For all you Finnophiles out there

We received a great gift for Christmas from Timo and Minna. It is available in both Finnish and English. The English title is "This is Finland." The original title was "Tatun and Patun Suomi." The authors are Aino Havukainen and Sami Toivonen. It features Tatu and Patu as they learn about Finnish nature, history, culture, and Santa Claus. It is 47 high-quality glossy pages long and folio size. The humor is great. But to truly appreciate the detail in the quasi-cartoon drawings you have to have lived in Finland. For example, in one picture of a modern Finnish kitchen I observed: kantele, camera, Finnish style birch stools, pima, sausage, cloth shopping bag, liver casserole, smoked fish, blueberry piirakka, rye bread, rye krisp, cloudberry jam, canned reindeer, Karelian piirakka, bucket of fresh blueberries, steam juicer, honey, coffee grinder, puukko, miniature oven hood at eye level designed to blind, in-cabinet dish drainer (a Finnish invention), marimekko tablecloth and t-paita, xylitol, wooden container box, coffeemaker, muumi mug, wooden cup, pulla cannister, salmiaki, fiskar scissors, under-cabinet fluorescent lighting, and utensil drainer. I'm pretty sure I've missed a lot. One picture that really cracks me up shows a Finnish toddler at the playground in summer bundled up in snowpants, hat, and mittens unable to get up. So true...But every page is designed along the same lines. I would suggest you run right down to the local Suomalainen Kirjakauppa and get yourself one.