Kierrän vuoden - Tuija Takala #sponsored

Kierrän vuoden / Tuija Takala

Poetry. Seasons. A poem per week.

DESCRIPTION: Starting in January and ending in December, this book has one poem for every week of the year. 

LANGUAGE:  The poems are short and contain vocabulary related to weather, sensory information and holidays. The poetry section is 86 pages long and includes full page photographs for every month. The back of the book has discussion questions and activities for each poem. 

Although the poems sometimes includes vocabulary that is not common in everyday life and so may be unfamiliar even to an upper level reader, I recommend this book to all selkokirja readers A1 and above. Many of the poems are as short as 3 - 4 lines making them very accessible in a short time to any selkokirja reader and allowing short-term gratification in terms of both comprehension and enjoyment of reading. 

WHY YOU SHOULD READ THIS BOOK: There are very few selkopoetry collections, this is one worth getting. While many year-round poetry collections in any language are geared towards children, this is written for adults (though many are also child-friendly!), making it the perfect book to curl up with in an armchair. It's a nice book to pick up once a week, or even once a month and read 4 poems in one sitting. Highly recommend! 5/5

Thanks to Opike for generously providing this book for review. You can purchase this book and many more from their website. You can also find excerpts and photographs from the book on Opike's website!

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Mielensäpahoittaja - Tuomas Kyrö / Ari Sainio

Mielensäpahoittaja - Tuomas Kyrö / Ari Sainio

Hilarious. Anecdotal. Popular fiction.

STORY: "The Grump" begins his first story complaining about the snow, the treats banks offer during their opening events and useless advice from his son. In the following 40 stories, he goes off on a wide variety of topics from queuing, getting older, music, Christmas with the family and much more. 

Mielensäpahoittaja (the original book) came out in 2010 and has since become a nationwide phenomenon, resulting in at least 5 fiction titles and 3 non-fiction titles featuring the same character. In addition, there have been 2 movies and a television series based on the character.

LANGUAGE: Don't be intimidated by the 132 pages in this book, because it contains 41 chapters, all of which are around 2-3 pages each. They are all packed with hilarity that will leave the reader laughing out loud and looking for the closest person to share quotes from the book. There is no dialogue in the book, as everything is explained from the Grump's memories. The grammar and vocabulary are not too complex, and it's not even necessary to look up every single word, because context explains many more difficult words clearly. The grammar is sometimes a bit on the advanced side. Although readers can tell that the Grump likely speaks in a dialect and in a manner that's probably a bit old-fashioned, this is demonstrated well through the timing and pacing and stories themselves, along with the tradition opening to every chapter, "kyllä, minä niin mieleni pahoitin." (According to the English translation of the book is something along the lines of I certainly got myself upset and all worked up...) There are a lot of cultural references in the book, from newscasters of days gone by and hockey players and so forth. This is a great way to learn about famous Finns, but it's not necessary to be knowledgeable of who they are while reading the book - the humor is valid, regardless. 

Because of the grammar and humor level of the book, I rate this as a B1+. The higher one's language level (B2, C), the more humor they will get out of the book, but this is certainly accessible to many selkokirja readers. Even an A level reader could select a story or two and with a bit of vocabulary look-up and a grammar question or two, and could get enjoyment out of this book.

CHARACTERS: "The Grump" is the narrator of the book, told in first person. We never learn his name or precisely where he lives though it is clearly not in "the big city." He is around 80 years old and experiencing more signs of getting older, though that doesn't stop him from driving his beloved Escort or going cross-country skiing. He lives alone, his wife and best friend have passed on, and his son lives with his wife and children some distance away (in Helsinki, presumably). The Grump experiences his world through the people he interacts with every day, from his doctor, his neighbors, shop salesmen, taxi drivers, and also through his own opinion of his neighbors and people around him. 

The humor itself is very blunt and direct and raw. The Grump says anything that's on his mind, whether it's true or not, and typically is unfavorable. It is the privilege of people when they reach this age that they can do so, and secretly many other people around them agree with the things they say, even if they don't dare to say them out loud! 

