Archive - children's books

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Kate Agnew: Space hero, 2013

Ben's parents have an interesting job; they work in the spacecraft control center. Benkin always goes there after school to wait until mom and dad get off work. The boy does small tasks and plays in the spare cockpit, where real space flights are practiced. But today there is an extreme emergency in the control center! Everyone is in a panic because the lunar rover has a flat tire and the astronauts can't get it fixed. Can Ben help? An easy-to-read book for those learning to read is a nice and colorful Blue Banana series.

 

Lasse Anrell & Anna-Karin Garhamn: King of the home fields (Football freaks; 2), 2018

Another part of the easy-to-read, nicely illustrated football book series. Ali, Bruno and Emma play in the Hammarby soccer team from Stockholm. They are now especially practicing deception and anticipating the opponent's deceptions. It's not easy. Just like there is no headache and it also hurts quite a bit. But the athlete also has to endure pain.

In addition to training, the team has other nice things to do. They get to the adult match to escort the players onto the field; face world stars and get to step into the big arena with them while the audience screams. Great!

In addition to that, the team has its own big international tournament in Gothenburg. There are 73 countries and as many as 1660 teams. And the audience in the big stadium is 20! All in all, great. But also really exciting.

 

Lasse Anrell, Anna-Karin Garhamn (photo) Zlatan is a star (Football freaks; 1), 2017
Classmates Ali and Emma both play in the Hammarby football club. They play in different teams, but girls' and boys' teams often practice together.

One day, a new boy, Bruno, comes along. He is a good player, but he also gets angry easily. Then he rages and kicks doors. Bruno also sucks to play together with girls! Fortunately, the club has good coaches. They always understand to remind us that football is above all a team sport where the players help each other.

If a team doesn't play together, it will never win, no matter how good the players are. But how to put this great principle into practice?

The start of a new easy-to-read book series.

 

Tove Appelgren: Vesta-Linnea and velvet muzzle, 2005

When Vesta-Linnea's mother remembers the wonderful sheep dog of her childhood, Vesta-Linnea, who is visiting Eskaria, wants a dog to be a part of her childhood too. Big brother Paul-Axel praises that "that was the best Vesta-Linnea has ever invented". But what do mother and family man Viktor say?

 

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Meredith Badger: A surprising friend, 2012

Third grader Mia's best friend is Jake, a neighbor boy in the same grade. Mia also has girlfriends, but they live so far away that it is not easy to meet up after school. They have fun with Jake: they laugh at the same things, like the same music and ping pong. But at school, Mia and Jake don't make friends because others might tease them and say they have crushes on each other. Even if they are just friends! Why can't a girl and a boy be friends and what exactly is friendship? In this book, Mia's different friends get to know each other and have a lot of fun together!

 

I met Bagge: In the world, 2011

Kaisa has been living alone with her father for a long time. Now he unexpectedly receives a letter from his mother, who lives far away in the Outer Archipelago, and sets out to find her. All alone. Kaisa empties the piggy bank, makes lunch and packs the backpack. He takes a toothbrush, black-and-white cards, a change of clothes, a raincoat and the fifth volume of Andersen's fairy tales. The stuffed animals Pupuli and Pupuliino and Lempi-kärpänen are traveling companions. Kaisa leaves a note on the kitchen table for her father. You have to travel to my mother by bus and ship. How is Kaisan doing? The world already has the seventh easy-to-read book about sweet Kaisa. Of course, the janitor Laine is also adventuring along.

 

I met Bagge: Iron Man's Riddle (Apache; 4), 2020 – also as an e-book ja as an e-audiobook

Here's a cool historical detective series that has required a lot of background work from both author and illustrator Carlos da Cruz. The series takes place during the time of Russian rule, and its previous part, The Vanishing Mummy, received the Runeberg Junior 2020 award as the winner of the children's council.

The Apaches are a group of detectives with six members: four boys and two girls. There are children from different social classes: the son of a professor, the children of a civil servant family, and the sons of a fisherman and a bakery worker. Some of the children go to school, some work. One of the main roles in the series is played by the ever-lovely Helsinki. Familiar names from Kamp to Kämppi and Kaivohuone flash on every page, as the events transport the Apasses to different neighborhoods.

In the Iron Man riddle, the Apaches are excitedly waiting for Halley's comet to pass the earth in 1910. Erik's father is a professor of astronomy and the children have been promised access to the Tähtitorninmäki observatory to watch the comet on the night when it is best visible. The next comet would not be seen until 75 years later. The book also contains a lot of space technology information.

Apaches and townspeople also have other things to wonder about. A strange, scary Iron Man has been seen around Yrjönkatu. It has three eyes and four arms. What is it? It's not long before a crime also happens in the book: Erik's father's friend engineer Kallander is kidnapped. He has developed a secret invention. Does the disappearance have anything to do with it? And what does the strange American-Finnish millionaire have to do with it and why is the most secret department of Russian military intelligence in the hands of the Apaches?

 

Tapani Bagge & Carlos Da Cruz (photo):  Group Z and the Dragon's Kita, 2016

The events of the book take place in Helsinki, in the Kallio district. You can examine the recognizable map of Kallio on the cover of the book. The main characters are Atte and Topi, who have just founded the detective agency Group Z. The neighbor's grandmother is out of her house, green with fear, because her granddaughter, little Adriane, has disappeared. So the boys immediately get an important task. Adriane's sister Laila is also involved in the search. But how does the dragon relate to the story. They don't really exist do they? Is there any clue to this puzzle?

 

I met Bagge: Tahvo and Bella in a snowstorm (Acorns), 2012

Tahvo the cat and Bella the dog live on the island in a lighthouse. The long-awaited winter has finally arrived and they go skating. Bella catches a cold and Tahvo suspects that it is double pneumonia buugivuugi flu. So Tahvo goes to the mainland to get medicine for Bella, but then he starts chasing the snow hard. The snow piles up and piles up. How are you, Tahvon? What about sick Bella? Already the third sweet and easy-to-read story about the coexistence of a cat and a dog, illustrated by Salla Savolainen.

 

Annie Barrows: Isa+Bea, 2015

A new charming book series about silly seven-year-old girls. A new girl of the same age, Isa, moves in next door to Bea. Mother urges Bea to get to know the newcomer, but Bea doesn't like Isa one bit. He thinks they are too different and Isa is a bore herself. Bea, on the other hand, is quite a curmudgeon, teasing the older sister who commands her specialty. But one day something happens that makes Bea change her mind about Isa. And so the girls become best friends.

 

Annie Barrows: Isa+Bea draw up the rules, 2015

The lively seven-year-old besties Isa and Bea charm again, now in the ninth part of the series. It's the holidays, and Bea's big sister Nina is going to the Girl's Energy camp. Beak would like to go there, but is still too young. The mess is sad. But don't worry: together with Isa, the girls organize their own camp in the nearby Apinapuisto. A couple of old sheets can be found in the trash, which can be used to make a tent; there must be one in the camp, of course. Other necessary items are also included, e.g. Santa's mask.

But what the hell are we doing at camp? Nina's camp program includes crafts, dancing, first aid and getting to know the great women of history. They will also be available at Bea and Isa's camp, albeit in their own way. In crafts, the girls try to make friendship bracelets, but end up tying their hands and feet together. Dancing unexpectedly requires studs and first aid involves lots of blood and zombies. Weightlifting is also practiced at the camp, and since it has to be started lightly, we only lift grapes at first. At first, there are no other participants at the camp except Isa and Bea, but the girls' brisk activities attract other children as well. Then you can properly play historical British soldiers who, led by their girl leader, go into battle against the Romans, i.e. the trash in the park.

It's fun; both the campers and the reader. Fortunately, the parts of the series do not have to be read in chronological order, but they also work as independent books. The series is illustrated by Sophie Blackall.

 

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Lauren Child: We really know how to take care of a dog, 2010

Salla really likes dogs, but her parents don't plan to get one. Fortunately, Salla and her friend Lota get to take care of a dog named Lysti for a while, which is owned by Salla's brother Samu's friend Lasse. When Salla and Lotta argue about how Lyst's leash should be held, something worrying happens. The book is based on characters created by Lauren Child.

 

Asia Citro, Marion Lindsay (illustrator): Dragons and marshmallows (Sara and Sassafras; 1), 2020

Sara is very interested in animals. Together with their cat Sassafrassa, they study everything found in nature, starting with insects. Sara's mother is a researcher and she is just leaving for a business trip. But before that, her mother discovers that Sara has the same rare ability as her: they can see magical animals! They now share a secret and it must not be told to anyone else, not even the father.

Before leaving, the mother also has time to reveal that there is a doorbell on the wall of the backyard barn, which the magical animals of the nearby forest come to ring when they need help. During the mother's work trip, the doorbell rings and Sara and Sassafrassa find a small, very unwell baby dragon in the barn. It needs to be helped and fast! But how? Sara and Sassafrassa use scientific methods to find out what the dragon eats and what ails it. Will they manage to save their little treat?

The easy-to-read story charmingly leads its readers to a natural science point of view and may also inspire them to do their own research. Fortunately, the adventures of Sara and Sassafrassa will soon be continued.

 

Julian Clary, photo. Davis Roberts: We Ponnekkas, 2017

This hilariously illustrated book about hyenas disguised as humans has quite a bit of cruise humor. It all starts in Africa, where Englishmen Anneli and Risto Ponnekas are on their honeymoon. However, they have a hard time when a crocodile stings them on the cheek in the middle of a swimming trip. Only clothes for the beach remain. A couple of hyenas who are interested in people arrive and get to wear the costumes. When they still have return tickets for both of them in their pockets, the hyenas decide to act as the missing Ponnekka couple and leave for London.

The Vale-Ponnekkas settle down to live in a detached house left over from the real Ponnekkas. They also have children: twins Vilma and Veeti. Everyone plays people fluently; the children go to school and the parents have nice jobs. They even learned to hide their tails. And all the time the family is laughing hyena-like. It certainly arouses a bit of wonder in the environment.

Animals are still animals and have animal habits. Even the hyenas in our book can't completely escape from them. In addition, there is a rather unpleasant person living next door, who begins to pay special attention to Ponnekkahi. Will he make our hyena family smile? Will the secret be revealed? Or secrets?

 

Julian Clary & David Roberts (photo) Me Ponnekkaat: the rescue patrol, 2018

The Mainio Ponnekkadis family is on an adventure again, now in the second part of the series. Hulvato's illustration once again makes this story even better. The book is not recommended for adults because they would not understand it.

The Ponneka family lives in London. Father Ponnekas works as a joke teller and mother Ponnekas makes hats. Their children Vilma and Veeti are twins and go to school like all other children. The family looks quite ordinary, but it has a secret: the family members are not human! They are hyenas just pretending to be humans. At first glance, this may sound strange, but the truth is that there are any number of animals living among us who only pretend to be humans. It's worth looking around.

In the previous episode, the Ponnekkas rescued a couple of zoo animals and took them in to live with them. A rumor spread that there was a refuge for all animals in danger at Ponnekkai's place. So when mother Ponnekas peeks into the toilet one Tuesday night, a crocodile stares back at her.

The crocodile stutters to live with the Ponnekkas. After that, more and more animals come. Ponnekkas are kind and accommodate all animals in their home. But problems follow: congestion, clutter and confusion. Soon the police also pay attention to the house. Will the family secret be revealed now?

 

Eoin Colfer: Dr. Anna-Liisa, 2016

Anna-Liisa's mother is a doctor and even a specialist. Anna-Liisa admires her mother because she helps people, especially people who are sad or depressed. Mother helps them regain their joy in life.

Anna-Liisa wants to be as good a doctor as her mother when she grows up. He knows that for that you have to study and practice for many years. That's why he's already training. After school, Anna-Liisa goes to her mother's workplace, i.e. reception, and sits in the waiting room next to the patients. He tells jokes or even sings and makes quite a few people smile. But one day Anna-Liisa meets a little boy who doesn't seem to be cheered up by anything. What makes the boy sad and will Anna-Liisa find a way to help him?

The sweet book courageously deals with a difficult subject and is suitable for young schoolchildren as well.

 

Sam Copeland: Sami turns into a chicken, 2019

Sami is a normal nine-year-old elementary school student, except that he always turns into an animal. As any kind of animal: a spider, a flea, a bug, a snake. And what's worst: change cannot be predicted, but can happen anywhere and anytime. Until now, Sami has managed to hide it from everyone. He hasn't even told his best friends. And Sami doesn't even dare to think about what would happen if the mischievous Dylan in the class found out about it. I hope the change doesn't happen in the principal's office either, or is that where the corner of Sam's eye starts twitching strangely...

Other unpleasant things have happened in Sam's life recently. The older brother has been hospitalized and the parents are worried about him. Sami, on the other hand, is worried about both his brother and his parents. It seems that it is worry that makes him turn into an animal.

Despite its serious subject matter, the book is a joyous burst of British humor. Full of puns, crazy situations and witty tricks on the reader. It also works very well when read aloud, for example even to yourself. If you like Andy Stanton's Mr. Gummy, David Walliams' or Roald Dahl's books, you can't deny this one either. The successful Finnish translation is by Jaana Kapari-Jata. And more can be expected, since this is only the first part of the series.

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Erica David: Long live the queen! (Anna & Elsa), 2016

Frozen favorites Elsa and Anna have jumped into an easy-to-read novel. This is how they cleverly introduce their little fans to literacy.

Elsa now serves as the queen of Arendel. He has a kingdom to rule, respectful subjects, wealth, beauty and magical powers and yet he envies his sister Anna. Anna gets along great with people, makes them laugh and let loose. Elsa is more shy and doesn't really know how to form friendships.

Together with Anna, Kristoffer and Sven the reindeer, Elsa gets to know her kingdom and its inhabitants and helps her subjects with her magical powers. Soon everyone wants Elsa's help and she has no time to do anything but sit on her throne and receive people in need. Elsa begins to get tired, because the practice takes energy.

But who would help Elsa, who is about to collapse, and how? A sweet book that contains an important reminder for each of us. More of these!

 

Kate DiCamillo: The magician's elephant, 2010

Orphan ten-year-old Peter Augustus Duchene stands in the middle of the snowy market of his hometown, holding a one-florit coin in his hand. Foster father, an old sick soldier, has once again sent his son to buy fish and bread. But today something completely new has appeared in the market among the fishmongers and bakers: the red tent of the farmer. With one floriite, the fortuneteller promises the answer to even the most difficult question of the human mind. Peter defies his strict foster father and sacrifices his only coin to get an answer to a question that has been weighing on his mind for years. Is her little sister Adele still alive? The soothsayer says that the sister is alive, but to find her, Peter must follow an elephant… What an elephant.

 

Maijaliisa Dieckmann: Sigismund Virtanen on Odysseus' journey, 2013

Sigismund Virtanen is an 11-year-old boy whose father is a keen history buff. So the boy has also received his rare first name after the king who once ruled both Poland and Sweden-Finland. Otherwise, Sigismund is a normal boy, except not quite: he knows magic words that can be used to move from one historical period to another. In this book, Sigismund listens as his father tells about the incredible adventures of a Greek war hero named Odysseus. Odysseus and his men fight e.g. against the one-eyed giant or cyclops. And at the same time, the boy goes back in time to ancient Greece and finds himself involved in a crazy adventure. And at the same time, the famous Odysseus epic becomes familiar to the reader as well. In the book published earlier than this, Sigismund Virtanen has already had adventures in the Trojan War.

 

Maijaliisa Dieckmann: Ville Romunen and grandma celebrating independence, 2017

The son of scrap dealer parents, Ville hates reading subjects at school. On the other hand, he is good at jobs that require dexterity. Ville is already in the fifth grade and it's only demanding compared to the lower grades. Ville is especially worried now, when we are living the jubilee year of independence and everyone has to do project work containing videos related to Finland's centenary history. Ville is sure that he will not survive the task.

Grandma Mutikainen comes to the rescue once again, who unexpectedly appeared in Ville's life in the first part of the book series. Grandma, Ville and their classmate Lilli head towards Helsinki in Grandma's off-road colored SUV, because as the capital it is full of places and stories related to Finland's independence. On foot, by trolley and subway, the group travels from Senatintor to the Presidential Palace and from there via the Mannerheim statue to the House of Parliament. The whole round ends with a hockey match. A grandma wouldn't be a grandma if she didn't also have a lot of complaints. Ville and Lilli have no problems getting their project work done.

 

John Dougherty, David Tazzyman (illustrated): Scent bomb & Ketchup mask and the search for the magical porcupine, 2018

The book series about big brother Smell Bomb and little sister Ketchup Face is full of hilarious British humor. The series resembles Mr. Gummy in its flying, the books also have the same illustrator.

Smell Bomb and Ketchup Face live on the island of Mighty Metakan, which is ruled by a slightly wacky king named Toothbrush Kärppä. In the previous part, the children chased badgers who were doing bad things, caught them and sent them to prison. Now those nasty badgers have escaped from prison.

Smell Bomb and Ketchup Face go looking for badgers again. They get help from the Irtosora library. The library is much bigger than the king's palace, because even the goofy king knows that libraries are much more important than the king's castles. The ninja-like librarian climbs silently along the bookshelves to get the book needed in the search. It turns out that Smelly Pommy and Ketchup Face have to go to Silliness and find a magical porcupine. A dangerous journey begins again.

 

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Andy Elkerton: Viking Adventures (Jump to the book), 2018

Hop on board with the book is an easy-to-read series of books in capital letters. Viking Adventures is its subseries and, as the name suggests, it tells about the ancient Vikings. The main character of the series is Chief Harald's son Arni. He has adventures in four books already. At the end of the books there is also brief information about the Vikings and their beliefs:

• Arni as a hero:

• Vikings sail the seas of the world and have dangerous adventures. Wild stories are told about them. Arni would like to join, but he is still so young that he will not be taken on board. But the boy is clever and finds a way to organize adventures in his own village.

• A trip to a new world:

• Arni hides on the ship and joins the journey beyond the great ocean. The father chief is angry at first, but calms down. On this journey, the ship gets stormy and breaks up. The pieces of the ship and the Vikings drift ashore. They have entered a whole new world. Where? How about getting the ship repaired?

• Arni and the golden book:

• The Vikings have returned from one of their trips and brought a lot of treasures with them. Among them, a book is revealed that Arni is interested in. He goes to ask the village storyteller Skaldi for help in reading it. The book is written in runes and tells about the Viking gods.

• Unna and catala witch:

• The most exciting part of the series. One day, Arni and his mother get scared when Keittopata starts talking. It says that the captain and his crew have been kidnapped by the catalan witch Tekla. Tekla enchants grown men with her spell so that they fall asleep and stay with the witch. Now the brave Unna is needed for help. She's a girl and the witch's spells won't work on her. Arni is allowed to go to Unna's aid, because he is still so young that the witch can't enchant him either. The children get into a fierce sea battle against the witch.

 

Eva Eriksson, Rosa Lagercratz (photo ): Lucky girl Dunne, 2016

Dunne has been waiting for school to start for however long. Almost all his life. He is really happy when he finally gets to the right school for the first grade. Dunne almost always feels happy anyway. But just before the first day of school, many kinds of fears creep into his mind.

Fortunately, Dunne finds the best friend in the world, Ella-Frida, in the very first week at school. The girls do all the fun things at school and after. They invented e.g. A night club. But then something terrible happens that makes the happy Dunne unhappy. And then perhaps something even more horrible will happen, which will completely freak the girl out. How do you get through boring things? A sweet and easy-to-read book with nice illustrations for those starting school.

 

Karin Erlandsson, Peter Bergting (illustrator): Night train: a story with 24 chapters, 2020

We're living in Christmas time. Eleven-year-old Danja always moves with her parents and sister to her grandmother's house, in the former station building. The girl's grandfather was once a station manager, but no trains have run on the track for years.

Grandma is very dear to Danja, but now she doesn't always even recognize the girl and lives more and more in her own worlds. One night, grandma disappears. The family is naturally very worried and starts a big search. But there is no sign of grandma.

That same night, a train approaches along the abandoned track and stops by the old station building. Danja gets on the train and so the exciting, nighttime trips to strange stations begin. Danja gets to know Konrad, who is also looking for a loved one. While tracking down the lost silver key and the missing music box, Danja and Konrad travel back and forth in time and learn to understand something very important.

A warm and exciting book that can be read chapter by chapter like a Christmas calendar.

 

Kari Evinsalo: Detective Vertti and a cunning diversion, 2020

The great detective series continues! The main characters are two boys and a girl, school friends Vertti, Korppi and Lissu. The group leader is Vertti. He and Lissu base their actions more on intellectual reasoning, while Korppi likes to be a fist hero. Verti's interest in crimes comes from his grandfather, who was a real private detective. Now he is already dead, but often appears in his dreams to advise Vertti. The headquarters of the detective agency is in the yard of the neighbor, Mr. Dutzenware.

Mr. Dutzenware is a well-known art collector in the area. Now he has a famous French painting in his collection, the value of which is more than 100 million euros. A lot of people have been invited to the unveiling of the plaque. A proper party is coming, with banquet tables and orchestras. Vertti, Korppi and Lissu have also been hired to work. They act as hangers-on.

The valuable board is well protected. Mr. Dutzenware has acquired a reliable alarm system. So everything is fine. Nevertheless, the painting is stolen during the orchestral performance. How on earth? But the painting also disappears from the thief. Does anyone know where the immeasurably valuable painting is? Smoke diver's equipment is also stolen from the fire department. Is it also related to board theft? Lots of questions, few answers, and it's getting more and more complicated. Vert and his partners have a lot to figure out, especially when the thief is not only cunning but also dangerous.

 

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Neil Gaiman & Chris Riddel (illustrated): Luckily there was milk, 2017

Mother goes on a business trip and father stays home with the children. There is a crisis in the morning when you realize that you have run out of milk! How do children eat their breakfast cereal now? Father goes to buy milk. It's harder than you think! Dad is a bit distracted and has quite an imagination. Will anything come of buying milk?

Dad lingers and lingers. The children are already worried. But it's not easy for dad either! He embarks on a breathtaking adventure when he is abducted into a spaceship. And that's just the beginning! The whole father's adventure must be read in the book, surrounded by hilarious illustrations. Only then will the children and the reader find out: does the father bring milk?

