Books & Music

Discover the Finnish quality of sisu and how cultivating it can help you lead a life of greater purpose and happiness.

This ancient Finnish word describes an attitude of courage, resilience, grit, tenacity and perseverance. This key psychological competence enables extraordinary action in times of adversity. To have sisu confers a further dimension of doing so with honesty, integrity and humility.

By cultivating sisu you can:

Sisu is a universal trait. It may have been bottled and labelled by the Finns, but it is within reach of everyone. It lies within you, and you are very likely to have used it already.

• Author: Joanna Nylund
• Paperback: 158 pages
• Language: English
• ISBN: 978-0-7624-6506-4
• Dimensions:  5.5 in X .5 in X 8.25 in

An engaging and practical guided tour of the simple and nature-inspired ways that Finns stay happy and healthy--including the powerful concept of sisu, or everyday courage.

Forget hygge- it's time to blow out the candles and get out into the world! Journalist Katja Pantzar did just that, taking the leap to move to the remote Nordic country of Finland. What she discovered there transformed her body, mind, and spirit. In this engaging and practical guide, she shows readers how to embrace the "keep it simple and sensible" daily practices that make Finns one of the happiest populations in the world, year after year. Read about the power of Sisu in this exciting new Finnish book.

• Author: Katja Pantzar
• Paperback: 251 pages
• Language: English
• ISPN: 978-0-14-313299-8
• Dimensions:  5.5 in X .5 in X 8.25 in

• Brand: Marimekko
• Country: Designed in Finland, Printed in China
• Measurements: 50 Assorted Postcards - 4" x 6" (10 x 15 cm)

Beatrice Ojakangas, the oldest of ten children, came by it naturally—the cooking but also the pluck and perseverance that she's served up with her renowned Scandinavian dishes over the years. In the wake of the Moose Lake fires and famine of 1918, Ojakangas tells us in this delightful memoir-cum-cookbook, her grandfather sent for a Finnish mail-order bride—and got one who’d trained as a chef.

Ojakangas’s stories, are, unsurprisingly, steeped in food lore: tales of cardamom and rye, baking salt cake at the age of five on a wood-burning stove, growing up on venison, making egg rolls for Chun King, and sending off a Pillsbury Bake Off–winning recipe without ever making it. And from here, how those early roots flourished through hard work and dedication to a successful (but never easy) career in food writing and a much wider world, from working for pizza roll king Jeno Paulucci to researching food traditions in Finland and appearing with Julia Child and Martha Stewart—all without ever leaving behind the lessons learned on the farm. As she says, “first you have to start with good ingredients and a good idea.”

Chock-full of recipes, anecdotes, and a kind humor that bring to vivid life the Finnish culture of northern Minnesota as well as the wider culinary world, Homemade delivers the savory and the sweet in equal measures and casts a warm light on a rich slice of the country’s cooking heritage.

• Hardcover: 184 pages
• Publisher: Univ Of Minnesota Press
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0816695792
• ISBN-13: 978-0816695799

This high-definition Finnish documentary film features authentic re-enactments of the Soviet Union's invasion of Finland and Finland's spirited 105-day defense in a "frozen hell". This Finnish DVD begins with the aerial bombardment of Helsinki, fires rage in the city and dazed citizens run for their lives. Poorly equipped Finnish troops face a massive Red Army attack almost three times larger than the Allied landing at Normandy on D-Day. The Russians are confident of a quick victory. A Finnish poet, an American volunteer ambulance driver, and contemporary journalists and soldiers on both sides of the conflict give accounts, many from war diaries translated into English for the first time. Historians provide unique insight and perspective. Rare archive footage, enhanced by meticulous attention to historical detail in re-creating scenes, reveals the improvised Finnish defense with Molotov cocktails and crowbars and a unique female corps called Lotta Svaard. Outnumbered and outgunned, Finns knew the war was not about territory; it was a total war for their very existence as a people, and as temperatures descend to 50 below zero, their mastery of winter becomes a strategic advantage.

• Producer/Director/Writer: Ben Strout
• Released: 2005
• Length: 79 Minutes
• Produced in full color HD 16:9 Widescreen Format
• In English with English subtitles for Finnish speakers

100 Things to do in the Upper Peninsula Before you Die, is the great Yoopers bucket list. Learn about the rustic sights and scenic beauty. The UP is pure solitude according to author Kath Usitalo, who grew up in the Lower Peninsula of Michigan and vacationed in the Upper Peninsula often. 