WHY YOU SHOULD READ THIS BOOK: This is a hilarious book that almost everyone will enjoy. It's a modern classic in Finnish literature and culture and it's fantastic that it has been selko-translated so that selkoreaders can enjoy the stories along with the rest of the nation. It's been translated into many languages including Swedish, Danish, Estonian and English, but it's worth reading the Finnish (selko-) version first, because the Finnish humor and vocabulary will come through best that way. 

Hilarious book that had me laughing out loud and was a big page-turner. I sped through the book to find out what The Grump would be up to next and was sad when the book ended and there were no more stories. Highly recommended, 5/5 and thanks to Ari Sainio for making this book possible.

Juha - Juhani Aho #sponsored

Juha / Juhani Aho / Tiina Saarelainen

Classic. Love Triangle. Plot twist.

STORY: Juha is an older man, living in a small village with his wife, Marja. Marja is much younger than Juha and beautiful. Lately they have not been getting along. Marja has been calling Juha names and she has been living for awhile in a small house that Juha built for her. When a young, strong, foreign man passes through the village on business and stays the night with Juha and Marja, a love triangle forms that threatens to tear their marriage apart. 

Juhani Aho is famous for writing the story Rautatie (Railroad), also available in selkokirja format from Opike press, in 1905. Juha was published years later in 1911 and still remains a classic today. The tale is particularly apt, as it is set it what was then Finland under Swedish rule, and also set partly in Russian Karelia. 

LANGUAGE: The story itself is 83 pages long with additional pages of grammar exercises at the end. A great reason to read books from Artemira press is that on the bottom of every page are difficult words with definitions in selkokieli, so there's no need to even have a dictionary while reading. This makes reading their books a more relaxing and smooth experience as opposed to feeling like one is studying while reading. Even though this is a classic, it reads like a modern selkokirja - there is lots of dialogue, but no puhekieli or dialect (unless explained in the vocabulary section). At the end of each chapter are 2 - 3 reading comprehension questions. These are a good way to make sure that the reader understood what happened during the chapter before moving onto the next. The beginning chapters are long at around 5 - 10 pages in length, but the later chapters are shorter at 3 - 5 pages in length. The answers to all of the reading comprehension questions and grammar exercises can be found on the publisher's website.

This book is rated a B keskitaso (around 1200 words) by the publisher and this reader agrees. Based on the page length and reading comprehension this book is ideally suited to a B2.1+ level. While a B1 level could certainly read this, they may find themselves looking up words not covered in the definitions at the bottom of the page, or looking up those same definitions for extra help.

CHARACTERS: This book is told in third person from the perspective of three characters. Juha begins the book, an old man who loves his wife and live in a small village in the forest with a cow and trees and river nearby. Marja is his young wife, who has never known any other life than with Juha and finds herself young and beautiful while living out her days with an old man who has lost his looks and walks with a limp and bow-legs. When travelers pass by she dreams of the lives and stories of places she has never seen. The third character is a businessman named Shemeikka, passing by Juha and Marja's home. Young and strong, the couple is charmed by his stories and words.

While this is a classic book, the love triangle that exists between the three can be seen in contemporary books and movies and even in real life today. 

WHY YOU SHOULD READ THIS BOOK: Juhani Aho is a classic and very well known author in Finnish literature. This is a good story and contains a plot twist that alone makes the story worth reading. More than this book itself, I recommend checking out any books from this publisher, Artemira. They have Finnish selkokirja in three difficulty levels from a variety of authors, so finding the perfect combination of plot, author and reading level is easy. They can be purchased as print books or PDF versions at two different price levels. For a review of one of their difficult level books, check out my review of Laulu tulipunaisesta kukasta by Johannes Linnankoski. 

Thanks to Artemira for generously providing this book for review. 

You can buy a copy of Juha from their website here.