 

Julian Gough & Jeff Field (photo): Not a duller day (Bear and rabbit), 2018

The exhilaratingly funny, fast-reading and richly illustrated storybook series about the friendship between a bear and a rabbit continues. There is also a little lesson hidden in each part. This book teaches you how to apologize.

It's a hot summer day. The bear and the rabbit are frolicking in the lake when something flies over their heads at high speed, crashes into a tree and falls face down into the water. It's a little baby owl. The friends picked it out of the water and wondered what it was. The furball also arrives to marvel at other forest animals.

When the rabbit realizes that it is an owl, it immediately takes measures against the owl. Owls are terribly dangerous! It is immediately arresting! What is the truth about the owl and the rabbit's prejudices and who learns to apologize in the book? More of these!

 

Dan Gutman: What a photo op (Pity my school), 2011

Artu, a student from Toka class, thinks the school is disgusting. Hikari classmate Annika especially takes it in stride. Artu thinks photography is particularly boring. So Arttu doesn't do anything in the art classes. The teacher is also strange: he doesn't throw anything away but makes art out of trash. The teacher also assigns the brawlers Artu and Annika as a work pair. They have to make a joint work of art. What will become of it? Kumma kuvisope is the fourth part of the Kahjo koulini series, which quickly became popular.

 

Dan Gutman: Metkat travel times (Pity my school), 2013

Artu, a Toka class student, is always sick at school. On the other hand, the school bus is nice because the driver is the funny-talking Mrs. Körölä. He is a real professional driver because he wears formula glasses and a helmet! One morning in the middle of the trip, Mrs. Körölä receives a phone call from principal Pöhelö. The bus has to deviate from its normal route to a detour to pick up a new, reportedly naked student. Is there any misunderstanding about this? In addition to that, there will be more twists and turns on the way. Arttu is excited; at least you don't have to be at school. But as the journey gets longer and longer, Arttuk also starts to worry. Will the bus ride last for the rest of your life? Already the eleventh part of the cheerful, ironic Kahjo koulini series about adults.

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Pia Hagmar: Klara and pony friend, 2011

A new series from the author of the popular Sinttu! Sixth grader Klara's wish comes true when she moves to a new town with her single mother: Klara gets to start riding! But riding is much more difficult than the girl imagined. In addition, the older stable girls bully. The wait turns into disappointment and the riding lessons into nightmares, and Klara begins to hide from them. Not even Sigge, the most beautiful pony in the world, can cheer up the girl. Father is remarried and Klara is getting a little brother, but now father doesn't seem to notice Klara anymore. In addition, Klara is afraid that her mother will also find a new male friend and she will be even more lonely. Will Klara be able to solve her problem? Another part of the series has already appeared: Klara and the horse of dreams.

 

Magdalena Hai & Teemu Juhani (illustrator): Miss Kymenen's wonderful house, 2020 – also as an e-book

Miss Kymene has isolated herself in her strange house on the hill and not much is known about her. He doesn't enjoy being around people and he especially hates children! Why? Because children are noisy, messy, awkward, come too close or even in your arms, tell stories, smell each other, look into your eyes and generally exist.

Miss Kymene has twelve wise monkeys as her servants. Their names indicate that Ms. Kymene previously not only read a lot of civilized literature but also traveled around the world. The garden of the house is inhabited by bloodthirsty Bengal tigers. That's why no one likes to even approach the house.

One day something very revolutionary happens: Miss Kymene's doorbell rings. Who the hell could be there? Behind the door stands a little boy picking his nose, Pekka Pettersson. He has come to the house in search of Courage. So not courage, because the boy already has enough of that, but Courage.

Soon the doorbell rings again and two girls enter. There are suddenly three children in the house: sisters Susanna and Anneliisa Kreivi and Pekka and Miss Kymene doesn't like it at all. Soon the children also find Ernesto, a ghost from the past, in the house. But the children also find something else: there are abandoned children's rooms upstairs. Why? And what is that strange door, which may not exist but only at the level of thought? The charmingly mysterious and wonderfully illustrated book is literally oozing with riddles!

 

Matt Haig, illustration by Chris Mould: A boy named Christmas, 2016 – also as an e-audiobook

A Christmas story suitable for both children and adults. The author is English, but the story takes place in Santa's home country, Finland.
The book begins near Kristiinakaupunki, where a woodcutter father and his son Nikolas live in the smallest cabin in Finland. They are very poor and both miss the mother of the family who has died. Nikolas' only memory of his mother is an old doll made of turnips. Still, the boy feels happy: he and his father have a warm home and food. Besides that, dad can tell exciting stories about elves who live far away in the North.

One day everything will change forever. The hunter-Anders lures the father on a long and dangerous trip to the North in search of the fabled Goblin. The king has promised a large reward if anyone can prove that elves really exist. Father goes on a journey and leaves Nikolas in the care of Aunt Charlotta. This is not a kind old granny, but a cruel and mean one. First of all, the aunt commands Nikolas to sleep outside in the cold. However, the most horrible thing is that Aunt Charlotta makes soup out of Nikos's beloved turnip doll. That's when Nikolas decides to follow his father to the great and unknown North. The journey will be dangerous and exciting and there will be no escaping prison.

 

Lin Hallberg: April, Sinttu, 2010

The world's most beautiful Sinttu started the easy-to-read Sinttu series, which quickly gained great popularity. Now the series has already progressed to the fourth part. Margareta Nordqvist's nice illustrations are also an important part of the book. Elina and three other girls still go to the Siltakylä pony stable. There they learn horse riding and pony care under Inka's guidance. Elina's absolute favorite pony is Sinttu. The book tells nicely about the girls' visits to the stables: now they are learning cross-country riding and jumping poles. We also learn a little something new about how animals should be treated. In this book, we live in spring and the girls are excited to see if they will be taken to the summer riding camp. The camp is primarily intended for those who can ride a little better. There is also something else to be excited about: two pony mares are waiting for a foal. Will they be born in this book?

 

Lin Hallberg: Eppu is looking for a home, 2012

Elsa would like a pony because big sister Minna also has her own Santos. Santos is lonely and longs for company. Father and mother are not enthusiastic about it, because taking care of the pony requires a lot of work and Elsa is still small. Elsa and her friend notice an advertisement in the newspaper about a pony for sale. The girls call the number in the ad and make an appointment. Mother and father are enticed to come and see the Eppu pony. Elsa immediately falls in love with Eppu, but the parents refuse to buy it, because the pony is poorly cared for, dirty and unkempt. But Elsa wants Epu! Will he get it? A new captivating horse series from the makers of Sintutu.

 

Isabella Halvarsson, Margareta Nordqvist (photo) Spot: a dangerous journey, 2017

An exciting start to a new series of easy-to-read, but not cheesy, dog books. Täplä is a little eight-week-old Jack Russell Terrier girl puppy who lives somewhere in Eastern Europe in the stable of a country house with her mother and siblings. Like children, it is very curious and one day it runs away from others.

The escape does not end well, as Täplä is captured. It is stuffed into a cardboard box, loaded into a car and illegally smuggled into Finland for sale! How is Täplän?

 

Isabella Halvarsson, Margareta Nordqvist (pictured): The spot will fade, 2018

The easy-to-read, sympathetic and exciting series about the Jack Russell terrier Täplä gets a continuation. The beginning of Täptä's life was not easy, as it was kidnapped as a small puppy from its home in the Baltics from its mother and siblings and smuggled to Finland. You know what would have happened to the little bitch, if the customs man Iisakki and Karri-poika hadn't saved her. Now Täplä lives in Karri and her sister Maisa's home in good conditions.

Still, in this part too, Täplä has to deal with a mysterious case again. The dog is under Iisak's care and they go to a remote island to investigate the theft of a rare and protected plant. Täppä's good grip is still needed at the end of the book to solve another case.

 

Neil Patrick Harris: Magic gang, 2018

Carter was only a few years old when his parents disappeared. One day they left home and never came back. Carter has been living with his uncle Sylvester ever since. Eno can do magic, but he only uses his ability to trick people and steal from them. The thefts also force Eno and Carter to constantly move from place to place. Eno also teaches Carter how to cheat and steal. Magic tricks do interest Carter, but he doesn't want to steal and that's why he hates his uncle. A boy's dream is a family and a real home.

One day, Carter has had enough of her and runs away. He jumps on the roof of the train and travels with it to the city where the fair has just arrived. Tivoli's performers are skilled, but they are also full of thieves. The notorious BB Bosso is in charge of Tivoli and fooling the public.

Fortunately, Carter also finds good people. The boy gets lost in the magic shop of the mysterious Dante Vernon and gets to know children of the same age, all of whom are interested in magic. That's how the Magic Gang is born. But will the gang be able to uncover the criminal antics of the people of Tivoli? With the book, the reader is also taught how to do magic tricks.

 

Paula Harrison, Jenny Løvlie (illustrator): A kitten and a nocturnal adventure, 2019

Kisu is a little girl whose mother is a superhero. Mother flies at night to rescue those in trouble. Kisukin has already started to notice in himself the same super skills as his mother and he would also like to be a superhero, but the dark night scares the girl.

One evening, when Kisu is already sleeping, the little Figaro cat jumps onto the girl's windowsill. It will ask Kisu for help. The kitten has to overcome his fear and brave the black night, where a cat even smaller than Figaro needs help. It is stuck high up on the face of the tower clock, and when the clock strikes twelve, the sage whistles for the little cat to go.

A sweet, easy-to-read, excitingly told and illustrated story, for which you immediately hope for a sequel. It perfectly ties together girlhood, overcoming fear, superheroism and of course cats.

 

Damian Harvey & Ben Scruton (photo): Unbridled dentist (Jump aboard the book), 2017

The right warning book for all us workaholics! Milo finds a big dinosaur tooth on the beach. With that, he becomes interested in the profession of a dentist. Despite his young age, he is serious about researching the field. Soon he will start practicing his profession.

Milo treats both human and animal teeth. And take good care of it. He becomes world famous and customers flock to him from all over the world. Nothing else interests the boy anymore and he doesn't have time to do anything else. Not even sleeping…

 

Mervi Heikkilä: Jaan and Höyheneukko, 2020

Jaan lives in the far north in the town of Puhur. He started his adventure last year and the series, set in a fantasy world reminiscent of the Middle Ages, now continues with an independent, equally exciting part.

Jaan and Tit are worried about their friend Ivi. He has only arrived late in the city with a large stream of refugees and has fallen into gloom. The girl lies as if dead in her bed and is no longer interested in anything. Tit has tried to help Ivi by buying blue sleep from the merchants who came to town, but the medicine has made Ivi even worse.

The city and its surroundings are inhabited by people called koiveltaj. They are descended from reindeer herding nomads who also have magical knowledge and skills. The children get to hear from old Mari, who belongs to Koiveltaj. that Ivi is sick because he has lost his soul bird, Ivi will only get better if he gets a new soul bird from Höyheneuko who lives in the middle of the dangerous Black Forest. Then Tit disappears. The girl has been missing for several days and the whole town is worried. Jaan is sure that Tit, feeling guilty, has gone to get a new soulmate for Ivi. Jaan gets to join the expedition, which goes on a dangerous search trip towards Mustaametsä.

 

Mervi Heikkilä: Jaan and Jäähammas, 2019 – also as an e-book

"Hit that rich dog's teeth in the throat!" That's how the friends shout in the school yard, when Jaan has once again been attacked by the big and grumpy Leo. Every single day, Jaan has to fight with Leo. Leo teases her and calls her dead father a drunkard and a gambler. For Jaani, father was always the best in the world, but the truth is that before he died, father lost the family sawmill to gambling debts. So Jaan, mother and little sister were left penniless. There is a big gap between rich and poor students in the school.

Now, however, schooling is interrupted when strange natural disasters occur. A nearby river is poisoned and it is rumored that it is caused by witch powers. Refugees who lived along the river begin to flood into the city. A year older, fourteen-year-old Tit girl moves in with her family next door to Jaanki.

Then something even worse happens. The city is surrounded by thick fog. Let's say it would be magic too. Roarings have been heard from the middle of the fog and those caught in the fog have died screaming in terror. Children who go near the fog have developed boils on their heads. Jaan is very worried about the fog. His mother and little sister have traveled south some time ago and won't be able to return if the fog doesn't clear. Something must be done! Jaan and Tit go to get help from a sorcerer who lives on the edge of town. This is how the young people get involved in a dangerous rescue mission, which is not lacking in evil and magic. Set in a world reminiscent of the Middle Ages, Jaan ja Jäähammas starts an exciting fantasy series for young adults, which fortunately has already been continued.

 

Saku Heinänen: Zaida and the fighting pair, 2017

The third book about Zaida, a girl adopted from India to Finland. The books can be read independently and their style represents magical realism. The author manages it well. The wonderful black-and-white illustration is also by Saku Heinänen.

In this book, Zaida is twelve years old and the family is planning a trip to the girl's country of birth for Christmas vacation. Zaida doesn't really know what to think about the trip. Otherwise, life begins to change from childhood to youth, and that is confusing. Zaida's best friend Siiri sums it up nicely: "Adulthood has started to seep into us".

At the summer drama camp, Zaida has gotten to know Eevi, a girl from a theater family. In the basement of Eevi's apartment building, there is a little-used club room, where the neighbors Petteri and Tero have set up a game cave. They have a big screen on the wall and great speakers. The girls also get excited to play and everyone agrees to stay in the club room for the night and play as a group. We get permission from home and we know it's going to be a fun night. However, the night becomes downright dangerous when reality and the Gameworld mix. There is quite a struggle for survival in the subway tunnels!

 

Henna Pearl: Rival sisters Sanni and Viivi (IceLove), 2019

Another new installment of the Icelove figure skating team and its members. Each part of the series focuses on different people, so you can read the series in any order. Reetta Niemensivu is responsible for the illustration of the series. The team members are between ten and a half years old and mostly girls, but there is also a boy. The books describe not only the team's training and competition trips, but also human relationships.

In this third part of the series, we focus on two siblings, eleven-year-old Sanni and eight-year-old Viiv. They both skate on the IceLove team. As siblings, they argue a little bit, but in a team they should still get along. But it's not easy. Sanni is already a big girl and wants to take the hobby seriously, while skating is more of a game for Viiv.

The book begins with competitions where IceLove would have the chance to win medals for the first time. However, Sanni makes a fatal mistake, because of which he feels that he has ruined the entire team's performance. It is not easy to get rid of such a feeling. In any case, you have to dare to prepare for the new games.

 

Henna Pearl: Double puzzle, Maria (IceLove), 2018

The second part of the book series about the formation skating team called IceLove and its members. The first part told about fourth-grader Nelly, now we focus on third-grader Maria. Girls and boys of different ages skate in the team. Maria and Vili are a couple of double occupancy. It means that they practice the same part of the team pattern. As the competition approaches, at that moment, the better one of them gets to represent the competition team and the other remains on the reserve.

Maria and Vili are very different. Maria is a conscientious model student both at school and on the ice. Vili, on the other hand, is a carefree clown, at least in Maria's opinion. So it's hard for Marian to bear the fact that it's Vili and not her who gets to skate in the next games. Then Maria unexpectedly also fails the school's environmental studies tests, and it feels like the girl's whole life is slipping away from its familiar and safe tracks. Especially when it seems to the father that skating interferes with going to school. How will the girl get her problem solved and will she ever learn to get along with Vili or will she have to stop her beloved hobby?

 

Hannu Hirvonen: Doctor Kalikali, 2014

Mikko is an ordinary schoolboy who lives with his mother in an ordinary apartment building and lives an ordinary life. However, Miko's life changes when strange things start happening in the household. One morning, Mikko walks to school through the park and happens to hear a little boy playing in the sandbox humming a creepy nursery rhyme from Dr. Kalikal. The strange rhyme sticks in Miko's mind and works as if it were a prediction for future events. When Mikko returns from school in the afternoon, he notices information about a new resident in the stairwell of his home. Doctor Kalikali, a licensed physician since 1382, has moved into the house. How can that be possible. Adults think there is a misprint in the year, but Mikko disagrees. He begins to observe the life of a strange doctor, who in his black clothes and top hat looks like something straight out of a horror movie. The doctor's antics seem strange to say the least. A gap leads from the wardrobe in Miko's room to the doctor's apartment. One day Mikko crawls into the abyss with fatal consequences... New domestic horror literature for young readers.

 

Anu Holopainen: Horror mobile (Iik! : 1), 2019 – also as an e-audiobook

The book starts a horror series aimed at elementary school children. Such a thing has already been needed. Already at the beginning, things start to happen: after the physical education class, fifth-grader Saku finds a blue cell phone on the side of the sports field. It doesn't resemble any of the Samsungs or iPhones he's seen. While Saku is examining his cell phone, the biggest and meanest guy in the class, Ville, arrives. He steals Saku's cell phone with fatal consequences.

Ville starts staring at the cell phone as if enchanted all the time in class. Not even the teacher can make him give it up. Instead, Ville runs away from class and school and disappears. Soon, other children will disappear from the village.

Saku and his twin sister Sussa have to investigate the riddle of the devil's cell phone for their lives when their own preschool-age little sister Siiri also disappears under the spell of the cell phone. The sister must be found before the parents notice that she is missing.

 

Anu Holopainen: Sleep, sleep my toy (Iik! 4), 2020

Saku, Sussa and Siiri spend the summer vacation. The hot weather has continued for a long time and Siiri in particular needs something to do. He gets lured into the forest with Saku and Sussa. In the middle of the forest is an old, abandoned church, Paimenkirkko. The place is beautiful, but children probably wouldn't be allowed to go there, the trio goes to explore the place anyway. They have snacks with them, as they should on a proper trip, and in hot weather it's a little cooler in the forest. The girls stay in the yard and Saku goes to explore the old church and unexpectedly finds a secret room there. In the secret room, there is a disc made of stone with pictures of a bird, maybe an old necklace. They take the jewelry with them. There is a dark square on the wall of the secret room, which looks like a secret hatch. There is no time to investigate it now, but the children decide to come back to it later.

Saku, Sussa and Siiri are sitting on the church porch eating snacks. Siiri has a bun for the birds and the chicks come closer to eat the crumbs of the bun. Suddenly, a fox runs out of the forest and grabs one of the foxes in its mouth. Siiri goes after him, kicks the fox, who loosens his grip on the fox. However, the bird is already dead. Great grief ensues and the trio bury the bird in the forest, near the church. The following night, Siiri wakes up Saku and Sussa. The same dead bird, a little coot, knocks on Siiri's window with its bloody beak. Children don't believe what they see. The next day they hurried to the tomb. The grave is empty. What the hell has happened, I guess the chick hasn't turned into a zombie bird...

 

Jørn Lier Horst: The riddle of the golden watch, 2019

The young people, Cecilia, Leo and Une, who live on the coast of Norway, in Venepukama, are already solving another crime during the same summer. Even now, the events are centered around the boarding house owned by Cecilia's father. A dangerous prisoner has escaped and there is reason to suspect that he is hiding in Venepukama. After all, he has lived in the village as a child. He was involved in a major robbery of a famous goldsmith's shop in Oslo the previous year. The loot worth millions has still not been found. The most valuable object of the robbery was the Maltese watch, made of gold and decorated with precious stones, which belonged to the kings.

One night, Cecilia hears a strange creeping noise and also sees the door handle moving. A couple of guests of the boarding house also seem suspicious. When the trio finds an old diary and a key and notices strange movements in the wartime bunkers, the reader realizes that he is excited along with the young people.

Throughout the book, the last summer's disappearance and death of Cecilia's mother is also present. It seems like there are more and more questions to which the girl needs answers.

 

Jørn Lier Horst: Operation Shadowman (Detective duo; 2), 2018

Norwegian easy-to-read detective series in the spirit of Lasse-Maija's detective agency. Takes place in the small town of Virtakylä. In the first part, the duo exposed an illegal brewery.

Tilda and Oliver are best friends and neighbors. Together they form the Detective duo. There is also a clever stalking dog, Otto. Now the events start when Oliver is cycling in the meadow and falls into a hole. Why has someone dug a hole in the middle of the path? It could go badly. Later, the children notice that more holes have been dug in the meadow. Why on earth?

At the same time, the children see a man in a black hat, who disappears as quickly as he appeared. Who is the mysterious Shadowman? When Tilda and Oliver still get their hands on the old treasure map, the mystery is complete. The children decide to come to the meadow at night to spy on the mysterious man. It's exciting, but maybe also dangerous.

 

Jørn Lier Horst: An underwater puzzle, 2020

A crime film is being shot in the hometown of Cecilia, Leo, Une and Egon the dog. There are a lot of people there and even the young people, including Egon the dog, have been hired as extras.

The book begins with a scene from the movie, which describes a boot found in the sea. The boot also comes with part of the foot. Everyone watches the shot excitedly, including Jesper Moland, a film student who has been hired to film the making of the film, so he makes a film about making a film. Jesper has an expensive camera that suddenly disappears. Why would anyone have any reason to take a student's camera?

Boarding house Helme is home to the director, the actors, and the mysterious Birdman also appears there for a while. The Birdman had found the locket that belonged to Cecilia's mother in the previous book (the mother had died by drowning) and Cecilia musters up the courage to ask the Birdman if he knows anything about the mother's death. Other strange people also show up to stay at Täysihoitola Helme, among them two leaders of a criminal motorcycle gang. This makes young people wonder, aren't the motorcycle gangs in question blood enemies?

It's starting to look like there's a lot going on in Venepoukama that isn't quite legal, or is it? In addition, it is revealed that the Birdman has spent hundreds of hours filming the life of the environment in his cabin, with the aim of photographing birds, but has the camera recorded anything about Cecilia's mother's death at the same time? Is this event also starting to clear up? And just like a boot rises from the sea according to the movie, one of the youngsters finds it at the bottom of the sea. Who did it belong to and why is it appearing now, luckily Cecilia is a good swimmer, as is Leo, because swimming skills are really needed now.

A very exciting sequel to the Clue adventures.

