Author: Päivi Heikkilä-Halttunen
Marja-Leena Lempinen: Punainen lumme [The red lily]
3 March 2009 | Mini reviews
Punainen lumme
[The red lily]
[Helsinki: WSOY, 2008. 232 p.
ISBN 978-951-0-34434-7
€ 21, hardback
16-year-old Ella’s story is told with gusto and vitality. The novel deals critically, in a way that will appeal to young readers, with questions of Internet etiquette, personal protection and the right to one’s own body. Lempinen depicts the sexual exploitation of a young girl in realistic terms, but does not over-dramatise it. Ella, however, needs to regain her mental equilibrium in a psychiatric hospital, with the help of the understanding staff. The gift of a red lily she receives from friends develops into a beautiful symbol of her gradual attainment of her sexual identity. As in her earlier novels for teens, Lempinen (born 1950) gives an important role to the experience of nature, and this is a leading factor in Ella’s recovery.
Jukka Laajarinne: Elina vieraalla maalla [Elina in a foreign country]
3 March 2009 | Mini reviews
Elina vieraalla maalla
[Elina in a foreign country]
Kuvitus [Ill. by]: Pekka Rahkonen
Helsinki: WSOY, 2008, 25 p.
ISBN 978-951-0-33983-1
€ 21, hardback
Elina is of preschool age when her parents receive a two-year posting, in the fictional country of Kumarkand. After Elina’s initial enthusiasm, the foreign culture frightens her. But when the time comes to go back to Finland, Elina misses Kumarkand and the close friends she has made there. This picture book deals with a timely theme that affects more families than it used to. The intersection of one’s own national identity with a foreign culture is given nuanced, humorous expression by the work of the cartoonist Pekka Rahkonen. Jukka Laajarinne (born 1970) does not lapse into the obvious, but compresses the essential. The snippets of ‘Kumarkand language’ encourage adults reading the book aloud for children to invent some miniature drama for them.
Markku Karpio: Myrskyvaroitus [Storm warning]
24 February 2009 | Mini reviews
Myrskyvaroitus
[Storm warning]
Helsinki: Otava, 2008. 237 p.
ISBN 978-951-1-23000-7
€ 12, hardback
The main character’s quest for identity is a permanent theme of books for children in early adolescence. 11-year-old Emil, who lives with his mother in the outer Finnish archipelago, drifts into an emotional storm at an important moment in the construction of his identity. A storm warning on the radio means Emil’s African father will not be able to reunite with his son. The novel depicts the identity problems encountered by children of parents from different cultural backgrounds and their need for understanding from a wider perspective. A sub-plot concerns Emil and his new friends, and the strengthening of trust and tolerance between them. Markku Karpio (born 1961) portrays young boy’s tentative explorations sensitively.
Tuula Kallioniemi: Rottaklaani [The rat clan]
24 February 2009 | Mini reviews
Rottaklaani
[The rat clan]
Helsinki: Otava, 2008. 192 p.
ISBN 978-951-1-23159-2
€ 16, hardback
Tuula Kallioniemi (born 1951) manages to deal with difficult issues without resorting to conventional solutions. Ykä, who is nearly 12, suffers from the normal anguish of early adolescence until the CP [cerebral palsy]-disabled Sami pushes his wheelchair into Ykä’s life. The boys decide to get the better of Antikainen who is bullying Sami, but in order to carry out their plan they need the help of quadraplegic Pete and Susanna, who has MBD [minimal brain dysfunction]. Kallioniemi’s literary prescription for the prevention of illness in young people is a simple one: we must all be friends with one other, be allowed to express wonder out loud, and remember that laughter is the best therapy. Kallioniemi’s merits are her verbal skills and her natural cultivation of situation comedy.
Fairy tales updated
30 December 2008 | Authors, Reviews
Jukka Itkonen. Photo: Irmeli Jung.
Päivi Heikkilä-Halttunen on Jukka Itkonen’s quirky fables
In Jukka Itkonen’s collection of fables for children, Sorsa norsun räätälinä (‘The mallard as tailor to the elephant’, Otava, 2008) the plots and heroes of traditional fairy tales are turned on their heads. This kind of parody drawing on old-time folktales has been introduced to Finnish readers by translations of the British author Babette Cole and her feminist-flavoured picture books. More…