Check out other books from Artemira press from their website here.

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Toppatakin alla on sydän - Tuija Hannula

Toppatakin alla on sydän - Tuija Hannula

Culture. History Manners.

SUBJECT:  In this non-fiction book, different segments of Finnish society, culture, history and manners are broken down into short texts.  This book is ideal for newcomers to Finland  to learn and understand about Finland.

LANGUAGE:  Each section is about 3-5 pages in length. A broad range of topics are covered and discussion questions are found in the back of the book. The text itself is just over 100 pages. While the topics are beneficial to any language level, most of the texts contain grammar and vocabulary suited towards B2 levels. Despite this, I recommend this book to B1 language learners, who will benefit highly from the content with a little bit of extra study.

CONTENT:  This book discusses Finns and non-native Finns who live in Finland. There is much stereotyping of Finns, but in a positive or in a self-deprecating way. At the same time, there is much discussion of people who live in Finland who don't have a Finnish last name and who have traditions and customs other than those traditionally found in Finland - and it welcomes and celebrates these too.

WHY YOU SHOULD READ THIS BOOK:  This book is a joy to read. While in integration courses, most of the hours are (needfully) devoted to grammar and vocabulary, topics such as culture, society and manners are just as essential to newcomers to Finland. Since there's not enough time to pack this information into an already packed language course, a book like this is absolutely essential reading. It allows readers to learn about Finland and Finns, answers those burning questions in the back of their heads, and gives answers to questions they haven't even formed.

It's this reader's opinion that if you are a newcomer to Finland, you should own: a dictionary, a grammar book and this book. And if you follow up this book by doing the discussion questions, visiting/watching the subjects mentioned throughout the book, then you'll have a well-rounded study in Finland/Finnish and be well prepared to go out into the world - be it to a job, an appointment or even just to the local market.

5/5

Seesam (Open Sesame) Award 2019 - Tuija Takala - Review of 2 books - Hyvä päivä and Lauralle oikea #sponsored

The Seesam (Open Sesame!) award is given by Selkokeskus every year since 1992 to a person or company who furthers, advances the development of Finnish selkokirjat and selko-literature. Recipients in the past have been authors, illustrators, translators, publishing houses, libraries and more.

This year's award was awarded in October 2019 at the Turku book fair to Tuija Takala. She is a Finnish language instructor and has written and selko-translated many books in various genres, including classics, poetry, romance and novellas.



In this post, I'll be reviewing two books from Tuija Takala, Hyvä päivä and Lauralle oikea.

Hyvä päivä - Tuija Takala

Anecdotal. Positivity. Thin book.

STORY: This collection of super short stories reflect daily life in Finland and the small moments that count in each day.

LANGUAGE:  Each story is 2 pages in length, as little as 6 paragraphs and are individually packed with thoughts and ponderings that will leave the read with a feeling of comfort and contentment. Since there are such a wide range of stories (28 in all), the ideal language level is anywhere from an A1.2 to a C. An A language learner could pick any story and tackle it in a single sitting and understand it with little grammar and vocab check-up, while a C learner, or even a native Finnish speaker would enjoy simply picking up and reading a story here and there, drawing the enjoyment of the book out. This book has great re-readability, making it easy to go back and find favorite stories and read them again and again.

CHARACTERS:  Every story has a different narrator. They very from a person waiting at a train or bus station, a woman who received a postcard in the mail, to an older man and woman who chat in the yarn. Many stories are genderless and ageless. While this book is aimed at adults, I believe anyone from YA plus would appreciate these stories.

WHY YOU SHOULD READ THIS BOOK:  Who wouldn't want to read a book, that when you are done reading from it, you are left smiling and feeling good? This book is great for any read, any tiem of the day, any time of the year and has excellent re-readability, making it a great book to own and keep on the bookshelf for years. The short stories are great, can be read quickly, and as a thin book (just over 60 pages), it's great to carry around with you. The book also includes pencil illustrations which add a softness to an already light, enjoyable read. It's always worth reading books by award winners, and this is a great book to start with from Tuija Takala's collection!