 

Johanna Hulkko (writer) and Jari Paananen (illustrator): Geoseekers and a chilling mystery, 2020

Geoseekers live in Nokia and enjoy geocaching. While looking for caches, they often also have to solve crimes. The group consists of Raparperi and his friends Emmi, Salli, Pasi-Antero and Petteri who are the same age and a little younger.

It's the beginning of December. Children are interested in the winter cache at the end of the pier in the open-air sauna. To find it, they become open saunas. At the same time, various odd jobs start happening around the city. The tracks are broken and the money box in the outdoor sauna is stolen. The geodetectives are in a hurry to find them, because they are suspected of stealing the money!

At school, Rhubarb's class has been given the task of not only performing, but also scripting a play for the Christmas party. A little wistful, because this is twelve-year-old Rhubarb's last Christmas party in elementary school. Of course, the book also contains the rapture of Rhubarb's babbling father. At the end of the book, the coordinates of the real Tampere geocache are given, which can only be seen at temperatures of at least +20 °C or -10 °C. How is it possible?

 

Johanna Hulkko: Geolocators and the lost ancient jar, 2017

The series, aimed at 8-10-year-olds, has already reached its eighth volume and has also been delightfully illustrated in color.

Now Raparperi and his partners are no longer satisfied with the nearby dark landscapes, but are adventuring around hundred-year-old Finland. The book is not only an adventure story, but also an excellent travel guide to many Finnish national attractions. Therefore, the map on the first page is necessary so that the reader can get an idea of ​​where the Bengtskäri lighthouse or Pirunpesä are, for example.

The latter is quite a hollow by the way: 23 meters deep. How can you find a geocache there? Because, of course, Geosearchers also look for caches in every object. This time, the reader also gets puzzles to think about. Each chapter of the book focuses on a different national park, and in each of them there is a task to solve. And they are not easy at all! Fortunately, the answers can be found at the end of the book. And of course, the riddle of the ancient eruption will also be solved.

 

Johanna Hulkko:  Geolocators and the scroll of money puzzle, 2013

The fourth-grade Raparperi girl and her friend Emmi and Emmi's first-grade little sister Salli do trendy geocaching. Now, however, the girls get into quite a bit of trouble on their search trip: they cycle much farther than normal and one of the wheels bursts with rubber. You can't call for help because everyone's Cell Phones are out of the game: you see one disappears and two get wet. The girls have to stay in the forest for the night. Fortunately, a couple of familiar boy scouts arrive with snacks and tents, but at the same time, a strange sneaky man also begins to follow the children. What does she want? In the summer adventure holiday book, Rhubarb's family pattern also comes out like a whisper: he has two fathers.

 

Teija Huusko: Ballet, Alina!, 2020 – also as an e-audiobook

12-year-old Alina has always loved ballet. The new semester in the ballet group is about to start and Alina is excited because her best friend Venla has changed ballet to playing the piano and on top of that, the group is now led by a new teacher, Kirsi. A couple of new girls have also joined the group: heavily made-up Ronja and ethereal Riikka. Riikka seems like a real ballerina, that's exactly what Alina wants to become.

Kirsi is a determined and strict director, but that doesn't bother Alina. Alina wants to develop and takes all instructions seriously. However, Alina is shy and it upsets the girl, the movements go well, but sometimes the correct breathing can be forgotten.

In the middle of the fall semester, a new student, Jasper, arrives in the group. Jasper has moved with his family from Helsinki and attended the National Opera's ballet school for several years. This will impress the groupies. And it doesn't hurt at all that the boy is tall and athletic, with nice buns. In addition, Jasper is relaxed and comfortable. One or another ballerina's heart seems to beat an extra beat.

The group receives exciting news: their own version of the ballet The Snow Queen will be made for the Christmas show. The main characters of the story are the Snow Queen and the friends Kai and Kerttu. A dancer from the upper group is chosen as the Snow Queen, but the other two main characters come from Alina's group. Jasper is of course Kai, but who is Kerttu?

Everyone wants to get the role. The spirit of togetherness has been good, but now there is jealousy and talking behind one's back. There will also be a small rift between Alina and her best friend Venla. How is the fall semester progressing in the ballet group, will the performance be fixed? Alina really loves ballet, she lives for it, but is that enough?

J

Merja and Marvi Jalo: Aksu is looking for a home (Dream dogs; 1), 2020

A new, easy-to-read and appropriately enlivened book series with Marjo Nygård's pictures for little dog fans.

Friends Aino and Isla, who live next door, love dogs and would also like to have a pet of their own, but neither of their parents will allow it. The reasons are also clear: the girls will only go to the first grade in the fall and are therefore far too young to take responsibility for the dog's care. Aino's only aunt Lea raises the dogs. Now, two-year-old Mixed Breed Aksu is being taken into his care. However, the aunt's dog daycare is full and so Aino gets permission from her mother to take Aksu into her care for a couple of weeks. Aksu is uneducated and gets into a lot of trouble, but the girls fall in love with the little dog right away. But the painful moment of giving up the dog is getting closer all the time!

 

Marvi & Merja Jalo, Reetta Niemensivu (photo) Olivia and Onnentähti (Onnenkeppertir; 1), 2018

Stick horses jump into fiction in this new series by the epic writer sisters Marvi and Merja Jalo. Toka grader Olivia loves horses, but is allergic to all animals. He can't even visit the stables to look at the horses, let alone ride like his best friend Valpuri. It makes Olivia very sad. Fortunately, he can dream after all. In his dreams, he has a lovely black horse with a star on its forehead. And that horse's name is Onnentähti.

One day, Olivia finds an abandoned stick horse in a ditch that looks just like the horse of her dreams! Hepa's ear is off, but mom easily fixes it. Now he has his own horse. What about the fact that it's a stunt and someone made it themselves; it is still his very own Lucky Star.

Even Valpurik, who rides real ponies, gets excited about stick riding. Her parents buy her a brand new stick, which the girl christens as Princess. Olivia is a little jealous. A couple of other friends also get excited about keppers and there are already four of them. With the help of my father, the old shed becomes a stable and croquet sticks can be made into an obstacle course. When the book ends, Olivia already has two boyfriends.

 

Merja and Marvi Jalo: Jesse the companion dog (Dog girls), 2012

The story of the found dog Jesse and the dog girls Jenna and Hannele from Turku continues now in the sixteenth part! The roof of the dog kennel has collapsed due to too much snow. There is no money for repairs and the dogs have to be placed in temporary premises. But then Mrs. Munkkirinne, one of the richest in the city, comes to the rescue, and she organizes a fundraising drive to repair the roof. He sets up a winter event with bow-tie skating, dog sledding and a playful pet auction where you can win a pet for one day. Of course, there are lots of dogs and pranks in the story, but maybe also a touch of love and some bandit.

 

Anna Jansson: Lost tour money (Emil Wern investigates), 2011

Eleven-year-old Emil lives in Sweden, on the island of Gotland, in the historic town of Visby. His home is right next to the old city wall. There is an old kiosk in the home's garden, which Emil has turned into a detective agency. He solves crimes with the help of his little sister Linda and his mother Maria. My mother understands the world of crime well because she is a police officer by profession. In this first part of the new series, Emil finds out who stole the class's camp school money. It's not exactly easy because there are several suspects. At the end of the book there are short introductions by the author and illustrator Mimmi Tollerup and an interesting crime glossary!

The first, fast-reading book for children by the famous Swedish detective queen. By the way, Emil's mother Maria Wern is the main character of Anna Jansson's adult detective stories!

 

Anna Jansson: The lost little brother, 2017

The Swedish hero's detective series, which is a little uneven, aimed at lower graders, has found its regular readership. Uneven because not all parts are equally interesting. However, there is suction in this part.

The main character of the series is Emil, the ten-year-old son of a police mother who lives in Visby, Gotland, and has his own detective agency. Little sister Linda and friends help Emil. Now Emil and Linda are arguing. Linda finds out that Emil has a crush on his classmate Alva. You shouldn't tell anyone that, but Linda can't keep a secret! Of course, Emil gets angry and embarrassed and doesn't even want to go to school.

At the same time, Alva also argues with his little brother. Are little siblings anything but annoying? However, the quarrel between Alva and his little brother goes badly. As a result of the argument, the younger brother goes outside and gets into an unknown car. That must never be done! Who took him and where? Now Emil and his friends are really in trouble!

 

Anna Jansson: A haunted house (Emil Wern investigates), 2016

Swedish boy Emil's mother is a police officer and that is why the boy has founded his own detective agency. Little sister Linda, Molly the dog and a few friends came to help.

The haunted house is the eighth part of the book series. We are living in the middle of winter. Emil's family goes skating with a family of acquaintances and meets a half-acquainted woman named Hedvig on the ice, who tells her that her house is haunted. According to old tradition, there were once soldiers in the area and at the same time a little boy disappeared. It is said that the boy's father haunts the nearby swamp and is still looking for his little son. Hedvig says that she also saw a ghost in her house. He is so afraid that he has moved out himself and taken tenants into his house. Emil and his partners stay in the house and decide to solve the riddle.

Easy to read and exciting reading for primary school children.

 

Riikka Juvonen: Roope garbage truck, 2012 (Acorn)

Roope is a garbage truck that has been happily emptying garbage cans all its life. Now it is unemployed. The new, big, fancy cars of the waste companies have taken away all the work and driven Roope away. So Roope is needlessly crouching in the corner of the pit. It is followed by the Bunny found in the trash; that too has been thrown away. But then the day comes when the big cars have to humble themselves and ask Roope for help. There are tasks where the big ones can't do it, but the skills of the little ones are needed!

 

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Riina and Sami Kaarla: Arttu Tirttu comes to life, 2017 – also as an e-audiobook

An easy-to-read and richly illustrated little book by domestic authors starts a new series. Jimi lives with his grandmother. Officially, grandma is Jimi's guardian, but in practice it seems to be the other way around.

One day, Jimi gets a new friend, Arttu Tirtu. In the beginning, Arttu Tirttu has been the surprise gift of Erkin Burger's children's portion. How does it end up being Jim's friend? It's a long story that goes through a landfill and ends with a can of green paint.

At Jim's place, that little miniature figure comes to life. How does that happen? It's worth reading in the book, but let's just reveal that Arttu Tirttu gets his name directly from the Star Wars movies. You see, it resembles that famous robot called R2D2.

 

Riina and Sami Kaarla: Hidden in the game (Pet Agents; 4), 2020

Kati-e is interested in both animals and electronics. The letter E after the girl's name means electronics. Kati-e has attended a coding kindergarten and an electronics school. He has also built himself a robot, Ti-bot. Kati-e and Ti-bot live on the roof of an apartment building in an old water tank. They have any number of animals as pets. In the book, we learn many things about animal care. Together, Kati-e and Ti-bot form the Pet Agents team, which solves various animal problems.

Now Pet Agents, get an agent mission in the virtual world in the DinoPez game. There, their friend Lumia needs help to find a missing dino. Kati-e and Ti-bot create avatars for themselves and dive into the VR game to look for the dino. At the same time, there will be more problems: they will be trapped in the game when logging out is not successful.

Already the fourth part of the easy-to-read and colorfully illustrated series for elementary school students.

 

Riina and Sami Kaarla: Here we come, pets! (Pet agents), 2019

Kati-e is a primary school-aged girl who is interested in both animals and electronics. The letter E after the girl's name means exactly electronics. Kati-e has been interested in technology since childhood; he has attended a coding kindergarten and an electronics school. He is now so good that he has built his own robot, Ti-bot. It's short for Titan Robot.

Together, Kati-e and Ti-bot live in an old water tank on the roof of an apartment building. They have a dog, a cat, a cockatoo and two rats as pets. So quite a zoo to take care of. Kati-e's second interest is animals. The girl knows a lot about both wild animals and pets.

In this nicely illustrated, slim book, Kati-e and Ti-bot help people with their pet problems, and the two also manage to save a family of squirrels. Sometimes Kati-e sends Ti-bot on a journey alone and guides him remotely. The little Ti-bot seems quite human and sympathetic. The two also get to know the new neighbor boy, Tim. Maybe he too will have adventures in the next parts of the series.

 

Tuula Kallioniemi: First-class kiosk vendors, 2015

Along with the original series of basic novels, non-fiction books and easy-to-read books have also started to appear in the Reuhurinne series. In the Read Yourself subseries, the adventures of first graders Tötterö and Pikkis are followed. Longer words are hyphenated and Jii Roikonen's excellent pictures match well with the text.

In this part, Tötterö and Pikkis collect money for the camp school and set up a kiosk for it. First, it seems that the goods sold do not quite meet the customers' needs. Noseless teddy bear, odd sock, bottomless bucket, elf hat; who buys those in the summer heat? Lollipops and ice cream would be needed, but they are not for sale. When even advertising signs are full of typos and cause funny misunderstandings, many people would give up running a kiosk. But miraculously, the business is going well, all the goods will be sold and the money will accumulate. How is it possible?

 

Tuula Kallioniemi: Karoliina and Baskeri-Ville's dog, 2011

Karoliina's class 1 B receives school sponsors from the fifth class. Karoliina's godmother Aliisa happens to be absolutely crazy about dogs. She already has three dogs and is planning to get one more! Aliisa suggests that she and Karoliina go to dog shows together. Help! Karoliina is scared to death of dogs! What to do? And what the hell is the creepy Baskeri-Ville dog of the book's name? The lively elementary school student Karoliina has adventures with her joys and sorrows in the fifth part of the already easy-to-read series. The text is lightened by Marika Maijala's illustration.

 

Tuula Kallioniemi: Karoliina and witty Neema, 2013

A new girl enters Karoliina's class, a cheerful first-grader: the charmingly sunny Neema from Tanzania. Neema's arrival changes the friendship patterns of the class. Neema becomes the favorite of the whole class. Even the boys are under her spell. Until now, Lin and Karoliina have been best friends, but now Lin doesn't notice Karoliina at all anymore, and starts making friends with Neema. Karoliina is not happy and she starts to get all over Neema. So Karoliina is surprised when Neema invites her to the night village and after arriving there, Karoliina is even more surprised! Karoliina learns that Neema is even nicer and wiser than anyone could have guessed. The book is already the seventh part of the series.

 

Tuula Kallioniemi: Konsta, talent star, 2011

The Mainio Konsta series continues again! Konsta's class, 3 A decides to organize a talent contest. Everyone wants to be a talent star. Everyone dreams of winning the competition and with it fame and glory, but the practical implementation is not easy at all. Others seem to have special skills, but Konsta doesn't know anything. He tries to practice anything: reading minds, magic tricks, taming a fly. How is Konstan doing in the competition?

 

Tuula Kallioniemi: Pako, 2015

Exciting! The main characters are four children who are unknown to each other, who by chance get involved in a series of dangerous events. It all starts at the end of July, when 12-year-old Matilda rows to escape a thunderstorm to a remote island. There he is captured by an old man. Another girl, Carita, is also a prisoner. When the man is revealed to be even stranger, the girls run away. But why wouldn't Carita want to escape first? And how do the boys named Anders and Samuel come into the story? How will they save the girls? Lots of questions that can be answered by reading the book. P.S. The police are also already looking for the girls...

 

Tuula Kallioniemi: A deflated ball, 2019 – also as an e-book

The book is about children from the neighborhood of Rupula, who found their own soccer team. It all starts when a new boy, Eetu, moves into the neighborhood. He is very lively; babbles and fusses all the time. The second main character of the book, Salama, gets to know Eetu in a rather original way: Eetu drops a water balloon from the balcony on Salama's head.

Despite that, the boys immediately become friends and also classmates. Eetu is also very busy: he wants to play football and founded his own team FC Wannaplay for Rupula's children. Both boys and girls will come. Getting a decent ball and a coach causes some problems; but they can also be found. The games don't go well, and eventually both the ball and the coach both disappear. So how do we play? We need Eetu's advice again.

The book tells not only about football, but also about the lives of the children in the neighborhood. The team members are quite multicultural, Eetu's parents, as well as the team's coach, are drunkards and like to spend time in the local pub. You can't afford a decent ball and playing shoes. Fortunately, there are also adults who take care of their own and others' children. Despite the boredom, the book has a bright and hopeful atmosphere and the reader is left waiting for the parts that tell about the later stages of the team.

 

Tuula Kallioniemi and Jii Roikonen: Brotherhood of Lightheads, 2010

Tuula Kallioniemi, known as the author of Riehurintie, and Jii Roikonen, who has become an accomplished comic artist, have put their wise heads together and created the conquering Valopäide brotherhood. This is the starting part of a new series. If you like Vili Voipio and Kapteeni Kalsar, you'll probably also like Valopäi. The book is best suited for 10-12 year olds. The lavishly illustrated book is full of compliments and humor. Classmates Pate and Vallu, who dream of a moped, form the brotherhood of Valopäi. In their own opinion, boys have genius brains, but they still don't really do well in school. In the boys' opinion, school is a pointless place, because everything you need can be learned online. In the boys' opinion, the lessons could be used very well to practice sleep yoga, but unfortunately the humanoids masquerading as teachers sabotage this hobby. Anyway, the school is full of strange creatures and mysteries, which the Valopääs quickly solve. The most difficult of the mysteries still seems to be the sweet, but temperamental Diana.

 

Anneli Kanto: Fireflies (Football girl : 1), 2009, 2014

The opening part of a captivating series. The main character Oona writes a diary and turns 12 during the course of the book. Let's live spring and summer. Oona was once adopted from China and is sometimes bullied because of her background and appearance. He lives with his mother, a journalist, and his older brother, Anssi, who attends vocational school. The family also has a dog Hippu. Oona's spring has not gone very well. Many things make me angry at home and at school. However, there are better things to come when the Tulikärpäset team's football practices start again! There is a new girl in Oona's class, Henna, who seems nice and not a pee at all. Oona lures Henna to the playing field. The reader gets the feeling that he has to get to the field himself. The book nicely tells about the rest of Oona's life as well. A hearty series of books about precocious girls playing futsal has been published in new editions this year.

 

Ansu Kivekäs: Number one dudes, 2012 (Various Rooster)

First grader Anton gets to know third grader Kyösti. Together, the boys develop the most imaginative games. They play e.g. fighter pilots and destroy all the enemies from the neighbour's grandma's balcony, i.e. grandma's flowers. Grandma gets angry, but calms down when the boys clean up after themselves. And then grandma begins to tell the boys about the real wartime. Kyösti also comes to Antoni's place for the night. The boys watch an exciting film, forbidden for children, late into the night. As a result, Kyösti can't sleep and attacks a newspaper distributor in the morning... After reading the book, you're already longing for a continuation of the boys' adventures.

 

Tatu Kokko (text) & Timo Filpus (images): Garbage bag right in the yard, 2014

A fun, easy-to-read and nicely illustrated book, in which the main characters are the trash living in the closet's slipper. And there are all kinds of them, from dust dogs to bottle caps. All rubbish also has its own personality, right down to the style of speech. The most important treasure in the garbage is a rattling vehicle, which the evil cockroach and his gang of bugs manage to cheat from them. The treasure must be recovered. But it's not easy. You have to be careful not only of insects, but also of the buzzing Hotkija, or vacuum cleaner, and the sudden Silppur, or lawn mower. The adventures of Roskie are also told in two earlier parts of the series.

 

Tatu Kokko & Timo Filpus: Garbage bag, Raisin on the run, 2015

Exhilarating trash has adventures again in an easy-to-read and nicely illustrated book. And there is enough trash in this book, just like in every home. The story revolves around a bottle cap, a raisin, a dust dog, a piece of foam plastic that speaks China and many others.

The garbage lives in the Reino slippers of the wardrobe and their main enemies are the cockroach and other bugs and the creepy Hotkija, i.e. the vacuum cleaner and dishcloth. At the beginning of the book, Rusina dreams that her teammates are in trouble. Sleep keeps bothering Rusina and so, despite the warnings, she goes on a dangerous journey to save her relatives. They can be found at the bottom of the raisin can. Before that, the Rusina parka has fallen into the grips of an enchanting flame. At the same time, elsewhere, a cockroach and its gangs take over the house slippers. How much can happen in a miniature world.

 

Katja Krekelä and Riitta Jäntti (pictured): Hurjalinna, 2015

Venkura is not an ordinary girl. He has strange abilities that he himself does not understand. Just by her presence, the girl can make the piano play and the lamps turn on and off. Venkura has happened to arrive in the small town of the book with a wandering mirror dealer. The inside cover of the book shows a map of the city with interesting place names, e.g. Turmelus square. While stealing candies to satisfy his hunger, Venkura gets to know the boy from the sweet shop, Herkko. Later, Mekri, the bookshop's son, joins. On the edge of the city, behind the creepy Kalmisto, or cemetery, is a nook, the abandoned Hurjalinna. All the inhabitants of the town avoid it, but Venkura is strangely fascinated by that scary castle. In the cemetery, the girl finds a white, invisible rat named Sokko. Will Sokko lead the Venkura girl to the secrets of Hurjalinna? A fascinating fantasy novel for elementary school children has been written by a new acquaintance, Katja Krekelä. The wonderful illustration is by Riitta Jänti. I hope the book will continue.

 

Noora Kunnas & Jenna Kunnas: Kaheli chess and the cabinet of horrors, 2015

The book is about an inn called Perätuuli and its residents. In fact, it is a dollhouse and its animal toys. At the beginning of the book, the residents are introduced. They have funny names and traits. The whole house is named after Bertta Perätuuleni. He is quite hard to fart! E.g. Major Kuugelbum is also adventuring along. He has served as a mascot in the Second World War and sometimes commands other residents in a very military manner. One of the inn's residents, Kerttuli Kvartsinäkkäri-Nieminen, is constantly working out and admires Arnold Schwarzenegger immensely. The residents of the house do not dare to leave their home, because they fear more than anything the monster named Molla Maija who lives in the big blue closet. Molla Maija is said to have eaten Voimamie, a former resident of the inn. However, it is necessary to act now, because more residents of the house are disappearing.

