Leevi ja Leonora - Kari Levola, Jaana Levola

STORY: Leevi is a 12 year old boy who has moved from the country to the city. He said teased by bullies at school. Leonora has moved from Albania to Finland and the bullies tease her too. The bullies chase the two on their bikes everyday after school. On one of these days Leevi discovers that the two are neighbors. They become friends and try to come up with a way to stop the bullying.

This is a great book for the 12 and under crowd. It's set up similar to an easy reader book with short chapters and accompanying pictures. Older readers might enjoy it but younger readers will more appreciate it.

CHARACTERS: Leevi is a regular boy from the countryside. He likes nature, exploring, using the computer and spending time with his grandparents, who he visits everyday after school. Leonora is from Albania and Finland is still a new culture to her. She is adventurous, likes to climb, laugh and learn new things.

This book is appropriate for boys and girls. The book is told from Leevi's perspective, but Leonora is clearly the bolder of the two.

LANGUAGE: The vocabulary and grammar in this book is very basic. There's also a lot of dialogue, and the pictures help to explain the story without giving anything away.

I read each page in 3 minutes or less using an online dictionary. This book could easily be read in a short time without looking anything up or spaced across a longer time, reading chapter by chapter. I recommend this to A2.2 readers for a challenge and to B1.1 readers as an easy read.

WHY YOU SHOULD READ THIS BOOK: I think this book should be on all required reading school lists for Finnish as a second language students. It's a great story, with lots going on, lots of interaction between the characters, humor, multiculturalism, moving, and lots more. A fun story with a nice moral in the end. 5/5

Emman ja Eetun yllätyslöytö

STORY: Emma and Eetu are on the beach one day with their older brother Arttu. They come across a seagull in the reeds. The seagull has an injured wing and cannot fly. They take it home to nurse it back to health.

This is a great book for younger readers. It's presented in picture book format, with pictures on every page, plus a colorful border. The characters ages and content are perfectly suited to those as young as 5 or 6. Older readers might not enjoy it as much, but the vocabulary has much to offer to readers of any age.

CHARACTERS: Emma and Eetu are quite young. They still wear floaties in the water and play games of imagination. They are very concerned about the injured seagull and try to take good care of it. Arttu is their older brother, who has a girlfriend and would rather listen to music than take care of his siblings. That being said, he takes rather good care of them and is a good older brother. The star of this book is Wing the seagull, whose expressions and personally come across delightfully in the illustrations on every page.

Young readers will enjoy Emma and Eetu and Wing, while families will appreciate the messages throughout the book about families.

LANGUAGE: Most of the verbs in this book are present tense, which makes it an ideal book for new Finnish-as-a-second-language readers. There's​ also a lot of vocabulary about the beach. It's a very good for beginning readers or even to read together.

I read each pair of pages in 5 minutes or less while using an online dictionary. I recommend this book to A1 readers, so almost anyone. While anyone would benefit from the vocabulary, this book would be most enjoyed by younger readers.

WHY YOU SHOULD READ THIS BOOK: This is a very easy to read book for younger readers. Compared to a helppolukuinen kirja, it has the same style and flow and suitable storyline, but is easier to read based on verbs and vocabulary. It has delightful illustrations and borders. This would also be a great book to read as a family or to reader to younger listeners. 4/5