Tatu and Patu: This is Finland

Those wacky Oddville brothers Tatu and Patu do not leave a stone, a sauna, or even a Santa unturned in their quest to get to the bottom of Finland, its history, its wild natural landscape, or even its quirky inhabitants.

The boys travel the country from the capital to the far north of Lapland and explore what ingredients go into producing the strange nation known as Suomi. The result is a handy recipe to make a Finland all your own!

Tatu and Patu go on to explore what makes the Finland that we know. With history, the boys portray themselves as living during different time periods of Finnish history. To present some of the most significant Finnish public figures, Tatu and Patu become detectives to trace their lost belongings, like Jean Sibelius’ sheet music, and Paavo Nurmi’s sneakers. The boys also learn about Finland’s form of government as Patu decides that he wants to be appointed the new Santa Claus.

Tatu and Patu also present aspects of the Finland of today as news anchors Patu-Arto Newsberg and Tatu-Christiane Adlib-Montage. They share, for example, a sports report on how a popular team of “feisty lions” has been skating after a black piece of rubber all night and winning the game!

In the end, the boys also get to visit the Virtanen family who show some of the everyday life of an ordinary Finnish family. They explore some of the typical objects in a Finnish home, like the Alvar Aalto vase, and get to eat some blueberry pie.

This incredibly entertaining book also includes “Tatupatu-tests” that are one-page comics and which investigate “Finnish oddities” such as the sauna, rye bread, and midsummer at the cottage. Welcome to Finland as presented by the Oddville boys!