 

Maria Kuutti: Anna and Elvis at the spa, 2014

A fun and clearly written novelty book for young schoolchildren! Suitable for reading aloud. Seven-year-old Anna's Easter holiday plans change. The whole family was supposed to go to Italy, but now we are going to the Imatra spa. In addition to the parents and Anna, both brothers, 12-year-old Ilari and baby Veikko will come along. The great grandma is also going on a trip. On the way, all kinds of inconveniences happen, starting with when grandma's suitcase is forgotten on the steps of the house. Fortunately, Ilari and Anna are accommodated in different rooms; they always have little quarrels, like between siblings in general. At the spa, Anna makes friends with a boy named Elvis. According to my grandmother, sometime in ancient times, in her youth, there was a singer with the same name. Elvis is quite calm by nature, which is nice when Anna's family isn't always like that. Grandma especially manages to organize a surprise program; especially when she rents a bikini that's a little too small, but gorgeously sparkly, the top of which falls into the pool. I would love to read more about Anna and Elvis' friendship. I hope this Family is the best - the story that won the writing competition will be continued!

 

Tuomas Kyrö & Antti Kyrö: Buck's bad day, 2011

Have you heard that Santa has moved away from Korvatunturi? Why? Life goes well even in the Big City, which now the downstairs neighbor Seppo causes a little headache and the favorite reindeer Petteri Punakuono has to be disguised in a dog suit when moving outside, otherwise it attracts too much attention. However, Christmas is approaching traditionally and the elves are busy with presents, but then the horror: all the Christmas presents are destroyed in a fire. How do you make children happy now?
Tuomas Kyrö, who is known for his temper tantrums, breaks up with his illustrator brother Antti for a change in a children's book.

 

L

Rose and Samuel Lagercrantz: The Collected Adventures of Metteborg, 1991 / 2017

The easy-to-read book, richly illustrated by Eva Eriksson, tells the story of the Metteborg boy and his class. The class also has Dunne, who is known for his own heartwarming book series. In this book, children have time to progress from first to third grade.

The book reflects on friendships and the conflicts related to them; bullying and exclusion from the circle of friends. Sometimes the help of the school curator is also needed. In the class, there is a lively boy, Benni, who always bullies others. He is nicknamed Benni Bing Bong. He invites his classmates to his birthday party, but no one goes; except Dunne, who is kind and friendly to everyone, and he too is a day late. Benni certainly doesn't like the behavior of others either.

Big things happen in second grade: Metteborg gets Kudden as his best friend. The boys sit next to each other in class. Benn is considered a hard liar, but at some point Metteborg realizes that all people lie sometimes. Little by little, Metteborg begins to understand more about Benni and this understanding is also reflected in her behavior towards Benni, which in turn changes Benni's behavior. And so in the third grade, one of the world's greatest miracles happens, when Benni becomes a friend of Metteborg and Kudden. When at the end of the book all three boys are sitting in the classroom at desks next to each other, the reader is already completely sold.

 

Hi Larry: Freezing excitement: 24 hours to save the world... and get home to eat (Zac Power), 2013

Zac Power is not just any ordinary 12-year-old, but a secret agent of the government like everyone in his family. Now the family is going on vacation to their cabin after a long time and Zac dreams of finally being able to play new console games on his urkintarator. It's a gadget that Zac uses in his espionage missions as a laptop, satellite phone, laser gun, code breaker, and whatever. Everyone in the family has secret tools; Even the normal-looking tissues in my mother's handbag are actually sleeping pads. When you press them on the enemy's nose, he falls asleep. But suddenly, in the middle of a gas station stop, Zac is kidnapped by a helicopter. Soon the announcement will be heard: "We hereby announce that your vacation has been canceled as of this moment." Zac has to do a new task again, the information of which appears on the screen of the urcinator. The boy has to find out what's going on in the Big Iceberg. There is exactly one day to complete the task. The Great Arctic is the most remote and unexplored place in the world. In winter, it's so cold there that if you even make the mistake of peeking outside without proper protective equipment, your eyes freeze in their sockets and your fingers snap off like icicles. How will Zac cope with his mission? The fourth part of the funny, easy-to-read agent series, which ten-year-old boys especially get excited about.

 

Hi Larry: Poison Island, 2012

"24 hours to save the world and walk the dog". American Zac Power is a twelve-year-old spy for a family of agents. The state's secret service needs the family's help every now and then, even if Zac is more interested in playing the guitar and dreams of being a rock star. In this first part of the Zac Power series, our hero goes to Myrkkysaari to save the world from the X-herb developed by the mad scientist Dr. Turmio. And there is not much time!. A thin book, but there is enough speed and dangerous situations. The third part of the series will be released soon.

 

Neal Layton: Mammoth school, 2009

A wonderfully told and illustrated book for those who have just learned to read and are a little older too. Oskari and Arabella are woolly mammoths who live in the ice age. Now they have reached the age where Mammuttikoulu has to be started. There are many subjects at school, but the favorite subject of all mammoth children is Humanities. Humans are the scariest thing mammoths know. And no excuse, because people eat mammoths! Fortunately, there are no people living in Oskar and Arabella's home area. One day Oskari slows down more than usual on his way to school, finds strange tracks and starts following them. There are enough marks in the book as well on the side cover. What creature has left those strange tracks? Wouldn't there be those disgusting people around anyway?

 

Minna Levola: My boring life, 2020

Linda is an eleven-year-old fifth grader. His best friend is Emmeliina or Emmis. Linda's family includes father, mother and five-year-old little sister Linnea. Linda presents herself as a shy introvert, but she thinks that's just a fancy word for a loser. Linda enjoys cheer dancing and following the tuba players. The girl also likes to draw and wants to be comfortable. That last one is exactly that introvert thing and it's not a good thing in terms of getting on in life. At least not according to adults. All the time, he is told to be more brisk and brave.

Right at the beginning of the book, a big problem arises when Linda realizes that she is the only girl in the class without earrings. Anyway, Linda is not satisfied with her appearance: her little sister and all the other girls in the class have thick hair, but she doesn't. Especially when she gets wet, Linda's hair runs gray and straight along her skull, and then she looks like a skinny and big-headed zombie child who has escaped straight from the Monster High cemetery.

Mother has promised Linda earrings only after the eighth grade. How embarrassing! Everyone else always has something and he doesn't! They don't even have a dog! And no one has parents as stupid as his. And not such an infuriating little sister. You can also argue with your mother about playing on the phone every day. Fortunately, Emmis decides to solve Linda's big problem and promises to pierce her ears with a safety pin. Anyone can do that when they watch a video on YouTube. However, not everything goes as it should, and the result is approximately blood poisoning, AIDS and necrosis of the ear!

The book describes not only crazy fun, but also warm and sweet everyday life of a pre-adolescent: school, friendship, family life and, above all, many kinds of emotions. The book is also in high-quality language. I hope it starts the series, because the reader is already longing for a continuation of the story.

 

Roope Chest of Drawers: Bear halter, 2017

The third part of a trilogy set in the Viking Age. Exciting and raw too; i.e. not for very young readers. Good old-fashioned, proper language.

The children named Vilja, Pekko and Egil are sailing on the ship of Egil's father, the cruel Viking king Olavi. Olavi and his crew have saved the children from the slavery of the Hittite king. Vilja´on is from Linnavuori, where Pekko arrived with merchants. These had saved the boy from his home village, which had been attacked by the Vikings. All other inhabitants of Peko's home village were either killed or taken as slaves by the Vikings.

Vilja and Pekko got to know Egil when the Vikings also attacked Vilja's home village. Egil was injured in the attack and Vilja and Pekko saved the enemy's son. It was dangerous for all three. Egil was cured with the help of the village healer and was allowed to stay in Linnavuori. Vilja also noticed the abilities of a healer in himself. These three children became inseparable. One day they set out to sail, but were shipwrecked and enslaved in the Hiittis.

So now they have been saved from there and Vilja is especially looking forward to getting home. Pekko, on the other hand, wonders if his parents are dead or slaves. All three children are worried and scared by the ship's captain and Egil's father, the viking Olavi. But there will be twists and turns again: At sea, the ship meets another ship. The crew of this one is adrift at sea in the clutches of a hideous rock. From this, the story heals and only Knut, Olav's old acquaintance and enemy, survives. Unfortunately, the entire crew of Olav's ship also falls ill with smallpox. Only children avoid it. Olav's ship with its sick crew lands in the mining village of Aurinkokivi. There are violent enemies again and the children have to fend for themselves.

The village of Aurinkokivi also suffers from smallpox. Some people have been forced into the mine to get sick and die. From there, little Aino can sneak in, who tells her that her big brother's name is Pekko, too.

Are Peko's parents alive and driven to the mine? Will the children ever make it to safety? An exciting adventure awaits again.

 

Roope Lipasti and Harri Oksanen: Lätkä-Lauri and the miracle flapper (Reading pieces), 2017

More Reading Pieces! The long-awaited, easy-to-read domestic book series that started appearing last year is getting new, independent parts at a steady pace. The authors are mainly hard workers and the functional color illustration is an absolute plus. However, there is so much story and text in the books that it is not worth starting to learn reading skills from this series first. But to develop fragile reading skills, nice and homely stories are perfectly attractive.

This story focuses on hockey. Lauri has a strong desire to play! He is in an important part of the team, as a goalkeeper. The book also presents, with clear illustrations, everything a goalkeeper needs. However, father is not enthusiastic about buying new equipment as quickly as Lauri would like. He responds to Lauri's requests, in that annoying way that adults only know: "Let's think, let's look..." However, Lauri doesn't stay idle, but instead develops the goalkeeper's equipment for himself from things found at home. How does that work?

 

Roope Chest of Drawers: Dust of Thor, 2016

An independent sequel to Viking Knot. Not exactly a book for small children. We live in the Viking Age, which means the events of the book take place a thousand years back in time. Friends Egil, Pekko and Vilja go sailing. A fun trip ends sadly: in a storm, the children's boat breaks and they are shipwrecked on a deserted island. However, they wisely fish for food for themselves and start building a raft from the wreckage of the boat. On the ferry, they think they can get back home, but it turns out to be even worse.

A band of pirates sailing the sea captures them and takes them as slaves to Hiittis. The kingdom is ruled by a cruel king who might kill a person with a sword on a whim. The children have to be dragged from morning to night, get poor food and they see and also experience violence. Egil has to serve the so-called I cross a man trying to make an explosive, Thor's dust. With it, the brutish king would be able to subjugate even the neighboring states to his brutal control. The fate of the children does not look good.

 

Roope Chest of Drawers: Viking knot, 2015

About ten years old Vilja lives in a seaside village, Linnavuori. We live in a time, the Vikings terrorized the whole of Europe and also attacked Finland with their raids.

One day, a merchant's ship sails to the village, and with it Vilja's age-old son, Pekko. Peko's home village has been attacked by Vikings. The village has been burned and almost all its inhabitants, including Peko's family, have been killed. The merchants have taken the orphan boy with them. Then something terrible happens: the Vikings also attack Vilja's village. A few people die in the attack, but otherwise the village is saved. Vilja and Pekko get into trouble when they save a badly injured viking boy, Egil, and hide him. Enemies, including children, are usually killed mercilessly.

 

Mikki Lish & Kelly Ngai: House of magic, 2020 – also as an e-audiobook

Eleven- and eight-year-old siblings Hedy and Spencer are sent to their grandfather during their parents' business trip. It's boring for children. Grandpa is quite a moron and his house has no internet connection or even cell phone coverage. The grandmother disappeared years ago before the children were born. Grandfather was once a magician and grandmother worked as his assistant. The thing the family keeps quiet about is that the grandmother has disappeared in the middle of a disappearance trick by the grandfather. Grandpa has felt guilty about the incident for decades. But grandpa's house is interesting. It looks just like a haunted house and is filled from downstairs to the attic with items related to magic tricks. But the grandfather absolutely forbids the children to touch anything

Soon after the children arrive at the house, strange things begin to happen. First, an invisible finger writes a text in the dust of the table: "Find me!!" Then the same text appears in magnetic letters on the refrigerator door. The children are sure that the missing grandmother is asking them for help. Defying grandfather's prohibitions, they go to search the house to find out more about grandmother. With that, they get carried away on an adventure with the talking objects and spirits that live in the house. The most dangerous of them is Alfred Kalma.

 

Magnus Ljunggren: Everything plays (Futaajat), 2016

Easy-to-read and illustrated second part of the Futaajat series. A short book, but full of football stuff. Futaajat is a football club for elementary school students, where both girls and boys play in their own teams.
The first part Tournament day told about the boys' local tournament. Now, on the other hand, the girls are getting their own Carousel tournament. The chip is absolutely in control; he's just got new great football boots too. No one could be happier and more excited than him.
But but. Just before the tournament, the coaches get sick and a couple of backup coaches are quickly hired to replace them. Everything may not go as expected. During the tournament, Siru's new shoes can be found in the trash. How the hell do they get there?

 

Magnus Ljunggren: A goal stick (Futaajat : 3), 2017

The third part of the football club Futaaj. In the series, girls' and boys' teams are followed alternately. Now let's focus on the boys' tournament trip to Tampere.

Henri would not like to go. He is horrified to sleep with other teams in shared accommodation at a big school and he is not too enthusiastic about football either. But father and mother are: “Of course you are going; great opportunity, great hobby!” In this way, as typical parents, they make incense and only make Henri more and more anxious. But what is happening in Tampere that Henri will have a nice experience from the tournament trip?

Henri's teammate Joel also has a problem. Just before the tournament, a new boy, Fadi, joins the team. He is a real scorer and will replace Joel. Joel is full of hate and revenge. How do you tame such feelings, since team playing is about cooperation?

 

Magnus Ljunggren: Tough game (Futaajat : 4), 2018

The fourth part of the fast-read, Swedish Futaajat football club. Both girls and boys play in the club, and each part focuses on a different player on the team. That's why you can read the books in any order. This time the main character is Tiina.
Tiina loves football so much that she sleeps wearing the team's jersey. She wouldn't want to do anything else and the girl is a really good player. He can bounce the ball on his foot 74 times and that is the record of the whole team!
Now Tiina is alerted for help when the boys' game is missing a player. The game goes well on the field, but in the stands the father of one of the opponents causes problems. The man despises and mocks Tiina because she is a girl, even though Tiina scores a great goal from a free kick. And even worse problems are coming.

 

Magnus Ljunggren (text) & Mats Vänehem (photo): Tournament day, 2015

Easy to read, illustrated and interesting. Niko plays football in Futaaj. In the club, both girls and boys play in their own teams. Now it's exciting when the local tournament is coming up. Last year, Futaajat lost annoyingly in the final match to Tuulispäite's team 2 - 0. It was a bitter experience. However, learning to endure losing is as important as winning in gaming. For good behavior in the tournament, Futaajj will have a great experience: they will then get to accompany the Finnish national team players to the Stadium for the match against Spain! So how will Futaajj fare in the local tournament this year?

 

Päivi Lukkarila: Venla beginner's course, 2011

Eight-year-old Venla loves horses and ponies. He gets to the elementary pony riding course and learns a lot. But it's not easy. There is also sadness in the situation, because with the new hobby, Venla loses her best friend Siiri, who is not interested in riding at all. Will Venla get new friends instead? Venla also learns that the ponies on the course are completely different. The loveliest pony in the stable is Lupiini, because I wish I could ride more!

The book reminds me of the popular Swedish Sinttu series, but there is a bit more to read here. I hope to hear from Venla again.

 

M

 

Tittamari Marttinen & Terese Bart (pictured): Heroes of the zoo (Leo's pet news), 2018

Again, a new, colorful episode about the animal-loving Leo and his friends Sanni and Veeti. This time, the friends are going to grandma's house, which they have visited before in the series. Pets are also included: Päkhkina the dog, Raisina the cat and Vilma the guinea pig.

Mummola has an exciting program; a small polar bear cub, Sasu, has been born in the nearby animal park. You have to see it. At the same time, we meet so many other forest animals, e.g. cute little wild pigs. The reader also gets excited and starts to wonder if the friends are in Ähtäri or Ranua zoo. But the friends managed to do a couple of heroic deeds on their trip. What are they and how are they rewarded?

Tittamari Marttinen: The case of Emeliina and the singing dog, 2016

A hearty and easy-to-read novel by children's book legend Tittamari Marttinen, successfully illustrated by Lotta Kauppi.

Emeliina from Helsinki is an ordinary elementary school girl, except that she isn't. She has magical powers: Emeliina makes objects float. In addition to that, he can also read minds a little. His grandmother Minna has the same skills; how come they get along so well with each other. Emeliina still doesn't have full control of her abilities, but is just practicing them and mistakes happen.

The girl's best friend is classmate Antti. A new girl, Ronja, comes to their school. Ronja is a little nervous about the start of a new school, and to ease the tension, Ronja's family accepts a dog, Teppo, as her friend. On the school's pet day, Ronja takes Tepo to school and then it is noticed that Tepo also has a special skill. What could it be? Soon after this, however, Teppo disappears and Ronja is completely inconsolable. Can Emeliina and Antti help their friend?

 

Tittamari Marttinen, photo. Aiju Salminen: My very own family, 2014

A child-level and warm-hearted little book about under-school-age Kuu, who lives in a rainbow family. The reader can decide for himself whether Kuu is a girl or a boy or whether it has any significance. As parents, Kuu has two mothers; one he calls mother and the other mama. Today is Moon's birthday and of course it's exciting! Moon's best friend is Kim, who also lives in the rainbow family. He has two fathers. They all go on a trip in honor of Kuu's birthday. Kuu's godfather Niki, who is important to Kuu, will also come along. Kuu has learned anything from Niki and you can also talk about anything with Niki. Kuu's family has a custom that on his birthday, the hero must do the things he really likes. What does the Moon want to do?

 

Marttinen, Tittamari & Bast, Terese: Crazy hamster, 2010

The book is the third part of the new Leo pet news series. The previous parts, Keskiyö kittas and Huuhkakalku ullakku, appeared last year. Tittamari Marttinen, a legendary children's author, is responsible for the text. The funny pictures were created by Terese Bast. In the series, second graders Leo, Sanni and Veeti encounter different lives and learn how to deal with them. Leo also has a dog named Pähkinä and Sanni has a cat Raisin. Now the children get to take care of the neighbor's Vilma hamster for no less than a week, because its owner is traveling to the Canary Islands. Vilma is a very fast-paced crawler and the children have a lot of fun with her. Until the hamster escapes! At the end of each book, there is a two-page Leo pet news magazine edited by the children, in which they tell about the life they have encountered. The book series is aimed at people who are learning to read, but even slightly older people will enjoy reading the funny stories and looking at the hilarious pictures.

 

Tittamari Marttinen and Terese Bast (pictured): Pet cruise (Leo's pet news), 2017

Another new part, in the easy-to-read and colorful series of domestic pet books. Suitable for reading from first graders to third graders.

This time, Leo, Sanni and Veeti are going on a cruise to Stockholm with Leo's uncle during the fall vacation. And what's the nicest thing: animal carnivals are held on the ship and you can bring your own pet there. So Veet's Pähkinä dog, Sanni's Raisina cat and Veet's Vilma hamster will also get on the Swedish ship.

There are many different animals on the ship and they all get along well with each other. The children will also come across the already familiar, funny Papu the parrot. And as everyone probably knows; a quiz is also organized on board. Who can win it? At the end of the book, as usual, Leo and his friends write a newspaper story about the trip. It will be published in the children's own Leo's pet news magazine.

 

Katarina Mazetti: Shadows and spies (Adventure Cousins), 2017

Swedish cousins ​​who have not known each other before: 12-year-old Julia, her little sister's 9-year-old Daniela, 11-year-old Jori and 12-year-old Alex have to spend the summer together at their aunt Frida's on the island. The boys have never even met the aunt, but the girls have visited her before and know that misery is in store. Daniela's cat, Katinryökäle, is also coming along.

Aunt Frida is an artist who doesn't really contribute to the food supply. Canned food and breadcrumbs may be found in the cupboards to eat. In addition, there is no one else living on the island and the aunt does not have a computer, and mobile phones can only be heard on the island with difficulty. So no information about internet connections. And the aunt doesn't even have running water; young people can't even shower. What a time travel almost to the Stone Age!

However, after the initial shock, the young people adapt. They stay in the pilot tower next to the aunt's cabin. And it's just an exciting place! Alex lives in France. His parents are top chefs and the boy is also wildly enthusiastic about cooking. In the primitive conditions of the island, he conjures up proper festive meals for his cousins. In addition, the children's Ilona is an aunt's horse named Gervir; it runs free on the island.

Soon after the cousins ​​arrive, strange things start to happen: someone steals food from the basement and burns a campfire on the island at night. In the darkness of the night, a black figure also glimpses. There are also dropped shoes and letters. There should be no other people on the island besides them. Who still haunts there? When Aunt Frida goes to the mainland for a couple of days to run errands, the young people find themselves in the middle of strange events.

 

Katarina Mazetti: Worms and wombats (Adventure cousins ​​: 2), 2017

The second part of the five Swedish cousins ​​who only got to know each other in the first part. That's when they spent the summer vacation with their artist aunt Frida in Uikkusaari and solved a series of strange thefts. Now Julia, Daniella aka Pörri, Jori and Alex are leaving again to visit their aunt; this time we are celebrating the Easter holiday. Of course, there is also Pörri's cat, Katinryökäle.

The holiday is about to get exciting because Auntie has bought some Australian marsupials, wombats, for the island! He intends to attract people to watch them and thus make money. Aunty is always short of money. The cousins ​​are excited about the vompats and build an enclosure for them. But soon uninvited guests with evil intentions also arrive on the island. Why do motorcycle gangs threaten Frida?

