 5, but seems to be developing slower than his good friend Terttu. Enni is a single mother who we met in book one and her daughter is Terttu. We also see familiar characters from book one, such as Antti's family and meet new characters.

A character list is provided in the front of the book.

WHY YOU SHOULD READ THIS BOOK: If you are like me and read the first book, you'll want to get your paws on this second book. It's just as good as the first book, if not better in certain ways, now that the children are older. If you haven't read the first book, I recommend you pick it up. If it's not available, the definitely read this one. The trials and tribulations of a single father are often hilarious and many things the kids say belong on one of those ,Out of the Mouths of Babes, television shows. And what happens when two five year olds are brought together? I really enjoyed this book and hope you do too! 

Rambo / Nadja Suomanen selkomukautus Riikka Tuohimetsä #gift

 

YA. Summer cottage. Family.

STORY:  Rambo (yes, his real name) and his mom go to her new boyfriend's cottage for the summer.  Rambo has just finished eighth grade, has ADHD and lives alone with his mom. Mom Anna is depressed and switches boyfriends all the time.

This is a nice read for summer or spring. 

LANGUAGE: short chapters, big font, lots of white space. Each chapter begins with title description of chapter. Character list at the beginning of the book. Set mostly at summer cottage by a lake with a small village nearby. Near present.

Although the book discusses heavy topics, such as depression, the content is very pre-teen / teen friendly. Because this is a book for teens, it's not an easy read nor does it have illustrations. Neither it is a difficult read in terms of vocabulary and grammar, therefore I recommend this to B1 readers and up to ages 12+. 

WHY YOU SHOULD READ THIS BOOK: This is a very fun book and it's great to get to know Rambo and all the other characters, their strengths and flaws. This is a great book to read and dream of summer vacation, sunshine and free time. I think teen readers will enjoy this as a nice, simple read with nothing heavy on the plate. Teachers and librarians will appreciate this as a book for upper grade readers as a go to read, regardless of reading background. 

Thanks to the author, Riikka Tuohimetsä for providing this book as a gift to Selkokirjat in Review.

If you'd like to send a book for review, please contact me at selkokirjatinreview@gmail.com.

HAPPY READING!

Päivänselvää : Terveystieto / Sakari Kilkki

 

Nonfiction. Health. Workbook,

DESCRIPTION: Similar to other books in the Päiväselvää series, this book contains chapters on different topics with exercises at the end. This book focuses on health, including nutrition, exercise, sexual health, drugs and alcohol and mental health. 

LANGUAGE: The beginning of each chapter features a note to teachers. Next follows subchapters of various length. Each subchapter features large text, lots of white space and black and white illustrations. At the end and throughout each chapter are exercises on reading comprehension and grammar. Many chapters also include a list of links for further information at the end. This book is intended for older teens and adults and can be used both in schools and in free time. I recommend this for B1 level and above, but feel free to have a go at specific topics if you are not quite a B level.

WHY YOU SHOULD READ THIS BOOK: Chances are, if you are an older teen or adult, you have already learned about the content in this book in your home country. Therefore, it's important to review the content and learn new vocabulary. The workbook questions are valuable to test your reading comprehension and grammar. If you use this book in a classroom setting, great. But if not, it's worth still reading in your free time. This is the second Päivänselvää book I have read and both have been great.