The Canine Kalevala

THE CANINE KALEVALA is a retelling of the Finnish national epic by children's author Mauri Kunnas featuring, as so often, dogs and cats in the roles. The English translation is by Tim Steffa. Kunnas depicts most of the Kalevala's plot where its characters seek the Sampo, though it opens with the confrontation between Joukahainen and Vainamoinen. There are some changes to make this more suitable for small children -- the attempted of Aino by Vainamoinen and her suicide is reversed, with Aino pursuing the unwilling old wizard. The womanizing of the smith is of course not part of the book. This is an adorable little production. Kunnas' art has a great deal of detail, allowing children to discover something new each time they read. There's considerable inventiveness in Kunnas' "canine versions" of some of Akseli Gallen-Kallela's classic paintings. My main complaint is that the binding of the Otava volume that is currently in print (ISBN 9511124420) is not terribly strong and might not withstand too frequent reading by your child.

Bought this 15 years ago or so from Helsinki airport shop at the end of a business trip. I needed to buy something for my kids. One of the best buys ever, they loved it!!! It's an an affection I still don't fully understand. The text is almost shakespearean and must surely have been completely incomprehensible for them (my daughter was about 9 years old and my son about 6), but it has a rhythm and beauty that was captivating... and the pictures are just wonderful. They are both now in their 20s and still love the Canine Kalevala - and everything Finnish.

I was not aware of the existance of this book until I bought it during a trip to Finland. The shop assistant spoke Spanish and she strongly recommended it. The story is completely amazing, the characters are refreshing and vivid, there's a lot of action and mistery all through the book. It's one of the most amazing books all in all. One of my most precious items in my library. I own it in Finnish and English at the moment.

One of Mauri Kunnas' best books! Illustration is well known Kunnas: loads of funny details, humourus characters and skillfull colouring with watercolour. Picture sizes vary from full centerfold to small images picturing the story. Stories give easy access to the Finnish national epic and presents the most important stories of it. For readers already familiar with the original Kalevala, the Canine Kalevala gives a comparison where to spot similarities and small differences. And Kunnas has an explanation for the dog-cat-mistrust still seen with present pets. I agree it's pretty expensive, but in my opinion worth of the money... it's out of print even in Finland!

The Kalevala is the national story of Finland. My wife is Finnish, so that should explain my knowledge of the book. Mauri Kunnas takes many Finnish stories and replaces the human characters with dogs. He also condenses an 800 page book into something that can be read in one night. I read the English language version, but there are Finnish versions also. It's a great book, but don't pay these prices! If you're interested in this book, you're probably Finnish and hopefully you know someone in Finland. Write them, e-mail them, heck, it's even cheaper to FedEx a letter. Ask them to send you a copy. It costs about $20 in Finland and shipping should cost a couple of bucks.