 

McCall Smith, Alexander: Akimbo and snakes, 2010

Alexander McCall Smith, known for the popular Women's Detective Agency series, writes the Akimbo series for children set in Africa. Akimbo and the Snakes is the fourth part of the series. Akimbo boy lives in a nature park where his father works as a game warden. With his father's work, Akimbo has the opportunity to closely observe the life of wild animals. He gets involved in exciting and dangerous situations. In previous installments of the series, Akimbo has chased elephant poachers, rescued a lion cub, and investigated baby crocodiles. Now he gets to work at his uncle's on vacation. The uncle is the head of the snake farm. Akimbo is tasked with feeding the snakes. He sees how snakes are milked, that is, poison is extracted from them. The poison is used to make medicine for snake bites. You have to be careful when handling the poison, because just 1 teaspoon will kill an adult man. The most dangerous species of snakes in the sanctuary are the Gabon snake and the black mamba. Even more dangerous is the green mamba, but there is no such thing in the zoo. Uncle hears that a green Mamba has been seen in the vicinity. He goes on a dangerous hunting trip and takes Akimbo with him…

 

Helena Meripaasi: An unruly puppy (Tassu-trio), 2017

A new series of dog books full of dogs and friendship between girls. Nice reading for ten-year-old animal lovers. Allu, aka Olga Alina, moves to the other side of the city because of her mother's work. The girl is in a new residential area, without friends and pretty much alone. Mother works shifts at a local bar and also helps out at the Mätä lokki band's gigs on weekends. Big sister Mari, Allu's important security, has recently moved in on her own.

Allu is crazy about dogs and has been wishing for a dog of his own for a long time, but his mother has never agreed. So Allu is surprised when his mother now promises him a dog. And so the miniature pinscher's puppy, Kirppu, moves home. At Allu, quite a bit of puppy training begins.

With the help of the flea, Allu also gets to know two girls of the same age who also love animals, Christa and Erika. Christa especially loves cats. Erika's mother, on the other hand, is a veterinarian and they have cats and dogs as pets, however many they like. Allu gets to know Erika by rescuing one of the family's dogs from the middle of traffic. The dog has run away and Allu notices it while walking Kirppu.

Allu's heroism impresses Erika's mother. Allu, on the other hand, admires Erika's mother and wants to become a veterinarian himself when he grows up. Besides that, Erika's mother is also very caring and the most excellent cook. Allu's own mother doesn't always even remember to buy food for home. Allu is a little ashamed of his own home and sometimes resorts to lies to avoid the surprise and pity of others.

The author is a real expert when it comes to dogs and also touchingly describes the life, joys and sorrows of girls. At the end of the book, the reader is already so involved in the girls' patterns that he already misses them and waits for the next part.

 

Helena Meripaasi: Short-nosed puppy (Irin kennel), 2011

Book series full of dog stuff for all dog lovers! The series started with Snouts to the North and was followed by Mysterious Pawprints. This book is the third part of the series.

The ten-year-old Iri girl has a Finnish father and an Irish mother. The family has lived in Ireland until now, but six months ago they moved to Finland and founded a dog boarding house, or kennel. So Iri has any number of dogs around her! But a couple of them are especially dear to him. Iri's best friend Minkkis has also wanted a dog for a long time, but his parents have never agreed to it. Then something terrible happens: Minkkis gets into a bad car accident and is seriously injured. What could cheer him up in recovery?

 

Santa & Simon Sebag Montefiore: The Royal Rabbits of London, 2018

A charmingly old-fashioned fairytale novel about a small, timid rabbit boy who is forced into a dangerous mission. Very suitable for reading aloud.

Sulo is a one-eyed rabbit who is constantly bullied by the other siblings. Therefore, Sulo spends a lot of his time by himself. On its solitary trips, it often ends up with Horatio, who lives apart from the herd of rabbits. Horatio is a big male rabbit with lots of bruises and scars, a torn ear and a stump instead of one leg. It is feared and avoided. That's why Sulo doesn't even dare to tell his mother that he's visiting Horatio.

However, Horatio is very wise and kind. He also sees a lot in Sulo that others don't notice. Horatio has a lot of books and he can tell fascinating stories about the old days. The most interesting of the stories is the legend of the royal rabbits, which tells how rabbits became protectors of the English royal family.

One day, while visiting Horatio, Sulo runs into three nasty rats, the Rats. They are planning a trip to see the queen at Buckingham Palace. The Rats plan to secretly take pictures of the queen and publish them on rottajuorut.com. It's wrong because everyone, even royalty, has a right to privacy. The raiders' intentions must be prevented. Horatio sends Sulo to save the queen, but can a little rabbit become a hero?

 

Patricia J. Murphy: Pony club, 2014

The pony club is a completely new kind of horse book that combines story and information with nice pictures. The main character is Emma, ​​who loves horses as well as her big sister Amanda. Emma's parents have a bakery called Makeita unelmia and Emma often helps there and earns money, because horses are an expensive hobby. At the beginning of the book, Emma and Amanda get to the riding camp. There, Emma gets to ride a lovely horse named Kaneli. At the camp, Emma learns a lot of new things about horses and riding. And so the reader of the book learns too! The book really has a lot of clear information about horses! There is also a quiz at the end to test how well you read the book! And since Emma is the daughter of bakers, the book also contains instructions for the cupcakes baked by Emma!
I hope Emma and Kanel's story continues in the new books.

 

Jari Mäkipää: The detective club Hurricane and the rude trumpeter, 2016

The popular series has already reached its twelfth volume. There are eight detectives, the youngest are in the third grade, the oldest are already in the seventh grade. This time we are solving a problem related to YouTube.

A new student, Jimi, enters the seventh grade. He's not just anyone, but Finland's most popular tube player, Jimpo. Almost all the students at the school are excited about the celebrity. But not all; where there is success, there is also always envy.
A picture of Jimpo appears on the chalkboard, with his eyes gouged out. Next to it is a text telling Jimpo to stop babbling. Jimpo is suspicious of the author of the hate message and responds with an equally nasty video on YouTube. And on the internet, everything spreads everywhere with lightning speed. This completes the cycle of revenge and bullying. The next victim is Jimpo again. One day in kitchen class, eggs were broken into the boy's backpack. Expensive headphones and books are ruined.

Bullying must be stopped. But how, when there is no information about the other party. Detective Club Hurricane has a difficult problem to solve.

 

Jari Mäkipää (writer) & Jussi Kaakinen (illustrator): Masi Tulppa 3: King of clicks, 2019

Masi is a nine-year-old boy who has the best time by himself drawing a cartoon about a superhero named Hukkajätkä. Masi also has one friend, the neighbor Pellervo. Now, though, the friendship will be put to the test. In the earlier parts of the series, Masi has survived both the babysitter candidates and the creative expression summer camp.

Masi has recently founded a tube channel called Ma-Zee, where Hukkajätkä has adventures. He writes, directs and films his superhero videos and realizes them with the help of Pellervo. In no time, the first video gets thousands of viewers. Everyone is becoming interested in who is behind the nickname Ma-Zee.

Mirella, the director of the TubeSky program office, can track down Masi. He has several famous tube players in his stable. They also get to perform on radio, television, many events and big parties. As celebrities, they are also chased by large fan bases. Masi also has all that on offer. How does a boy with a hermit character get through it?

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Joanna Nadin (writer), Jess Mikhail (illustrator): Mine Mylläkkä is a disaster magnet, 2020

Now we get to know elementary school student Vilhelmiina Mylläri, whom her father has nicknamed Miina Mylläkkä. For some reason, you see, when this girl comes on the scene, it's all in an instant a whirlwind. She seems to be related to Sara Pennypacker's Klementiina.

Miina tends to get brilliant ideas that always go wrong. He has his best friend Kosmo to help him. In this book, Miina shaves her little cousin Jasmiina's head bald and makes an even worse mess when she tries to glue the curls back onto her cousin's head. Some of the hair is also eaten by the family cat, which almost suffocates. And we are only at the beginning of the book. This girl's pace is so breathtaking that fortunately the reader can stop and look at the cartoon-like illustration.

At school, Miina has become familiar with the ice bench next to the principal's door. So the principal is terrified of what will happen when an inspector is coming to the school to see if everything is working properly. Disasters follow. But what happens to the ice bench? At the end of the book, Miina gives the reader some tips on how to get through life. The complete destruction continues in the next parts of the series.

 

Reetta Niemelä & Emmi Jormalainen: Bold and sad Sandra, 2018

The easy-to-read series introduces its readers not only to the world of horses but also to the secrets of emotional skills. This is the third part of the novel series. Three picture books from the Tikkumäki stable have also been published in the past.

It's autumn and Iiris is happy when the Tikkumäki stable's pony club starts running again. He meets all his friends and lovely ponies. The most lovely of them is Uljas, whose reunion is indeed memorable. The girl and the pony really like each other! However, the fact that another one, the Isomäki stable, has been opened in the vicinity raises a bit of concern for both children and adults. Does it threaten the existence of Tikkumäki, if all the riders now go there?

And that's not all: In the pasture of the Big House, the children see the Finnish mare Sandra, who is mean and angry. It is difficult to approach because it may appear painful. However, Iris notices a painful wound on Sandra's leg and sees from the horse's eyes that all is not well. What is it trying to convey? Will Iiris be able to help Sandra and save her from the slaughter truck?

 

Reetta Niemelä (text) and Salla Savolainen (photos): My friend Uljas, 2015

A wonderful book for little pony girls who have just learned to read and at the same time the start of a new series of novels. Good story and nice pictures. Iris loves horses. He has practiced riding with his Maltti stick horse. But now the girl really gets to try it, when she starts the Tikkumäki stable's pony club. The club includes both girls and boys. One Pauli boy in particular seems really nice to Iiris. With the help of play, we learn to meet ponies and the reader also learns how to care for and treat them. The Tikkumäki stable also has a bigger girl, Milla, whom Iiris admires more than anything. He wants to imitate Milla in everything. But because of Milla, Iiris also finds herself in a difficult situation. Where?

 

Paula Noronen & Terese Bast (illustrator): Supermarsu and the Sly code, 2019 – also as an audiobook

All of Emilia's classmates are playing a new mobile game, Star of Antero. In it, you walk while staring at your cell phone and collect stars from the surroundings. A bit like the ancient Pokemon.. However, Emilia is not allowed to play it because her mother forbids it. The girl is bothered by both her mother's ban and the fact that all the guys walk around as if hypnotized and nothing else interests them anymore.

The game was developed by the father of Emilia's classmate, Antero. He's a super-rich margarine manufacturer, but what does he know about mobile games? And why does the star of Antero hook so badly not only children but also adults?

Soon, Emilia once again receives an invitation from the Giant Guinea Pig for a meeting. Marsutaxi exceptionally picks up the girl in the middle of the day and takes her to a familiar place, Mäkimonttu in Lahti. The giant guinea pig is very worried about the new game and the behavior it causes. There is something very disturbing about the game. And once again, Emilia has to drink from the drinking bottle of her own guinea pig, Marsu-Halo, transform into Super Guinea Pig and set out to solve the problem.

But before that, something unprecedented happens, which makes even the reader startled: Emilia's best friend and the smartest student in the class, Simo, gets angry with his bully, Antero! Simo swears revenge and it's just horrible!

 

Paula Noronen, Terese Bast (photo): Super guinea pig and littering roaches, 2018 - as an e-audiobook ja as an audiobook

The book series, which has attracted more readers as a movie, continues. Eleven-year-old Emilia's life changed completely after she got a guinea pig. With that, the girl always turns into Super Marshmallow when needed and saves the world. The transformation takes place at night; Emilia knows from her own guinea pig's behavior that the Giant Guinea Pig wants to meet her, and so the girl drinks from her guinea pig's drinking bottle, rushes to meet the Giant Guinea Pig in a guinea pig taxi, and gets a new problem to solve. No one knows about this super side of Emilia; to others, she is an ordinary schoolgirl.

Now the problem is really strange: all kinds of garbage and scrap are raining from the sky: shoes, toasters, banana peels. The teacher also gets a pink bucket on his head and he has to teach with that on his head. After all, he knows how to cut eyeholes in it. Where does the stuff come from and how can littering be stopped? Does the new, strange-looking student in Emilia's class have something to do with it? We need a Super Guinea pig again.

 

Paula Noronen, photo. Terese Bast: The super guinea pig is getting a competitor, 2017 – also as an e-audiobook ja as an audiobook

Already the tenth book about Emilia and her class, tinged with peculiar humor. Emilia is a normal Finnish schoolgirl. Except not quite: if necessary, Emilia turns into a Super Guinea Pig, who receives rescue missions and instructions for them from the Giant Guinea Pig. The encounter with the giant guinea pig always happens at night and no one knows that Emilia is a Super Guinea Pig. All this started when Emilia got a completely ordinary guinea pig as a pet, which she named Marsu-Halonen.

Now a famous surprise guest, the super popular pop star Edwin, is coming to Emilia's school. Everyone is in awe of his performance. At the end of the concert, Edwin asks Emilia's classmates, what do they know? Students lie that they can do anything! Everyone seems to have quite special skills. This causes a big problem. We are celebrating Finland's centenary and the school is preparing for a big Finland centenary gala. Edwin promises to be there to watch when the students perform their special skills. Now Emilia is also in trouble.

Emilia has another big problem. He has a lot of rescue tasks as a Super Martian and he manages to solve even the most difficult of them. But someone else takes credit for the rescue: the mysterious Super Snake. Who is he and how can the cheating be stopped?

 

Paula Noronen & Kati Närhi (photo): Night school and the missing teacher - also as an e-audiobook

Paula Noronen, who made people laugh with her Superguinea pig books, is now moving on to vampires and zombies. In their world, too, there is school, but of course at night. The main characters are the 180-year-old vampire Martta and the zombie SpongeBob. In the age of humans, their age is equivalent to seven years. At school, the children get a strange-looking Mr. Sijainen as their teacher. Where is the real teacher Mrs. Kammonen? Soon the headmaster Frankenstein announces that he has disappeared.

 

Paula Noronen, Kati Närhi (pictured): Night school and terrible neighbors (Reading pieces), 2017 - also as an e-audiobook

The easy-to-read Night School series about vampires and zombies will be continued. Paula Noronen, known from TV and her Supermarsu books, is responsible for the text, but Kati Närhe's pictures are just as important for the whole.

The main characters of the series are the 180-year-old vampire Martta and the zombie Paavo, who go to school at night. School is very different from people's school. Patches are needed for night school spot tests, for example. Night school students are also quite lively and hard to break down. The human couple living next door doesn't like that. They complain and the whole school is threatened with closure. Headmaster Frankenstein himself has to intervene, and he does so in quite interesting ways.

In the domestic Lukupalat series, many fun and colorful, easy-to-read books have already appeared over the course of more than a year.

 

Ville Nummenpää, Hende Nieminen (illustrator): Silly Evening Tales, 2020

What to do when the robot has loose screws and talks nonsense? How will the winner emerge in the penguin Olympics, when the participants get a tie all the way down the butt slide? What's your advice to the Kaapo ghost when it doesn't manage to scare anyone? What happens when Nukumat's helpers go around the world in the wrong direction? Where has one star from Otava disappeared to? What will the Rolle robot's legs taste like when he adds fish sticks, chocolate, pickles, yogurt, rye bread, beetroot, fruit candies and barbecue spice to the dough?

The answer to these strange questions can be found in Riihimäkä's Ville Nummenpää's first-born fairy tale book Hölmöjä iltasatu. The collection of thirteen fairy tales was born from stories told to one's own child. Some of them are also familiar from Pikku Kakkonen's Fairy Tales. Funny stories of a few pages can be listened to even by the little ones.

 

Maarit Nurmi: Black becomes the hero (Eemu's stories : 1), 2018

The first part of a new quick-read humor book series in the spirit of Ella and Neropati's diary. Short songs interspersed with cartoon-like drawings and speech bubbles.

Eemu is an ordinary ten-year-old boy. His family includes his mother, father and five-year-old twin sisters Malla and Mella, as well as a recently born little brother and dog Jaska. Eemu is happy that another son has joined the family. Little sisters' princess games can't always handle that. For his little brother, Eemu starts keeping a diary so that the older brother will know what he did when he was little. But babies do nothing but eat, cry and sleep! It's quickly explained. So Eemu ends up keeping a diary of his own life.

Eemu is at an awkward age, because adults think he is too small and big enough at the same time. Too small to get the segway he wanted so much, but big enough to take care of Jaska's outdoor activities. Weird. Eemu's best friends are Aleksi and Mico, to whom Eemu can tell almost anything. In Eemu's class there is also the most beautiful girl in the world, Emilia, but now you can't even tell your best friends that! The class also has a Fist Fight, which is anything but wonderful. Many kinds of misunderstandings, confusion and embarrassing situations can happen in this book. The second part of the series will be published already in the fall.

 

Maarit Nurmi: Best surprise ever (Eemu's stories; 3), 2019

Ten-year-old Eemu is already writing her third diary, the contents of which will be published in this book series. Suddenly, you wouldn't think that there are so many things going on in the everyday life of a boy of that age. But it does happen! Short sentences and chapters, nice little pictures and speech bubbles gently move the story forward even for a beginner reader.

We are living in the middle of winter. Eemu is really looking forward to the skiing holiday, because her mother has promised a surprise for the family then. All he says is that it's yellow. Throughout the book, Eemu tries to guess what the surprise is. While waiting for the surprise, Eemu has time to show his literary talent: as a school assignment, he writes a funny rap. To the boy's horror, it is read to the whole school and then it is almost revealed who Eemu has a crush on. Classmates are also very impressed by Eemu's sci-fi story about an alien coming to class, born in 3039.

Eemu's best friends are still classmates Aleksi and Mico. On the other hand, no one can really tell from Nyrkki-Taisto whether he is a friend or not, because he is sometimes nice, often annoying and quite often he also bullies and bullies. So the whole class is quite surprised when Fist-Taisto has an accident and is sick for a while: they miss Taito and his yelling. Weird.

 

Christine Nöstlinger: Mini as a suspect, 2017

After a long time, a new, easy-to-read and color-illustrated Mini-book is published in Finnish. The author Christine Nöstlinger is from Austria and is already 80 years old. He has received numerous literary awards in his long career, e.g. Hans Christian Andersen Award 1984 and Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award 2003.

Mini, or Jasmin Öhman, is a long-haired, red-haired 8-year-old girl. His best friend is Max. In this book, the girls have to think about stealing and reporting. I have an older brother Markus. Siblings often fight and usually the first argument is already at the breakfast table before leaving for school. Now Mini is faced with a difficult task when he notices that Markus has stolen a sticker pack from his classmate Jon, in which he collects pictures of soccer players.

Even though Markus is often very mean to Mini, he still wouldn't want to expose his brother to adults. But the stolen item should still be returned to its rightful owner. You have to ask Max for help. Together, the girls come up with a way to get the notebook back to Joni and get revenge on Markus at the same time. A good plan, but something still goes wrong.

 

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Clare O'Brien & Santy Gutierrez (pictured): A peculiar teacher (Jump aboard the book), 2017

To our delight, new and colorful easy-to-read books and series suitable for learners are appearing all the time. Jump to the book is written in stick letters.

A new teacher, named Eerik Kirveskoura, enters the class. He's not just anyone, he looks and acts like a Viking. And that's what he really is: scary and brutal. If you laugh even a little inappropriately during class, you may have to hang down from the window for the rest of the class.

The teacher hates books, and it's bad for those who love to read! Then you have to sit in the reading corner for days without food or drink. The class also gets to do heavy work while renovating the teacher's ship, and there is always salted seal blubber to eat. Does not look good. The only hope is that the teacher also has someone to fear. And it is!

 

Darrel and Sally Odgers: The button decides (Pet Reader), 2014

An easy-to-read, primarily Australian animal series. The narrator of the book is a small dog, the Crussel terrier Nappi. His mistress Jaana works as a veterinarian at an animal clinic called Lemmikklekuri. Other regular animal ghouls in the book series are a parrot named Viski and a cat named Majuri Hintsanen. At the patient reception, Nappi works as Dr. Jaana's assistant, and it is an important job, because you see, dogs understand sick animals better than humans. In the story of this book, problems are caused by the turtle-colored cat on the cover. It looks sweet, but is very fearful and skittish. That's why it gets the name Kärtty. What could be Kärty's problem? The book has nice illustrations and the story is sprinkled with information boxes that explain difficult medical terms. In this way, the reader learns what, for example, such difficult words as diagnosis or disinfectant mean. Welcome news for young schoolchildren.

 

Odgers, Darrel & Sally: A friend in trouble, 2014 (Pet Lekuri series)

Another book about Nap, a Jack Russell terrier who works at a veterinary clinic as a help to his mistress Jaana.

Nappi understands the language of almost all animals and therefore knows how to help with animal care. Now doctor Jaana and Nappi go outside the clinic for a tour of the farm. They have been asked to a stable to look at the mare Julia, who is about to have a foal. Julia is very nervous because she is afraid of giving birth and her best friend, the dalmatian dog Romeo, has disappeared. Only Romeo could make the horse calm down. Can Nappi help in this situation?

 

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Jukka-Pekka Palviainen & Christel Rönns (photo): Allu and the strange Uolevi, 2019 – also as an e-audiobook ja as an audiobook

Already the third book about the cheerful second-grader Allu and her family, whose home is an old railway station. ​Now it's fall vacation and Allu is bored. The family spends the holidays at home, even though Allu and his older brother Aapo would have liked to go on a vacation to the south. Since they couldn't make the trip, they bring Aurinkoranniko to the living room of their home with their friends. And it will be really great. But how do they do it?

Allu can also go to pony camp and Unski, the teacher's parrot, is in vacation care with the children, so autumn vacation is really not as boring as it seemed at first. But problems also arise: classmate Paavo has a huge crush on Allu, but Allu is not at all in love with Paavo. However, the biggest problem is the mother. He has become very strange. He looks through old photos, sighs, talks nonsense and seems to be in completely different worlds. Quite often he mentions someone called Uolevi. Does mom have another husband? Are the parents getting divorced? Allu is amazed and worried.

 

Jukka-Pekka Palviainen & Christel Rönns (photo): Allu and the mysterious teacher, 2018 – also as an e-book

Toka class member Allu, aka Alexandra, is already on an adventure in her second book. In the first part of the series, the girl moved to a new place with her father, mother and older brother. The family bought an old train station and settled there. And that's what a cool home is. There is also a funny tower in the house.

Allu is a brave and outspoken girl, and it's not long before Allu gets a friend from her new town, Mintu. Minttu is a bit shyer than Allu, but he has his own horse, Petteri. The girls start second grade and of course sit next to each other. Paavo is sitting on the other side of Allu, who is pretty much in love with Allu. The students get a new teacher. The previous teacher got married and moved to Huittisten Nevada.