• Author: Kath Usitalo
• Paperback: 146 pages
• Publisher: Reedy Press 
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 978-1-68106-088-0

Get ready to discover the beautiful waterfalls of Michigan, specifically central Michigan. This includes Dickinson, Marquette, and Menominee counties. This is the great guide of Michigan waterfalls. 

• Paperback: 180 pages
• Author: Phil Stagg
• Photographer: Phil Stagg
• Publisher: MI Falls Publishing 
• Language: English
• ISBN: 9780997134629

Get ready to discover the beautiful waterfalls of Michigan, over 200 waterfalls featured, large and small. This is the great guide of Michigan waterfalls. 

• Paperback: 334 pages
• Author: Phil Stagg
• Photographer: Phil Stagg
• Publisher: MI Falls Publishing 
• Language: English
• ISBN: 9780997134643

When a flood sweeps through the valley, the Moomins must find a new house. And with typical Moomin good luck, one just happens to be floating by. It looks normal enough, but there are curtains where one wall should be, strange rows of lights, and other odd amenities. Then Moomintroll and the Snork Maiden disappear, and the family realize that the house may hold the answers to more than they ever dreamed.

• Age Range: 9 - 12 years
• Grade Level: 4 - 7
• Series: Moomins (Book 5)
• Paperback: 176 pages
• Publisher: Square Fish
• Language: English
• Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 0.5 x 8.2 inches

With a maid to help around the house, will the Moomins become respectable?

A housekeeping and mother-craft expert named Mrs. Fillyjonk moves in next door to the Moomins. Seeing the state of the Moomin house, she takes action, shaming them into hiring a maid. When Misabel the maid arrives, it's immediately clear she needs a little cheering up, and since Mrs. Fillyjonk has mysteriously disappeared, the Moomins set about teaching her how to enjoy life. Lessons and poignant reminders of the importance of simple pleasures abound in Moominmamma's Maid, the classic tale from Tove Jansson.

Another classic Moomin story reworked in full color, with a kid-proof but kid-friendly size, price, and format. The story is laid out in a format like a comic book, where there are multiple smaller pictures with scenes on them each page. 

• Age Range: 7 - 12 years
• Grade Level: 4 - 7
• Series: Moomin
• Paperback: 48 pages
• Publisher: Drawn and Quarterly (November 24, 2015)
• Language: English
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 0.2 x 6.1 inches

Moomin wakes up one morning to find the pond frozen over, and rather than hibernate, the family decides to brave the winter weather. At first, their wintry adventure seems to be going swimmingly, until Mr. Brisk of the Great Outdoors Club takes over and forces everyone to embrace the winter sports, whether they want to or not.

Another classic Moomin story reworked in full color, with a kid-proof but kid-friendly size, price, and format. The story is laid out in a format like a comic book, where there are multiple smaller pictures with scenes on them each page. 

• Age Range: 9 - 12 years
• Grade Level: 4 - 7
• Series: Moomin
• Paperback: 48 pages
• Publisher: Enfant; Revised ed. edition (October 2, 2012)
• Language: English
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 0.3 x 6.1 inches

Little ones can rely on the Moomins to make numbers fun. Moomintroll, Moominmamma, and the Snork Maiden help create a game out of learning to go from one to ten, and beyond, with everyday objects such as seashells and stars.

• Age Range: 1 - 3 years
• Grade Level: Preschool and up
• Series: Moomins
• Hardcover: 16 pages
• Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR); Brdbk edition (April 12, 2011)
• Language: English
• Product Dimensions: 5.9 x 0.3 inches

Pre-readers can sharpen hand-eye coordination as they join Moomintroll's search for that rascal Little My, who has found a very clever hiding place. Along the way, they will meet Moomintroll's family and many friends. The funny names--from Snufkin to Fillyjonk--beg to be sounded out and repeated again and again.

• Age Range: 1 - 3 years
• Grade Level: Preschool and up
• Series: Moomins
• Hardcover: 24 pages
• Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR)
• Language: English
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 0.4 x 8.6 inches

• Author: Tarja Moles
• Hardcover: 96 pages
• Language: English
• Dimensions: 5 x 0.3 x 7 inches

Get ready to discover all the rich history of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. From the prehistoric origins to the present. Written by Russel M. Magnaghi. 

• Paperback: 210 pages
• Publisher: Lulu Press Inc
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1387020978
• ISBN-13: 9781387020973