Highly recommend!

Thanks to Opike for generously providing this book for review.
You can purchase this book and many more from their website.
You can also find excerpts from the book, discussion questions and exercises on Opike's website!
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Lauralle oikea - Tuija Takala

Romance. New adult. Self-discovery.

STORY:  Laura sits at a table with her mother. She tells her mother that she has found "the one." Her mother is reluctant to believe her, considering Laura has had crushes often int he past. On her walk home, Laura thinks about her life from childhood to the present.

LANGUAGE:  Told in first person from Laura's perspective. Set in the near present, 2018, with flashbacks to childhood, school years and working life.

This is a new adult book. In general, it is accessible to a young adult reader, but as Laura grows older into her 20's and focuses on finding a career and her own first apartment, it steps firmly into new adult.

While there is some puhekieli throughout the book, I rate this book as B1.1+. The chapters are short and overall the grammar and vocabulary are accessible to those that have advanced beyond beginner's Finnish but are not yet at a fluent level.

CHARACTERS:  Laura is a regular, average, normal girl and always has been. Her childhood and school years are spent with her mother and two best friends. Laura struggles to find what she's good at, what kind of job is right for her and she is always on the lookout for "the one."

WHY YOU SHOULD READ THIS BOOK:  This is a welcome genre romance book to the selkokirja world! If you already read and enjoy romance books in your own native language, this is an excellent transition into selkokirjat. It's great for the new age audience - wondering about potential relationships, experiencing bad relationships, considering whether to continue in school or not, watching as all your friends finish school with you and all go off in different directions, wondering if you'll still see each other and stay friends, trying out living on your own for the first time, wondering what you want to do for a job for the rest of your life, or even the near future. If you are asking yourself these questions now, or if you have ever experienced these in your past, you will most certainly enjoy this book! This is a fun book, a light fluffy read with some modern touches.

Congratulations to Tuija Takala for winning the Seesam award and we look forward to her future selkokirjat!

Reidar Särestöniemen Maailma / Särestöniemi-museo

Rediar Särestäniemen Maailma / Särestöniemi-museo

Non-fiction. Art. Lapland.

SUBJECT:

Reidar Särestöniemi ((1925 - 1981) was an artist from a small village in Lapland whose art is internationally recognized. The Särestöniemi Museum is located in his family home and studio in Lapland, near Kittilä. A local children's instructor for special needs children contacted the museum and following the idea that "art is for everyone," asked how the museum could be brought to the children. The result is this selkokirja about the artist and his art, so that everyone can learn about him and see his works, even if they can't visit the museum in person.

LANGUAGE: 

The language in this book is from A1 - C. 

At just over 100 pages, the book is filled with full page and dual-pages images with chapters on various subjects, including direct quotes from Reidar Särestöniemi. It also includes a small brochure which includes much of the text from the book without the images.

A - In the spirit of art is for everyone, anyone can look through the pages of the book and see Särestöniemi's art and pictures of him, his family and Lapland. Many of the images have bolded text next to them, with questions for the reader to think about the art or topics such as seasons and animals.

B - In addition to the art and images, the book includes short chapters with large font text on various topics, such as Reidar's studies and nature. At just 1-3 pages (containing 1-5 paragraphs), these texts are very accessible to a B level reader.

C - This book contains many direct quotations from Reidar Särestöniemi and he speaks in a heavy dialect. While speaking his quotes out loud may help in understanding better, understanding various dialects requires more upper level knowledge and experience.

BIOGRAPHY: 

Reidar Särestöniemi was born and lived in a small village in Lapland. While the rest of his family were farmers, Reidar was often found shirking his chores and drawing instead. His family supported him and he went on to study art at the Academy of Fine Arts in Helsinki and went on to tour the world, sharing his art with people around the world in Europe, Africa and Asia. Even President Kekkonen came to visit his studio in Lapland in 1975 and they shared a sauna together. These are just the facts about Reidar Särestöniemi and much more about his life, beliefs and art can be found in this selkokirja.