But the new teacher is strange. He has a pirate eyepatch over one eye and is babbling all the time. In addition, the girls happen to hear when the teacher talks strange things on the phone. The talks sound so dangerous that the girls have to spy on the teacher. They get Allu's older brother Aapo and his friend Markus.

 

Jukka-Pekka Palviainen: Fair enough, 2016

Four young people making short films, two girls and two boys. Arttu has always been interested in movies. Now he decides to participate in a short film competition together with his friend Koponen, who is the same age. Two girls are added as actors: the beautiful Jasmine and the music-loving Jossu. Among the girls, Jasmine has previously lived abroad and has just moved to the town. Her family has a lot of money, but the girl has no friends. Despite her family's wealth, Jasmine gets a kick out of shoplifting and often indulges in pickpocketing. Maybe it will help him endure his mother's serious illness.

The book is about filmmaking, youth, friendship, falling in love. On a filming trip on a cabin island, the book takes such a shocking turn that the reader is shocked.

 

Timo Parvela: Ella and friends with carbon footprints, 2019 – also as an audiobook

Ella and the friends are still in grade 2 ½, but still very nervous. Now they worry about climate change. They are infected by the teacher, who is always worried about everything. So they start protecting nature.

It all starts when the only tree in the school yard is going to be cut down, and it is cut down, but not without some complications. Next, we have to get the litterers on the beach under control, and the class succeeds in that in a pretty funny way. Tuukka continues his Everything we need to know series and explains the different types of forests so well that no one has ever been able to do the same.

Along with saving the planet, Ella and the friends have to build a new house for themselves in the teacher's yard. You can see the teacher towing the old bus wreck that used to be the meeting place to the scrap yard. But don't worry, Ellan and his friends will find a way. The know-how-many-parts of the Ella series will make you laugh again!

 

Timo Parvela: Ella and friends in the secret service, 2016 – also as an audiobook

Ella is still in 2 and ½ grade. However, a big change has taken place, because the teacher has become a principal. Suddenly the teacher, i.e. the headmaster, disappears and Ella and the friends are sure that the teacher has gone to prison. They decide to save the teacher because they don't want to go to school in prison and that's where they would end up without anything else, because the teacher is there too and who else would teach them? And the classic way to free a prisoner from prison is to bake a cake and hide different escape tools inside it, such as a screwdriver, screws, a bottle of glue, a drill, a hammer and sandpaper, as well as a pencil holder made by Pate in the first grade, which was found by chance in the craft class. Now there should still be a cake where these great escape tools could be hidden. By sheer luck, one can be found in the teacher's room. A nice, big cream cake is on the table in the teacher's room and Ella and her friends quickly hide the means of escape inside the cake.

But it doesn't always go as you'd like, the distinguished guests for whom the cake is intended come to the teacher's room to eat cake and of course the means of escape are found...Ella and the friends are also surprised that their own class is closed and it has something to do with the digital leap. Digiloikka is coming, in other words, in the words of the teacher or principal, digiluudigilei (reminds me of an old Eurovision song, hmm). Ella and the friends decide to save the teacher and themselves from the digital aliens.

 

Timo Parvela (writer) & Anni Nykänen (illustrator): Ella and friends finally in third place, 2020 – also as an audiobook

Oh this day of joy: Ella and the friends are finally in the third grade! How big and clever they are; now it's funny how funny things happen to them in the lower grades. Of course, that doesn't happen now that they are already in the third grade, i.e. almost adults.

However, not everyone jumps for joy when starting upper class. The teacher has an age crisis and feels very, very old. Ella and the friends watch in wonder and the teacher's wife in horror as the teacher desperately tries to look younger.

Patella also has a problem. He would really like a driver's license, but his father has said that he won't get it until about the time he is already getting married. So the class desperately tries to find a bride for Pat so he can drive the car. Will the mess follow? And of course once again the reader is offered Tuukka's essay. This time on the topic: "Everything you always wanted to know about love". This is how you can tell the difference between a person in love and a person who is frozen, even though both look the same, i.e. they stand stiffly, squirm incomprehensibly and shake.

A new person also enters the book. Nukkavieru writer Pamo Tirvelä appears in the designs. How and why? Although at the beginning I feel that I have read this book before, Ella, Pate, Pukari, Tiina, Hanna and Tuukka manage to charm their readers once again.

 

Parvela, Timo: Kepler62: Book One: The Invitation, 2015 – also as an e-book, as an e-audiobook ja as an audiobook

Kepler62 is a six-part book series written by Timo Parvela together with Björn Sortland and illustrated by Pasi Pitkänen.

The first part of the series starts with shoplifting. Ari, the book's second main character, brazenly steals an apple, staring straight into the surveillance camera. Of course he gets caught. However, the purpose was to steal a computer game, Kepler62, but that doesn't work either, the guard finds it in Ari's backpack and passes the boy on his travels.

Ari returns home. So we are living in a time when the earth is overpopulated and there is not enough food for everyone, not to mention other things. Ari is used to surviving, at the age of 13 he had already taken care of his little brother Jon for a long time. A wonderful coincidence has befallen Jon, a nice young woman has given him that coveted computer game and the boys start playing it. Probably no one in the world has yet passed the game, and for those who have successfully played the game, something wonderful is in store. The boys play and something wonderful happens; mother returns home. But is she a mother? And will the boys succeed in playing?

The book completely captivated me and the brilliant illustrations complemented the reading experience. The book ended like cutting with a knife and the wait for the new part began immediately.

 

Timo Parvela and Pasi Pitkänen (pictured): Pate on treasure island, 2017 – also as an audiobook

Ella's parallel series with Pate as its main character has already progressed to its fourth part. Other classmates hardly appear in the books, but Pate has adventures with adults. Every book also has an international touch, the newest one has even more of it.

In the first book of the series, the mother's brother or eno living in Australia arrived as a guest of the Pate family. Now he is back on an adventure. From the second book, according to Pate, a three-legged dog, Totti, grabbed it. That's still there too. But is it still three-legged at the end of the book?

At the beginning of the story, Pate receives a birthday gift package from his uncle in the mail. A metal detector is revealed from there. The second part of the gift comes true later, when Pate, Totti and eno go to Japan to look for an old, valuable sword. A metal detector is necessary for that task. Of course, the journey is not without problems. And it's exciting. Pasi Pitänen's illustration supports Timo Parvela's story well.

 

Timo Parvela: Pate's Chronicles, 2014 – also as an e-book ja as an audiobook

Pate, known from the Ella books, has now got his own easy-to-read series. It's the beginning of summer vacation. Pate starts keeping a secret blog. He is a little surprised when he notices that all his classmates still read and comment on his online posts. Pate's summer includes an unknown uncle's village trip and swimming school. Pate doesn't remember ever seeing eno. Father and mother haven't met Eno for many years either, because Eno lives abroad. The boy thinks eno is a rare bird and prepares for the visit carefully. But eno is an engineer, but still quite strange. When Pate goes to swimming school, eno has to come along. This equation doesn't work at first, but then it starts to work surprisingly well. You see, Eno is very interested in the swimming school. In fact, the young woman working as a swimming school instructor interests Eno even more. Pate and Eno experience many memorable and crazy moments during the summer, and of course the reader has fun.

 

Stephan Pastis: Timi Möhläri: the one who does it hurts, 2013

Humor with cartoon-like illustrations. The book reminds me of Neropati's diary, but is aimed at a little younger. Timi is an American 11-year-old schoolboy who gets hurt and things happen. He has founded a detective agency with his polar bear friend Aimo, in his opinion the best in the world. The friends have mom's wardrobe as an office. There are plenty of mysteries in these private detectives; sometimes they are looking for lost vehicles, sometimes they are looking for chocolates that have been walked on. But the mysteries are by no means solved, but become even more messy when dealing with the pair harness. So, mistakes happen all the time. Problems are also caused by the mother and the teacher, who try to curb Timi and Aimo's partying. Katariina "Ällöriina" Katariina, who founded a competing detective agency, also creates friction, for whom everything seems to be so much easier. In principle, the book is easy to read and richly illustrated, but despite that it is very long, i.e. no less than three hundred pages.

 

Lincoln Peirce: Big Nipa strikes again, 2015

Fourth-grader Nipa is ordered to give a history presentation together with his nemesis Iida! Kimppi's student Iida is afraid that Nipa will ruin her school success. Fortunately, Nipa is chosen as the captain of the inner nest team. Unfortunately for Nipa, Iida is also selected for his team, who is a complete tohelo in exercise. How will Nipa survive the presentation and the nest match? Iso Nipa is a sequel to the book Iso Nipa is number one. A book full of witty humor and sprinkled with cartoons.

 

Sari Peltoniemi: I'm running away from here, 2020 – also as an e-book

Aunt Agatha was a beautiful and gentle-looking woman. She wore wonderful clothes and her soft hands were made to stroke children's hair. Aunt Agatha was the director of the orphanage and she was the most malicious person Leopolda knew.

A coup d'état has taken place in Leopolda's homeland, Dynia. Power has been taken by the general and his soldiers. Opponents have been killed or expelled from the country. The children of the traitors are placed in orphanages, and so is Leopold. In the orphanage, the children's hair is pulled out, the food is bad and the clothes are ragged. The children have to do heavy work all day both indoors and in the garden. For violations, Aunt Agatha hands out punishments, the worst of which is a small and dark isolation booth. Everyone is afraid of the aunt.

No wonder Leopolda decides to run away. She doesn't tell anyone about her plans to escape, but some of the children guess the girl's intentions and so five others go along. The children aim for the neighboring country of Kohan. The escape journey becomes extremely dangerous, and the reader can't help but worry for the children.

 

Virpi Penna: Kärpenen and Tie, 2011

The book belongs to the colorful and easy-to-read Tammenterho series. Kauko Kärpänen, an engineer and adventurer, has built himself an airplane because it can fly faster than a fly's own wings. One day, Kauko is harassed by a bird and ends up making an emergency landing with his plane. The remote falls into a crack in the road far from the beloved aircraft. It is alone and helpless and does not know how to get out of the crack. Kärpänen is already falling into despair, until suddenly Tie starts talking...

 

Sara Pennypacker: Clementine, 2014

A new series about third-grader Klementiina, who gets hurt in all kinds of ways. Now it's a completely catastrophic week. Klementiina has a good imagination and means well, but usually only creates a mess and a bad mood. As early as Monday, the girl has to be talked to by the principal at school after shaving off her friend Margaret's hair. And the intention was just to help. The principal and the parents are absolutely desperate for the girl. The situation is only getting worse towards the end of the week. Klementiina is also jealous of her little toddler brother and sometimes calls him by the name of a vegetable: Pumpkin, Turnip, Pumpkin, Bean. Klementiina is absolutely sure that the parents will soon get rid of him and only keep the kind little brother. Before the end of the week and the end of the book, anything has happened! As funny as it is moving.

 

Liz Pichon: The wonderful world of Tom Gates, 2015

Tom is a lively fifth-grade English boy who gets hurt and things happen. Tom's mission in life seems to be to annoy his big sister Delia, and he succeeds admirably in that. School, on the other hand, goes a bit like this. At school, he is used to sitting in the back row, where he can read cartoons and draw in peace. And the boy can draw. As you can see from this book. Now Tom's world is turned upside down, when the teacher unexpectedly moves him under his eyes, to sit in the front row. Another big case is when Tom's absolute favorite band Hemmo 3 is coming to the town for a concert. You have to get there at any cost. The first Finnish part of the series that has gained tremendous popularity worldwide. Reminiscent of Neropati's diary and companions.

 

Liz Pichon: An incredible school trip (really…) (Tom Gates), 2020

Tom is a lively fifth grader who gets hurt and things happen. School creates difficulties because the boy is hard to forget and often ends up in the wrong place at the wrong time. Marcus, the class bully, makes sure that Tom's complaints always come to teacher Fullerman's attention as well. The teacher distributes smiley and sad faces to the students according to how well they do in school. Tom already has three sad faces at the beginning of the book and the fourth one means that he won't be able to go on the school trip. Now it's time to sharpen!

However, Tom has a couple of skills above the others and he gets to present them in this book as well. With his friends he has a band called Zombihurtat. Also, Tom is absolutely brilliant at drawing. A drawing wall has been set up in the city and Tom's father takes his son and his friends there to draw. Unfortunately, the father makes a mistake about the address and the children paint the wrong wall. It causes problems and misunderstandings throughout the book and the reader has to worry for Tom

Tom is also greatly amused by his teenage, always frowning older sister Delia. The boy is fun to annoy his easily angry sister, but this time Delia manages to surprise him!

The book resembles the popular diary of Neropati with its comments. However, the Tom Gates series is more cartoonish and enhanced with a variety of fonts and text curls. At first, the reader thinks he can just glance through the book quickly, but he is mistaken, because reading Tom Gates still requires concentration.

 

Dave Pilkey: The terrible return of Captain Kalsari and Hippie Helihousu, 2014

Finally a new Captain Kalsari! And, of course, guaranteed boyish cruise humor. Including, of course, serials and moving pictures. At the beginning of the book, our main character, the headmaster Kruppi aka Kapteeni Kalsari, and the elementary school-aged boy janitors Erno and Huuko are in prison. That's where they ended up at the end of the previous book. According to the boys, youth prison is not much different from school, except that in prison there are better opportunities to do everything that develops. However, the prison routines are broken by the terrible Hippie Helihousu, aka former professor Poksupöksu, who arrives in a time machine from the future, hiding in a pile of huge robot pants. He has a devastating weapon: an ice beam that instantly turns everyone in his path into frozen calicoes. Hippie Helihousu wants to take revenge on the main characters of our book series. However, so many complications happen that we have to travel back in time to Erno and Huuko's childhood and find out how it all really started. The boys get to know each other at school and soon notice that Erno can tell stories and Huuko can draw. This is how joint cartoons start to emerge. Together, they also go into battle in a dangerous battle against a gang of big boy bullies. All you need is wit, and boys have plenty of that. The author promises that Erno and Huuko's adventure will not end here.

 

Dave Pilkey: The Adventures of a Super Diaper Baby, 2013

Erno Parra and Huuko Hollins' first comic novel.
A new series begins! The first real comic book from the creators of the super popular Captain Kalsar! Fourth graders Erno and Huuko are coming again! The boys mess up at school once again and are punished by the principal: they have to write a hundred-page dissertation on the topic "Good citizen" And the dissertation must not deal with Captain Kalsar! That's how a cartoon about the new superhero Super Diaper Baby is born. At the beginning of the story, the perverted and evil Deputy Dangerous kidnaps Captain Kalsar with his dog Danger. They radiate the superpowers away from the captain and turn them into juice, which by drinking they get all the powers for themselves. The danger dog had time to slurp the juice, but the deputy Vaarallinen did not. At the same time, you see, a baby is born in the hospital, who accidentally flies out of the window and falls right into a glass of super-powered juice. This is how a Super diaper baby is born, who, in addition to living as a normal Vilho baby, has to fly off to save the world every once in a while and fight against Vaaralli, the deputy who appears in different characters. And enough speed! And fun!

 

Anja Portin: Radio Popov, 2020 – also as an e-audiobook

One night, when Alfred can't sleep, he decides to try sleeping in the hall. Everything else has already been tried, putting on and taking off socks, drinking water and eating half of a pickle. So Alfred takes the pillow and blanket under his arm and marches into the hall. The hallways haven't been vacuumed in a while, but that doesn't bother Alfred. Alfred lives with his father in Savikuja nelose. Or actually Alfred lives alone, father is away from home so much. Usually the father buys food or leaves a little money before going on his travels again, the trips may last weeks, even months. This time, father had forgotten food and money, so Alfred eats what he can find, pickles and pickles, ketchup. No wonder Alfred introduces himself at the beginning of the book as Alfred Unohdettu. That's who he is, his father doesn't care and Alfred doesn't remember his mother anymore.

While lying in pitch darkness, because the father had forgotten to pay the electricity bill, Alfred hears strange sounds from the stairwell, luckily the sneaker turns out to be a newspaper delivery man. But he wasn't quite an ordinary newspaper distributor, gray woolen socks, a sandwich wrapped in kitchen paper and an apple were found inside the magazine. Alfred decides to find out who the newspaper dealer really is, and the next night he goes all the way to the hall to wait. The newsagent comes and Alfred rushes into the stairwell. The newspaper distributor turns out to be Amanda Lehtimaja, a helper of the forgotten. Alfred goes to follow Amanda and ends up in a wonderful, old house. There, Alfred gets a hammock, it's the best place to sleep, and there's also warm porridge and applesauce for breakfast. Alfred wants to stay in the house. He wants to help Amanda. But what are the forgotten ones, which include Alfred? And what is radio Popov?

The language of the book is beautiful and the idea that forgotten children are not left behind is bright and hopeful, just like the whole book. The book won the Finlandia Prize for Children's and Youth Literature 2020 and for good reason.

 

Arja Puikkonen: Heart in a boot, 2010

Lara's mother doesn't like Lara's horse hobby, and because she doesn't like it, she doesn't support it financially. The father is said to be abroad, so he is no help here either. When the riding competitions are only two days away, and Lara doesn't have the appropriate boots, she ends up doing something irreversible: "The backpack and Lena's riding boots were hanging on the coat rack. The cloth bag was rounded off by a helmet, and as if teasing Lara, a blue Kingsland vest was sticking out of it. A nice boot-shaped canvas bag hung next to it." Fireblades Cavallot, and even Lara's size seemed to be on a tray...
Tales of Knight Nestor, 2014
The little knight Nestori lives with his family in a big castle. Nestori is a hard boy to cheat. First he lies to his queen mother that the bird has grabbed the chef's nose. Mom believes. Then Nestori deceives the father king that the castle has been attacked. And the father believes. When Nestori pulls his brother by the nose no less than twice, the measure of the rest of the family is full. Nestor is punished: he cannot join the dragon hunt, but has to stay home alone. But when a huge dragon really invades the castle, will anyone believe Nestor, who is asking for help? A nice book with cheerful illustrations is familiar from the easy-to-read Blue Banana series.

 

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Philip Reeve, Sarah McIntyre (pictured): Emily and the amusement park, 2017

Humorous fantasy for elementary school children with illustrations that exude nostalgia from the seventies. Emily is a girl who lives in the amusement park, upstairs of the thrift store. Ten years ago, a large, pale blue egg was found on a roller coaster. It was taken to a foundry office and the egg was forgotten in a corner there until a normal-looking girl hatched. Mrs. Mimms, the manager of the found goods office, has been taking care of Emily. Emily goes to school together with the children of the amusement park workers. The school is not quite ordinary: it is a carousel and the Learn by Spinning method is used there.

After school, Emily often hangs out on the butts of the amusement park maintenance men, Karvat and Suikero. None of the other employees of the amusement park are quite ordinary looking. Now Emily, Karvatti and Suikero are needed to solve a serious problem. An official inspector arrives at the amusement park. He decides whether the amusement park can continue to operate. As soon as the inspector arrives, the devices start acting strangely: the ghosts of the ghost train get scared and run away, the cotton candy starts running amok. What exactly is going on?

 

Philip Reeve (writer) and Sarah McIntyre (illustrator): The Legend of Kevin, 2019

Another three-color illustrated adventure from the team of Philip Reeve & Sarah McIntyre. The duo's books are also great for reading aloud.

Max lives with his family on the top floor of the city's tallest apartment building. He dreams of a pet, but his parents are against it. There is no support for the ten-year-old older sister, who is showing signs of pre-adolescence; he is only interested in black clothes and dark music.

One night, a terrible storm breaks out, which rushes the pony onto the balcony of Max's home. And not just any pony, but Kevin, the flying pony with a chubby belly and tiny wings. Kevin lives in the untamed, damp hills in a nest he made in the top of an oak tree. Because of the storm, Kevin cannot get to his house and Max places it on the roof of the house and feeds it with cookies. Biscuits are Kevin's biggest treat and with their power he can do anything.

An unprecedented flood rises in the wake of the storm. Soon the whole town is under water and only Max's family's home remains above the water. Max and Kevin set out to save people from the middle of the flood. Will it succeed when the town is overrun by a pack of vicious sea monkeys?

 

Philip Reeve and Sarah McIntyre (pictured): Oliver and the sea wigs, 2018

Philip Reeve's books published in Finnish in the last couple of years are fun and imaginative fantasy literature aimed at younger readers. Sarah McIntyre's three-color illustrations bring a charming old-fashioned feel to the books.

The main character of this book is ten-year-old Oliver. His parents are explorers and their work takes them on adventures around the world. Oliver's whole life has been just traveling and he longs for a permanent home. Now one is known; the parents have bought a house by the sea and Oliver is excited. Soon, however, the boy's enthusiasm turns to worry. Mom and dad go to explore nearby islands and disappear. Oliver goes to find them. Islands turn out to be rare: they move and talk. How on earth can the boy find his parents now?

Oliver settles on an old island, which he names Kari. He also gets to know a mermaid named Iris. Oliver hears from Kari that all the moving islands are heading towards the Holy Shallow, where the best island decorated with a sea wig will be awarded. Maybe the parents have drifted there too. Iiris and Oliver get an old wreck of a treasure ship lying on the seabed as a wig for Kari and head towards the Holy Shallows.

But no adventure without bad guys. Soon our adventurers will encounter a scary island called Ukkomurikka, which is very old and very evil due to its bloody past. With the help of its mighty army of sea monkeys, it has captured Oliver's parents and covets the wreck on Kari's roof…

 

Philip Reeve & Sarah McIntyre (pictured): Shen and the Pugs, 2018

Shen has lived his whole life on a ship. As a child, he was saved there from floating on top of an umbrella. For as long as he can remember, he has been working as a mess boy in the ship's kitchen. That is, washed and cleaned. But now something terrible happens: the sea freezes and the ship is wrecked. The real winter has come; everyone experiences it only once in their life.

Shen and the sixty-six little pugs on the ship are rescued in the small village of Jäänperän. There, Shen and the dogs are saved by a girl named Shika.

Shika tells about a competition that you can participate in only once in your life, i.e. when the real winter has arrived. His old and sick grandfather has participated in it and told wild stories about his trip. In it, we travel by sleigh far to the north, to Pohjanukko's palace at the top of the world.

