Introduction

Finland is a northern Scandanavian country largely shaped by it's harsh cold climate. The culture developed a strong value of resilience and community through their hardships. The Finnish people believe in the health benefits and tradition of saunas and ice baths. Their food remains simple and they share many new and different holidays. They also experience a natural light display called northern lights due to being located in a high latitude region.

Through this children's book I hope to introduce you to the unique FInnish culture through a variety of genres in order to share my love of a place far away!

The Finnish Fables have a common theme of bravery and cleverness often acted out by a rabbit and a fox. These fables demonstrate the Wilderness and Animals located in Finland. Many fables show the tradition of fishing. In my original fable i hope to capture some of the morals of the Finnish Fables I have read.

The Lost Fish

A man went ice fishing one day and caught a whole basket load. Little did he know a fox and a rabbit sat watching and scheming.

The fox taunted the rabbit, "I could easily scare the man away from his fish, but you would be eaten by him." "That man doesn't scare me," said the rabbit. The rabbit waited until the sun was just right and cast a large shadow over the fisher from behind. He snuck up behind him and thumped his feet loudly on the ice. Startled and close to dark the fisher ran away. The rabbit gleefully went over to fish to see his prize to find it empty. The fox was quicker and more sly than he!

The Finnish people are strong supporters of gender equality, that means men, women, boys, and girls are all treated fairly in everyday life. Not only do they support over five months of paid maternity leave for mothers, they also have elected a female president with in the twenty first centenary. The following Biography of the first female Finnish president demonstrates the countries leadership in gender equality.

Tarja Halonen

Born December 24, 1943, Tarja is a Finnish politician who served as the 11 President of Finland. She was a very popular president and is widely known for her active participation on discussion about women's rights and problems with globalization or the growing interconnection of the world. She is a member in the council of Women World Leaders who's mission is to bring women leaders together to take action on women's rights and equality.