WHY SHOULD YOU READ THIS BOOK:

This book is for everyone. Art is for everyone and for those who don't have a chance to visit museums, near or far, this is an excellent way to step inside a museum from the comfort of your own living room. This is a good way to learn more about who's who from Finland, and especially northern Finland. The book speaks a lot of nature, especially from Lapland, and contains excellent art and descriptions of nature throughout the year. Art, nature, love, sorrow, homesickness, these are themes that anyone can understand and find within the pages of this book. 

Thanks to the Särestöniemi museum for making this book possible.

The website for the museum can be found here. 

Särestöniemi-museo 
Särestöntie 880
99110 Kaukonen 

Yösyöttö - Eve Hietamies / Hanna Männikkölähti

Yösyöttö / Eve Hietamies / Hanna Männikkökahti

STORY: Six days after Antti's wife Pia gives birth, she flees in a taxi, leaving Antti helpless and clueless to take care of their baby. Having no choice but to leave his job and take care of his son full-time, Antti's life changes completely as he learns about childcare and life.

This book is a selko-translation of the popular fiction book of the same name by Eve Hietamies, published in 2010. It is the first in a trilogy and can be read as a standalone. Yösyöttö has been turned into a movie, directed by Marja Pyykkö and starring Petteri Summanen. 

LANGUAGE: This contemporary book set in Helsinki is told in first person from Antti's perspective. While a thick book at 148 pages, the chapter length is quite short with each chapter around 3-6 pages and full page illustrations throughout. Much of the book is dialogue, both conversation and Antti's inner thoughts. Themes include father-son relationships, family, joys and hardships in child raising with humor running throughout.

The joy of a selkokirja is that it doesn't have the same appearance and structure of a standard novel. In this case, the full-page black and white illustrations by Ina Majaniemi bring an extra element to the story, enhancing the story to the reader and providing insight into's Antti's world and Finnish daily life. Small details such as socks on a radiator and well-recognizable plaid slippers alongside Antti's expressions and the growth of his son will delight readers and have them flipping ahead to find out when the next illustration will come in the story.

As far as language levels, I rate this a solid B1+. Although it is over 100 pages, the chapter length, vocabulary and grammar make it very accessible to any B level reader. 

CHARACTERS: Antti is 40 years old and successful in his job as a journalist. He is used to a busy work life, travelling around Finland and the globe doing interviews and office work. When he learns that his wife, Pia, is pregnant, he expects that she will stay home and raise the baby while he continues working. While he is knowledgeable in his work, he is clueless when it comes to child raising and everything that comes with it. The adjustment to being a stay-at-home dad is huge and Antti takes help from wherever he can find it. At the beginning of the book, Pia is a mysterious character, simply running off. It is only as the book progresses that the reader learns more about her story and role in the family. The side characters in the book are well developed, many providing a jolt of reality and others bringing humor and hope.

A character list is provided in the front, with names and short descriptions of the main characters and the heavily featured side characters. 

WHY YOU SHOULD READ THIS BOOK:  A new trend in Finnish selkokirjat is the selko-translations of many contemporary popular fiction books. This book is just one of many, and is especially timely, considering the release of the movie based on the second book, Tarhapäivä, in November 2019. Because it is popular fiction, it is not uncommon to see native Finns reading the original series on the bus or in the city, and now selko readers can join in alongside them and keep up to date with current Finnish literature and popular culture and provide an element of integration to all. This is a fun book to read, and because it is B accessible, it doesn't require constant dictionary searching. The story will appeal to readers of all types - women, men, parents, and readers of popular fiction in general. 5/5 stars.

Bonus: The author provides vocabulary cards and reading comprehension questions on her website, Random Finnish Lesson and information about her other books here, including a sample of Yösyöttö.