Shika and Shen decide to enter the race and harness all sixty-six pugs to the front of the sled. The journey will be dangerous and not all competitors will play a fair game. A sweet and exciting fairytale novel with plenty of illustrations.

 

Katja Richert & Nina Dulleck (photo): Fanni witch and magic cake (Book Tiger), 2018

Kirjatiigeri is a nice, colorful and hyphenated book series for those learning to read. The text is written in block letters. Stories on many different topics have appeared in the series.

This book is about Jenni and her class. Jenni's best friend is Fanni. And Fanni is not just anyone, but a real witch. Jenni's classmates know Fanni's secret, but they can't tell the teacher!

Jenni's class has been chosen to take care of serving the spring party. That's it! A fan comes to help and makes anything for the party: a fun popcorn machine and a wonderful filled cake. The principal tastes the cake first. But alas, something has gone wrong when, after eating the cake, the headmaster starts talking strangely. What advice now? Can magic be undone?

 

Chris Riddell: Ada Gootti and I took worse than death, 2016

Humorous fantasy. Ada is Lord Gooth's only child. The girl's mother is dead. Ada lives in the peculiar Kalmatollo manor with her father and an even stranger servant. Ada hardly sees her father and the girl feels that she is quite lonely. Ada's teaching is taken care of by frequently changing home teachers, currently the teacher is a 300-year-old vampire Lucy, from whom Ada learns necessary skills in life, e.g. umbrella fencing.

In this second part of the series, we are preparing for the famous full moon periods. The strangest group arrives at the manor. There will be a baking competition and there will be many participants. However, not all newcomers seem to be completely honest...

 

Chris Riddell: Ottilia and the yellow cat, 2017

Chris Riddel has his own unique, absurd style, both as a writer and as an illustrator, and he stays true to that in this book as well. The book offers humorous fantasy for primary school children with crazy funny illustrations.

Ottilia is a girl whose mother and father almost always travel around the world on their business trips. Ottilia lives in the Pippurimylly house with Mr. Mauri. Mr. Mauri is a Norwegian marsh dog that Ottilia's father and mother have brought with them from their research trip. According to them, there is not much else in Norway but swamp.

Ottilia and Mr. Mauri's life in the big house runs smoothly: every morning there is a whole army of servants behind the door who come to do the housework. Each of them has their own, precisely assigned task and each one does their task very carefully, e.g. straightening the carpet fringes. In this book, Ottilia and Mr. Mauri solve the case of the yellow cat. With that, they end up in the city's notorious back alleys.

 

Sally Rippin, Aki Fukuoka (pictured): Creepy house (The Billie B Mystery; 1), 2016

A new easy-to-read detective series for a change from Australia. Two girls and two boys included. The second part of the series has already been published in Finnish.

Elementary school girl Billie longs for excitement in her life. He would like to start a mystery club, but his friends and Jack, Mikaela and Alex are not at all interested. They think the idea is a bit funny and childish. So Billie has to somehow attract others to join. What could a girl do to get her friends excited about it? Billie realizes that there has to be someone just right, something exciting that the guys are interested in too.

There is an old, slightly dilapidated house in the children's neighborhood. Others get excited about the house and go to explore it. Strange noises are heard from inside the house: like grinding and crushing. Billie has a good imagination and she thinks that the haunted house has a child shredder running. What really happens in the house?

 

Geoff Rodkey: The Tapper twins at war (against each other), 2015

A book full of quite a lot. New Yorkers Claudia and her brother Reese are 12-year-old twins. Except Reese is six years old. At least in Claudia's opinion. They behave just like other siblings. So they fight quite a bit. Now a fight breaks out in the school cafeteria, where someone lets out a really smelly fart. Reese leads everyone to believe that Claudia is the culprit. So embarrassing! But the girl takes revenge on her brother and that's how an incredible war begins, where there is no way around it. When Reese uploads a mocking video of Claudia online, the girl resorts to an extreme measure: she starts sabotaging her brother's online gaming. You see, Reese loves the Metaworld game more than anything and is super good at it. (By the way, the real talent in this game are the Finnish players). How's the war going? The book is a truly breathtaking read. There is so much humor and events in it. There are also a variety of fonts, images, parents wondering, text messages, marginal notes as an extra touch. At least this opus cannot be called boring.

 

JK Rowling: Ikkabog, 2020

The old English word Ichabod comes from the Bible and means loss of honor. The name of the book has been formed from it, and it is a very good name for this story.

Once upon a time there was a small kingdom called the Cornucopia. It was ruled by the somewhat foolish, but even more vain and flattering king Uuno Urhea. In reality, the power was wielded by the king's heartless advisor, Lord Sylkyarvo. All regions of the kingdom flourished and were profitable. Except for one: The Waste Swamp. There the land was dry and the inhabitants were destitute. There was nothing else worth mentioning there except the legend of ikkabog. Ikkabog was a monster living in the darkest corner of the misty swamp. It was said to eat children and sheep, sometimes even adults. It also had special powers.

Some believed ikkabogi was real, others didn't. In any case, it is the central character of the story. The book is clearly a fairy tale, but it is such a perfectly Shakespearean description of lying, scheming, and the use of power that even an adult can read it excitedly. And of course the ending is happy and the good people defeat the bad. Jaana Kapari-Jatta is familiarly responsible for the translation of the verbal fireworks, and the children created the elaborate illustration.

 

Inga Röning: Excellent. The plane that was afraid to fly, 2011

Oiva is an airplane that fears flying more than anything else in the world. Other aircraft scoff at it. The pilot is angry and sells Oiva to a junkyard. But Oiva has a good reason for its fear that the others don't know: its father's plane once fell and was crushed. But help, now Oiva is already being taken to be scrapped! Is there any way to save it?

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Leila Saarivirta: Backlash from the sleeping mat, 2018

Nukkumatti is really surprised when he notices that he can't be found in the top ten of the Super Characters competition, and is he found at all? Me Fantastiset magazine has organized the contest every year and, as expected, Santa Claus has always been the number one, which is a bit unfair to Nukkumat; Santa Claus only works one day a year. Second in the race has been the Tooth Fairy and after that, of course, Nukumat. But not this year! The sleeping mat starts to backfire.

First of all, it should be understood that the appearance of the Nukkumat does not correspond to the extremely old-fashioned concept that still exists of the Nukkumat. He's not a 100-year-old ukulele with blue buns and a white beard, not really. And he doesn't have those fancy vehicles either. But Unihiekka is a sparkling and effective sleep vortex that will make even the most reluctant toddler sleep.

Nukkumatti decides with his friend Pahkura to start a brand new era to gain popularity again. The commitment includes keeping a blog and Pahkura will also start presenting his own Pakaralandia program on the You Tube channel. Will Nukkumat become popular again and how is Pahkuran doing?

 

Veera Salmi: Mauri and a small smartphone, 2015

A book written and illustrated by Veera Salme, known for her pubs, who was also nominated for Finlandia Junior.

Mauri has thought that he has the ugliest, rammiest and oldest real low-end smartphone in the whole class, but it's not. One night, Mauri's cell phone turns into a real Konegtig phone, and it starts receiving mysterious Whatsapp messages from little guys from Nakuna-Uusi-Beba. Fortunately, because after Mauri's best friend Bashir moved back to his home country of Egypt, everything has been pretty boring. If mom had money, Mauri could fly to Egypt to see Bashir. But since he doesn't have any, Mauri starts digging a tunnel between Pasila and Egypt, because you can use it for free.

A small book about little Mauri, who, while digging a tunnel to his best friend, also tries to promote world peace and the protection of rainforests at the same time.

 

Aira Savisaari: Ponku, Peetu and an easy nakki, 2016

An easy-to-read, but not exactly breezy novelty book. The book begins when the boy Peetu saves the stray dog ​​Ponku from the rain to his home and hides it in his big sister's room. But the dog doesn't stay a secret for long. Peetu would really like to keep a dog, but what do the parents say. Peetu also takes Ponku to school. Where can I put the dog during lessons?

Peetu's friend Tinja also gets to know Ponku. Tinja always tenses her stomach with pain during mother tongue lessons. Tinja has reading homework, but she is afraid to present it. The words get messed up, the letters jump and the reading out loud goes completely wrong every time. Could Ponku help Tinja?

Yes, you can and help others too. Ponku becomes the school's own reading dog, who listens and encourages students with reading difficulties. The book is so well written that both Peetu and Ponku take turns as narrators.

 

Aira Savisaari & Lotta Kauppi (pictured): Ponku, Peetu and the truth machine, 2018

The series about small school children has already progressed to the third part. The second narrator of the book is Ponku the dog and the second Peetu the boy. The first part of the series told about how Peetu found Ponku and how Ponku became the school's reading dog.

Peetu has the detective agency Jelppi with his best friend Tinja. It works in this book too. Now the detective agency has to investigate cyberbullying. Will Jelppi be able to prevent the nasty video of Peetu from getting on YouTube? And how does an ordinary-looking sewing machine make even bullies tell the truth? At the end of the book there is also a useful test for all of us: what is a good kamu like? The series is also perfect for reading aloud at home or at school.

 

Salla Simukka and Saku Heinänen (illustration): As a sister, 2016

Salla Simuka, who became world famous with the Snow White trilogy aimed at high school students, is a fantasy novel for elementary school students that exudes girlish energy. Sisarla draws from the tradition of fairy tales and adventure novels, and exciting plot twists roll through the book until the very end. The book is also in wonderfully beautiful Finnish.

The main character is eleven-year-old Aliisa. The book begins with a winter world, which at first feels nice, but not for long: the winter becomes colder and snowier than ever. In a winter landscape, Aliisa miraculously encounters a summer dragonfly. Suddenly, the dragonfly turns into a wolf and Aliisa learns that it is indeed a werewolf creature that changes its appearance. Immediately after this, the girl falls through the snow into another world, Sisarla, where there is eternal summer. Soon Aliisa meets another girl who fell through the winter, Meri. The girls become friends and set out together to find out why they are in Sisarla and how to get out. It's not easy!

The sisterhood is ruled by the fearsome Queen Lili, who is said to have something to do with the harsh winter of the girls' world. The sisterhood is also haunted by creatures with magical powers. At the very beginning, the girls meet an owl in the forest who speaks a funny language and is also called Poelloe. Poelleo calls them 'important girls'. What does it mean? Do the girls have an assignment?

 

Andy Stanton: Mr. Gummi and the Power Stones, 2015

In this book, we have adventures in a small town with a strange name: Lamonen-Puli. Events are also strange; so strange that even science cannot explain them. It is summer. 9-year-old Polly walks with the dog Jaakko. Suddenly, Jaakko finds strange stones that are really old, as far back as 1559. The stones are wildly beautiful, but also dangerously enchanting. After looking at them, Polly has to move towards the old windmill as if by magic. Why on earth? Is there even a windmill in this town And at what point does Mr. Gummi, that mischief of mischief, enter the story? Already the fourth insanely funny book full of puns about Mr. Gummi in a skillful Finnish translation by Jaana Kapari-Jata.

 

Andy Stanton: Mr. Gummy and the Goblins, 2015

It's fall winter. The girl Polly and her friend Friday have adventures in the third nut-crazy book full of puns, pranks, exaggerations and tricking the reader. At first, they rescue Mrs. Suloinen, who has been ravaged by wild mountain goblins. After refreshing him, the friends decide to go to the infamous Goblin Mountain to fight the mountain goblins. The journey is not easy. Trolls are big and scary, but fortunately also a bit funny. But isn't Mr. Gummi, even meaner than mean, against his friends again in this book?

 

Tanya Stewner: Liliane Etelätuuli: You don't talk to elephants!, 2018

The beginning of a new series. Liliane moves to a new place with her parents and her dog Bonsai. The new school scares Liliane because she has had to move often and the experiences are not good. The girl has extraordinary skills: she can talk to animals and when she laughs, flowers burst into bloom. However, Liliane does not want to talk about these skills, lest she be considered strange.

The first day of school does not go well at all, he gets bullied by a group of girls and this will continue for weeks. The neighbor's son Isaiah is the school's favorite student, who is immensely admired. Isaiah gets to know Liliane, but at school he doesn't know any girls. Isaiah also has his own secret that he doesn't want anyone to know.

The students of the school take a trip to the zoo and Liliane tries to cope with the situation in such a way that the other students don't find out about her secret. The animals are absolutely amazed, because of course they recognize that a completely different girl is moving around the zoo. Liliane is worried about Martta the elephant, who is said to be really angry and looks like she wouldn't want to be kept in a zoo, Martta has had to give up her little one and is worried about that too. Can Liliane help, and will Isaiah become Liliane's friend? The back cover says well that the book is a story about how to get the courage to act as you want.

 

Tanya Stewner: Liliane Etelätuuli: Guinea pigs don't enjoy themselves alone, 2016

Liliane has two amazing qualities: she speaks the language of animals. Talking with any animal is fine. Liliane is nice and friendly and a friend of all animals, so the animals don't hesitate to talk to her. Another special feature is that the flowers start to bloom when Liliane laughs!

In this book we meet Liliane's cat, Mrs. von Virtanen. He is a cat who knows his worth and cannot, for example, walk if it has rained and the ground is wet. So he has to be carried. Liliane aka Lill also has a dog, Bonsai, a busy little fellow. Lilli's best friend is Isaiah.

At the beginning of the book, Lilli, Jesaja, Mrs. von Virtanen and Bonsai are on their way to school. On the way, they meet a noble collie cat, which they call Pörröpäähuiskale. The cat doesn't even give them a glance, even if Bonsai is happy to chase it a little. A nice surprise awaits at school; their friend Sonay has got a hamster and invites her friends to see it. Sonay also wishes that Lilli would talk a little with the hamster, Mambo, because it might have troubles. It just sulks and stares into nothingness. How to make Mambo happy and in a good mood again? Can Lilli help?

A nice easy-to-read book series, of which two volumes have been published.

 

Laura Suomela: Canary's cracklings, 2014

Juho and Isto are eight years old and best friends. The narrator of the book is Juho, who goes with Isto's family on a southern holiday to the Canary Islands, to a resort in Puerto Rico. Juho has never been abroad or on a plane. Isto's godfather and his family will also come. The book tells nicely what to do on a holiday in the south. If you've been on one, you can only marvel at how similar patterns have been on your own vacation. And if you've never been on a trip abroad, this book is a perfect introduction to such! All the time it hurts and happens; especially for Isto, who is a real velikulta. The boys make a movie of the trip and therefore they constantly video the events of the vacation with a funny narration. The video clips are saved at the hotel on Isto's laptop. But then boredom comes when someone steals a laptop from a hotel room. Why? The boys become detectives because they want Tetika back. At the market in Kalastajakylä, they buy a eavesdropping device, which is useful in investigating a theft. Kanaria säpinät is the second book about Juho and Isto. Written as warmly and captivatingly as the first Lokkisaari säppinät. I would love to read more about these boys.

 

Laura Suomela & Markus Pyörälä (photo) The crackles of a powder keg, 2015

The third book about fifth graders Juho and Isto. We are living in a dark autumn. The school is in turmoil when one morning a teacher's car is covered with spray paint. Soon the same trick will be done to the principal's car as well. Who makes a mess that is expensive to fix and why? Juho and Isto have solved crimes before. So they are still following leads and finding empty paint cans. But things turn against the boys when they get the blame on their necks. Only the boys are in trouble now! The real culprit must be found and soon, otherwise it will be expensive for the boys' parents. Along with suspense, the book also has a lot of humor. The boys accidentally found a band called Sekäjäte. Crazy situations are also caused by the first-grade godchild, who hangs around the boys like a burdock. Our second main character has to participate in first-graders' masquerade birthdays too, dressed as a garden gnome.

 

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Yoko Tanaka: Master detective Peppunen, 2018

Master detective Peppunen solves crimes with his assistant Brown. Tea and sweet potato pastries bring speed to brain work. Two crimes are solved in such a short book. The reader also has to work! Every opening has tasks and they are not easy.

At the beginning of the book, the master detective is approached by a woman dressed in purple. She is Rosamunda Taattila from Isomukula farm. He needs help solving the problem. The reader may be amused by Peppusen's appearance, but his reasoning ability is in the class of Sherlock Holmes.

 

Thomas Taylor: Malamanter, 2020

A timeless, fantasy-like and historical adventure novel about the strange town of Aaveranta, suitable for everyone.

Both main characters in the book are twelve years old. Herbert works as a manager of the foundry office of an old and valuable hotel. He himself was found as a small child on the seashore. He has drifted there with a box of lemons having lost his memory.

One day, Orvokki climbs in through the window of the foundry office and asks the boy: "Hide me!". The girl is running for her life from the scary Puoshakami, Orvokki has come to Aaveranta to look for her parents who disappeared twelve years ago. The girl was a very small baby then. The others believe that the mother and father are dead, but Orvokki is sure that they are alive.

Here begins an adventure full of strange characters and dangerous situations. The most frightening and at the same time the most fascinating is the title character of the book Malamanteri, a sea monster. According to legend, it lays a magical egg that makes dreams come true. Until now, however, the Malamanteri has eaten all the dreamers in its mouth.

When solving the riddle of the girl's parents, Orvokki and Herbert come across other, more peculiar characters, whose names have been descriptively translated by Finnish translator Jaana Kapari-Jatta: Mr. Nilviäinen, Mrs. Kraken, Mrs. Fossiili, Sebastian Ankerias. One of the most important and interesting places in the book is the book pharmacy. There, the reader does not choose the book, but the book is determined by the reader's unconscious need. “You know how people go to the doctor to get a prescription? … Well, this is the same thing, but with books. Stories are like medicine."
At the end of the book, the adventure is just beginning and the series completes itself as a trilogy.

 

Mila Teräs: Witch mirror, 2016

Eleven-year-olds Hugo and Lydia are not only classmates but also best friends. On an ordinary day at school, they get into a strange adventure. It all starts when the teacher disappears and is replaced by a woman named Ermiida Tiheikkö. He gives the children a book about the Witch's Mirror. Children open the book from a random place. It tells the story of a beautiful prince who falls in love with his mirror image. The prince wants to remain forever beautiful and immortal and sells his soul to the forces of darkness.

A map also falls from between the books. The children go in search of the Sivukuja mentioned on the map. Along it, they find an abandoned, castle-like building, an old library. The library's fantasy section is full of books about witchcraft and magic. There, the children will also find a secret passage. They start crawling along it and end up in the witches' kingdom, Köpelinvuori. They are preparing for the big Witch Conference there. However, a threatening black shadow creeps in the middle of the fun festival. The magical Witch's Mirror also has its scary side.

A fast-paced and exciting adventure filled with a magical world, spiced with humor. The book starts a new Secret Library series.

 

Mila Teräs: Telma and the house of stories, 2010

A sweet and easy-to-read book about a little girl, her home and its inhabitants. Telma Kaneli Ruusunnuppu Kumpula will soon turn seven years old. He has just started first grade at school. Telma lives on Aarrekatu on the second floor of an apartment building. Telma loves her home. He especially likes it when it's dark, when the lights come on in the windows. Then the house looks like a huge Christmas calendar, with a secret behind every window. Telma finds a stray cat and with it she gets to know all the residents of the house and hears all the stories of the house. An old grandmother lives on the first floor. He looks so old that he might have lived before the mobile phone was invented. Grandma has her own story to tell, as well as the curmudgeonly janitor's lady, the tango singer and the family of magicians. At the end of the book, Telma finds a way to gather the stories and people of the house together.

 

Tuutikki Tolonen: Agnes and the key to dreams, 2020

A package is brought to the Harmala museum amuse-bouche and the courier has received special instructions that the package must not be given to anyone else. The package includes a locked, silver jewelry box. The donor is the almost hundred-year-old Agnes Maria Brycknen. Agnes Maria's family has had a nice summer apartment in Harmala and now she wants to donate a significant object to the Harmala museum, including that beautiful jewelry box. There is only one condition: if a person comes to the museum with a key to the jewelry box, the contents of the jewelry box must be given to the person. The museum staff agrees to this remarkable proposal and an exhibition of the objects begins.

At the same time, eleven-year-old Agnes moved to Harmala with her mother. Father and mother have divorced, the apartment in Helsinki has had to be sold, and Harmala is the only place where mother has been able to get a job as an editor for a local newspaper. Father has gone to Hungary in search of a new love.

Agnes gets to know Pulla, the son of the newspaper's editor-in-chief, who also has reasons why they moved to Harmala a year ago. They become friends and Agnes tells about a strange coincidence in the old cemetery. Agnes has been walking the neighbor's Ossi dog and suddenly noticed tiny, old graves. Agnes starts scratching at one of the tombstones to see who is buried there. The lichen comes off the tombstone and the text is revealed: Agnes Margaretha, b. 2.8.1938 d. 3.8.1938. The same name as Agnes, or almost the same, Agnes' other name is Margareetta. Birthday 2.8 is also the same. What a strange coincidence!

After this, Agnes begins to have dreams about a girl dressed in an old-fashioned way, who hides a key and a jewelry box in the garden of an old, beautiful mansion-like building. The dream repeats itself and Agnes is sure that she has to figure it out, Agnes doesn't know anything about the object donation to Harmala's museum, but she and Pulla start to figure things out. You can expect revelations, you can't put the book down!

 

Tuutikki Tolonen, Christel Rönns (photo): Helping office Luna (Reading blocks), 2017

The easy-to-read, amusingly illustrated book that starts the new sub-series takes place in a cozy apartment building area, which is presented on the inside cover.
The main characters are eight-year-old friends Annikki and Yasmin. They are on summer vacation and right now they are bored. So the girls decide to set up a help office. It will be named Luna after Annik's special hamster.

The business idea of ​​the help desk is clear: its purpose is "to help when someone needs help". The neighbor's son Miro, the same age, is also included, because he is good at spying. The office has a price list for various tasks. Payment is received in ice cream cones. The bigger the cones, the more difficult the task. The office's first task is walking the old aunt's dog. It's only going to get faster. At the same time, the children solve a crime, but they don't even notice it themselves! But the reader will notice and wait for the continuation of the book.

 

Joonas Tolvanen: The Riddle of the Jade Sword, 2020

Jaakko and little brother Elias are a little nervous. They are packing their suitcases and the trip to China is about to start. Father and mother will come along, of course. In China, grandma is waiting for them. Grandma works in the biggest museum in Beijing. The flight goes well and the Beijing airport is huge and there is a lot to see. Jaako's suitcase is not visible on the airport conveyor belt, but after a while the bag appears. Jaakko picks it up, but he has time to see how the little dragon cub sneaks inside the suitcase. Jaakko tells his mother about it, but her mother just laughs, dragons too, whoop whoop! When opening the suitcase in the hotel room, the dragon is not visible.

In the morning, grandma waits for the family in front of the Forbidden City, a palace area in central Beijing. The boys take their backpacks with them. Jaakko puts comic magazines, a pack of cards, a link knife and a tin box into his backpack. The tin box feels heavy, maybe because the gravity in China is different than in Finland, or maybe it was on the moon, thinks Jaakko. Elias packs a roll of tape, a magnifying glass and something to scribble on. Do we need all these things?

The family meets grandma and grandma has presents. Jaakko gets a jade necklace in the shape of a green coin, it's an ancient lucky charm and it should have magical powers.

The adults are left to plan the holiday program. Jaakko and Elias go to climb the next hill, a small gazebo looms there. There are wide stairs leading to the gazebo, but the boys want to be adventurous and climb along the rock. Suddenly, Elias disappears from sight and Jaakko feels something hit his back with great force. Jaakko opens his eyes in a completely strange place, Elias is nowhere to be seen. A strange girl comes to ask how Jaakko is and Jaakko notices that he speaks fluent Chinese. How on earth? Where is she, who is the girl, and how does the shimmering, green jade sword relate to the story?

 

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Arttu Unkari (writer), Kai Vaalio (illustrator): A father and an explosive poo, 2020

There is an explosive explosion in the city, when a former tube player-reality TV star, now a minister, flies to the Moon while sitting on a toilet seat. Soon there will be other explosions around the city. Even the famous art museum Fũffenheim explodes.

Ensio Luokkanen, in his own opinion, the brightest star of the police force, begins to investigate explosive crimes. However, his nine-year-old daughter Oona knows that the father is a very bad police officer and otherwise strange. Oona calls her father Father; not because he is a superman but because he has super beliefs about himself and his own abilities.

In order to stop the explosions and catch the criminal, Oona and her best friend Eelin have to take action. The children act cleverly, and there is plenty of speed and dangerous situations! And fun.

The funny invented and drawn character is also a recurring side character in the book: a grandmother who comments and disapproves of everything, twiddles her finger. The book starts a new series and will undoubtedly find its readership.

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Netta Walldén: A cat named Kent, 2016

A mystical and philosophical story that is suitable for those who have already read more. The book is like a prose poem: beautiful language and multifaceted structure.

A girl and a detective are looking for a cat named Kent. Sickle-tailed Kent goes one step ahead and leaves behind clues: cat hair, a cup of cream, a trail of his tail in the dust. Wires transport the girl and the detective from Korkeakaupunki to the abandoned church tower of Rottakaupunki, hated by everyone. From there to artist hill and finally to Korkeakaupunki's newspaper office. There, the printing presses are at full steam forging the headline of all time.

But where is the cat? What is our girl's name? What is the purpose of a book, what about life? The book leaves a thoughtful and slightly sad feeling. Not everything can necessarily be understood from the first reading, and that's probably partly the purpose. Life is full of hopes, friendship and beauty, but also giving them up and sadness. This little book also contains all of them.

 

David Walliams: Gangster granny, 2016

A children's novel illustrated by Tony Ross has been translated into Finnish by David Walliams, also dubbed the new Roald Dahl.

Eleven-year-old English boy Ben has to spend all Friday nights with his grandma, because his dance-crazy parents go to the recording of the show Dancing with the Stars as a studio audience. The parents try to entice Ben into a career as a dancer, but the boy wants to be a plumber.

Ben doesn't like Grandma because she just makes horrible-smelling cabbage dishes and forces Ben to eat them too. And above all, it's damn boring at grandma's house! One day, however, the boy's perception of grandma changes completely when he finds something extremely valuable in grandma's cookie jar. What? And how does all of this lead to Ben and Granny heading down the old sewer system to the Queen of England's castle?

The book excels especially in poop humor, but in the end the author surprises the reader and the end of the book is downright heartwarming.

 

David Walliams: Mr. Lemu, 2014

Mr. Lemu is a tramp who stinks. So he really stinks! But it's a wonder that he has no home and no washing facilities. However, he has a dog named Duchess. Twelve-year-old Cloe meets Mr. Lemu in the park and they get to know each other. Cloella has a strict and domineering mother. Even the father is afraid of the mother and does not dare to tell her that he has lost his job. Every morning the father is about to leave for work, but hides in the closet for the day. The mother prefers Cloe's talented sister Annabelle and often shows no interest in Cloe. From Mr. Lemu, Cloe gets a friend who listens to the girl's concerns. Cloe has a good imagination and makes up stories about vampires and man-eating zombies. Mr. Lemu also listens to them with interest. Cloe smuggles food to Mr. Lemu and the Duchess, and one day the girl decides to house the smelly Tramp in the yard shed of her home. But what will happen when the mother finds out? Cheerfully illustrated by Quentin Blake, a humorously educational story about the power of goodness and honesty. Comes with a touch of charming old fashion.

 

David Walliams (writer), Tony Ross (illustrator): The Midnight Gang, 2020

David Walliams has a phenomenal ability to combine humor and movement with extreme exaggeration in his books. The number of pages in the book shouldn't scare you, the fast-paced narration will grab you right away.

12-year-old Tom has spent the last few years in a scary boarding school. Father travels around the world in search of work and money, and mother with him, and Tom hasn't heard anything from them for many years. So the boy is very happy when he gets hit in the head with a ball in physical education class and gets to the hospital. If only the parents would get in touch now!

The truth about the hospital will soon be revealed. After all, the chief nurse of the children's ward has the greatest pleasure in teasing and causing suffering to her little patients. Even the roommates reject the boy at first, but with persistence Tom gets into their group, the Keskiyö gang. The gang wanders around the hospital at night, they have a fun and moving mission (to fulfill all the strangest wishes of the little patients).

In the book, the gang members are helped by a hospital maintenance man who looks like the bell ringer of Notre Dame, but has a heart full of gold. During the day, he unobtrusively carries patients' stretchers, but at night he becomes a real superman. The reader can join quite a few adventures. When reading them, you notice that the author is also an actor, so dramatic are many of the scenes.

 

David Walliams & Tony Ross (pictured): The richest boy in the world, 2018

David Walliams has already made Finnish readers laugh with many of his books and he does it again by offering British humor at its best. A book full of exaggeration of sunken wealth, school food that makes you sleepy, the world's worst adults, but also loneliness and friendship.

Twelve-year-old Joe's father worked as an ordinary employee at a toilet paper factory until a few years ago he happened to make a revolutionary invention. He founded his own factory and made a fortune with his completely new Puhtopeppu toilet paper.

Joe's life changed completely: the family moved from a small rented apartment to a huge mansion with seven kitchens, twelve living rooms, forty-seven bedrooms and eighty-nine bathrooms. At the same time, mother and father divorced and so Joe and father live in the house alone and surrounded by servants.

You would think that Joe lacks nothing. He has a formula track in the backyard, all the computer games in the world, a roller coaster in the backyard and a live shark in the aquarium. Every year Joe gets a million for his birthday from his father, but this year the boy wishes for something completely different: he would like to have at least one friend. In addition, Joe wishes that he could change from the school of the rich to an ordinary neighborhood school, where he could hide his wealth.

At the new school, Joe immediately makes the first friend of his life, Bob, and is happy for a while. However, problems soon arise; Joe and Bob are attacked by the scary Grubb twins. Fortunately, the cook in the canteen is helpful, even though he makes absolutely horrible food: chicken breast in dog drool sauce, deep-fried bluegill as a vegetable option, and toenail ice cream for dessert.

But one day, when the father comes to visit Joe's school in a helicopter, everyone learns about the family's wealth. At the same time, there will also be an argument with Bob and Joe will lose his only friend. He's in worse trouble than ever.

 

David Walliams & Tony Ross (photo): Pson of a duck pirate, 2019

David Walliams (real surname Williams, born 1971) is an English comedian, writer and actor. He has written numerous children's picture books, illustrated by the master Tony Ross. More recently, several of Walliams' children's novels have also been translated into Finnish, also illustrated by Ross, and I feel that the author's style is best suited to this genre. Walliams' books are at once funny, crazy, snarky, sad and endearing. They are also suitable for reading aloud, even in the upper grades of elementary school.

Son of a Bank Robber tells the story of eleven-year-old Frank, who admires his Gilbert father more than anything. Father is a multiple rallycross champion and the hero of the whole town. He also earns well and the family does not lack for anything.

One day, however, everything changes. Dad drives a bad crash. His other leg has to be amputated and he is no longer able to continue his rally career with a wooden leg. The family's livelihood collapses and then the mother leaves for another man and abandons her home. Father and son are not only extremely inconsolable, but also destitute, because the bailiffs take absolutely everything from the house. Hunger is gnawing and the same tea bag is soaked day after day

Fortunately, Aunt Flip, who works as Dad's librarian, helps. For that good reason, father and son have to listen to the aunt's more horrible poems than the other. With the situation this bad, Father Gilbert ends up being blackmailed by the crime boss, Mr. Big. He and his gang threaten to harm Frank if the father does not agree to be a driver for criminals. Father has no other choice…

 

Jessica Walton & Dougal MacPherson (pictured): I'll Always Be Your Friend: A Story of Courage and Love, 2016

Today's children's books do not shy away from difficult topics. They speak directly about things that are kept quiet and let especially adults know what is really important in the world. Children already know that anyway.

In this picture book for young children, too, Tuomaksen's Erkki-nalle feels that she is a girl instead of a boy teddy bear. However, it is afraid of being rejected if it turns into a girl teddy bear. But don't worry: Tuomas and his friend Aava love the teddy bear that changed from Erki to Elli just as much as before. A gentle reading experience for all ages.

 

Anne Vasko: Jello big, 2010

Jellona suuri is a charming picture book about a home-made toy lion who likes it when Poika says: -Jellona, ​​my king of lions! Let's play! One day, however, Jellona feels that she has become too small and would like to be bigger, like a boy. Big things are much better, or are they? Anne Vasko (formerly Peltola) has created a visually impressive illustration for the book as a canvas collage. The work has received the 2011 Rudolf Koivu children's and youth book illustration award. The author has dedicated a story to all the soft toys.

 

Skye Waters: With the help of a polar bear (Magic Dogs : 1), 2012

Ella finds an abandoned, cute puppy in a cardboard box in the park. The breed of puppy is husky and they are used in cold glacier areas in dog sleds to pull sleds. After much persuasion, the father lets Ella keep the puppy and it is named Blue But Blue is not just any dog, it's a magic dog! Whenever necessary, Ella and Blue fly to the arctic polar region, where the other magical dogs of the pack are already waiting for them. Ella and Blue are needed for rescue missions. This book saves polar bears. When the task is completed, Ella and Blue return home and no one else knows about their magic secret! The starting part of the new dog series.

 

Holly Webb: Pepe, the red stable cat, 2015

Rosie loves cats and has been wishing for a cat for herself for a long time, but hasn't gotten one. Fortunately, there is a farm near my grandmother where semi-feral stable cats live. Rosie likes to go to grandma's because she always gets to visit the neighboring farm. Most of all, Rosie the little kitten, whom the girl has named Pepe. Pepe has a beautiful red fur and Rosie's hair is exactly the same color. The girl has sometimes been bullied a little at school because of her hair color, but now she has a destiny partner. Pepe is wild, but starts to tame when Rosie starts feeding him. Oh, if only he could have Pepe as his own! But then something terrible happens: the farm is sold and a construction company buys it. The cats' home stable will be dismantled. How is Pepe? Another new book in the popular pet series.

 

Holly Webb: Lonely Allu, 2012

Evie gets a long-awaited puppy, who is named Allu. The girl is very excited. He finally has his own dog to walk and play with. Even at night, Allu sleeps secretly from his parents at the foot of Evie's bed. But then Evie has a little brother. And the baby starts to take the attention of Evie and the rest of the family. No one has time and can't pay attention to Allu. The outdoor walk is forgotten and the puppy accidentally goes without food a few times. Allu feels very abandoned and lonely...
Already the fourth charming pet book from Holly Webb And just as charmingly moving as the previous works about Pörrö the cat and Max the dog.

 

Kalle Veirto: Detective agency Henkka & Kivimutka and the sixth of December, 2017

The sixth of December, or Finland's independence day, is approaching. This year it is particularly festive because Finland is celebrating its centenary. It is particularly significant for Henka's family, because the father is scheduled to give a speech at the town's civic celebration. But as is usual in this series, there are twists and turns in the journey. Kivimutka attracts Henka to investigate a theft committed at a nearby construction site. The crooks have captured expensive construction machinery. The gig would take less than an hour and Henkka would have plenty of time to listen to her father's speech.

But, but it doesn't happen that way, Henka's mother is also dragged into the investigation of the theft. The father is already in a hurry to perform, but he also has his family in his arms to joke around. How is this going? Will the theft be solved and will the independence celebration be a success?

 

Kalle Veirto: Detective agency Henkka & Kivimutka and Kurppa 16, 2015

Virtanen's family is packing moving boxes, and Henkka finds a lost photo album behind the bookshelf while cleaning. It's not long before Pumpputie's Sherlock realizes that the riddle of Kurppa 16 was solved during a forced summer camping holiday.

It was nothing less than a kidnapping, and the target was not just any ordinary Taavi, but a nationally significant person. Kurppa 16 takes Detective Agency Henkka & Kivimutka to the banks of Kymijoki. You can expect swimming, saunas, lettres - and a mystery without comparison! In this twelfth part of the series, the main characters are not only boys but also walkie-talkies. Does the story of the Detective Agency also end here, when the roads of Henka and Kivimutka now diverge to different places?

 

Kalle Veirto: Detective agency Henkka & Kivimutka and the footsteps of Sherlock Holmes, 2014

Eleven-year-old detective Henkka is visiting London with her father. The son is eager to get to know Sherlock Holmes' famous home museum and the father is excited about the Manchester United football match. The plans change, however, when pulu poops on dad in the middle of the street. Father returns to the hotel to change clothes and Henkka stays alone near the big metro station. A strange creep goes to follow the boy. The connection with the father is broken when the son's cell phone breaks in the rush of football fans. Will Henkka and father find each other in this huge city of millions and will Henkka get rid of her stalker? Still, this is just the prelude to the book's exciting events! At least the boy has enough humor and jokes. The book is the 11th part of a popular series and not at all from the worst end.

 

Kalle Veirto: Detective agency Henkka & Kivimutka and Syytön Kake, 2010 - also as an e-book

One night, red-black-green graffiti appears on the roof of the school. Henka's friend Kake is suspected because he has recently been seen at Lidl spraying red spray paint on the side of a garbage can. Kake denies messing up the roof, but the police and other adults think Kake is clearly guilty. It's sad because Kake's family is now facing a €10 bill for repainting the roof! Only Henkka and Kivimutka believe in Kake's innocence. In their opinion, a small 000-year-old Kake's size can't even climb on the roof of the school. Will Detective Agency Henkka & Kivimutka be able to solve the crime once again?

Kalle Veirto writes a series of children's books that have become popular, peppered with good boy humor. This is already the fifth part of the series.

 

Kalle Veirto: Master detective Mato Valkonen and the fourth clown, 2019

The ten-year-old boy from Lahti, Matias aka Mato, has previously appeared in the Henkka and Kivimutka books. Now Mato has got his own book series. He is black in skin color and sometimes experiences bullying because of it. Mato is good at soccer and plays in the E-junior team. At the end of the book, the team travels to Riihimäki for an important tournament.

Now a Syysrieha full of events is being organized nearby. Mato and his best friend and the almost demented grandfather participate excitedly in the riot. In everyone's opinion, the best show is the clown show led by three clowns, whose stage name is the Haju brothers, with the Piereskely Championship. The book is quite full of poop humor.

However, the name of the series suggests that there will also be a crime to solve. Therefore, many participants of Syysrieha have their wallets stolen. Mato and his friends get closely involved in solving the crime.

 

Kalle Veirto: The boys of the game bunker, 2011

Twelve-year-old Jose and his friends Mälli, Veltto and Jörö are eager to play console games. Often they secretly play School of Hell in their gaming bunker, even though they shouldn't because it's forbidden for under 18s. The parents are furious. The boys should be made to follow the common rules, but bans don't seem to work. Then a cool girl Annika moves in next door, whose father happens to be the designer of a new, revolutionary game console. According to the parents, the situation will only get worse and the new family will attract the boys to play even more. But is that really the case? And why do boys suddenly become interested in e.g. exercise?

 

Ian Whybrow: Harry and the dinos save the village, 2012

Nice series about friendship and dinosaurs. Harri, Jakke, Salli and Siri form the Tammitiim together. It's winter, there's a lot of snow and it's fun to play snow games. But it is snowing more and more and there is already a dangerous amount of it. The whole village is blocked by snow. Harri has played a lot with dinos as a child and still hasn't abandoned them. Nobody but Harri can see the dinos, but they always come to the rescue when needed. Even now!

 

Martin Widmark: Two bad wolves (Horror agent Nelli Rapp), 2012

Nelli Rapp is Horror Agent No. 10 who attended the Monster Academy. She performs monster fighting missions. Now comes a new task from a higher authority with code I 3. It means that there is a danger of werewolves nearby. Some people turn into werewolves when there is a full moon. They then maul the sheep to death. Nell has to stop this. It requires the completion of a three-step task. And the tasks are not easy! The book is the third part of the Swedish Horror Agent Nelli Rapp series and is a good example of the Swedes' ability to make easy-to-read children's literature that naturally combines images and words. Author Martin Widmark is known from the popular Lasse-Maija detective agency series. This series is illustrated by Christina Alvn.

 

Martin Widmark: Birthday riddle (Lasse-Maija detective agency), 2013

It's happening again in the small town of Vallila! The city's richest man, the owner of a goldsmith's shop, Muhammed Karaatti, is celebrating a great birthday. All the important people are there. The birthday hero's wife has organized a surprise program number: a cake competition. The country's three best sugar bakers have been chosen as participants. The guests watch the cake being baked and the hero of the day chooses the winner. There will also be a surprise fireworks display after the competition and there will also be a short power cut. After that, Muhammed Karaat's wife notices that a valuable diamond jewelry has been stolen from her neck. Who took it? Lasse, Maija and the police chief have a difficult riddle to solve. The book is already the thirteenth translated part of Lasse-Maija's captivating, easy-to-read detective agency series, which both children and adults can read to their heart's content. Helena Willis' delightfully vivid images are again an important part of the story.

 

Martin Widmark, illustration by Helena Willis: The Riddle of the Prison (Lasse-Maija detective agency), 2017 - also as an audiobook

The favorite detective series written by Martin Widmark, who also visited Finland, and illustrated by Helena Willis, is even more attractive now that it appears in four-color illustrations. This is already the 17th part of the series.

This time, Lasse and Maija get an invitation to Vallila prison. The prison is full of familiar thugs that the children have smuggled there together with the police chief. The reason for the invitation is a theater performance. The vicar of Vallila has directed a play in the prison, and not just any play, but even Shakespeare's Hamlet. Its main roles are played by prisoners. However, not everything goes according to the script, instead the prisoners have drawn their own plot patterns into the play. Lasse and Maija have to chase criminals again.

 

Leena Virtanen: Sandra and friends curls, 2011

First-grader Sandra's best friend is second-grader Annabella, who lives next door. With him, Sandra can talk about absolutely everything. But Sandra's friends are also Minttu-Maaria and Natalia. All girls are different and friendship with them is also different. And you can play different games with different friends. But sometimes there are fights and the girls are mean to each other. Fortunately, Sandra can tell her mother and teacher if she is being bullied. When there are arguments between friends, it is also important to learn to settle arguments and apologize. The sweet story of girl friendship with its joys and sorrows belongs to the easy-to-read Keltanokka series.

 

Elias & Agnes Våhlund: Handbook for superheroes. Part 1 : Handbook, 2019

"You can run away from the bad guys, but you have to face yourself." Nine-year-old Aliisa is bullied because of her ears. Every day he has to run away from a gang of boys. If the girl manages to get to the library, she is once again spared the beatings of the gang members.

One day, Aliisa notices one corner of the library glowing red. As if it was luring him to her. Waiting in the corner is a strange book, A Handbook for Superheroes. Since the book cannot be found in the library's database, the librarian gives it to the girl.

Aliisa begins to read a book. It introduces 101 magic powers. When you learn them all, you become a superhero. Is there a solution to bullying? Learning magical powers requires patience and concentration; and it's still not easy. In addition, you can only learn three powers at a time. Many are probably bored and have left the training. Can Aliisa make it and can she stop the bullying?

The publisher classifies the book as a graphic novel. The cartoonishness attracts even weaker readers to grasp it, and the treatment of bullying is described in an interesting way. Points also for the fact that at the end of the book there are clear instructions on what to do in real life if you get bullied.

 

Elias & Agnes Våhlund: Handbook for superheroes. Part 2: The Red Mask, 2019

The cartoon girl hero book series continues. In the first part, Aliisa, who was bullied at school because of her ears, found a mysterious Handbook for superheroes in the library. Since it wasn't in the library's database at all, the librarian gave it to the girl. Aliisa started reading the book and decided to act on it: to become a superhero and to choose three superpowers for herself. He began to practice them. It's time for the girl to run around as the Red Mask on a rescue mission.

One of Aliisa's chosen superpowers was talking to animals. But it is not easy at all! Aliisa is about to give up on the whole superhero training thing when her bullying gets even worse. The bad guys at school: Roope, Niklas and Max gang up on her again and call the girl ugly and stupid. Why does no one ever help Aliisa? Aliisa feels abandoned.

But Aliisa forgets her own misery when her heroism is needed again. No one knows that he is the mysterious Red Mask. Aliisa also gains strength in her own everyday life: what does a girl do that scares the bad guys so much that they pee their pants and apologize?