THE BELLS ON FINLAND STREET

Little girls who enjoy skating will love this warm-hearted story from Canada about a Finnish-Canadian girl, and her family. Elin lived with her father and mother in Sudbury, Canada, in the midst of the nickel mining area. Elin wants more than anything else to have skates and learn figure skating. However, the poor people on Finland Street cannot afford such things, and although Elin works in Mr. Kurtsheff's store to save the money, she finds that she must give her money up to help her parents when her father has an accident. The visit of Grandfather from Finland, and fun with her friends help Elin forget, and her sacrifice is rewarded by a gift at Christmas of a pair of skates and lessons from Grandfather, who used to be a skating champion, which enables her to appear in the great skating exhibition. A glimpse of Finnish customs and speech, some folk lore, and an understated lesson in democracy give body to a pleasant story. It is a pleasure to see some Canadian writers on American juvenile lists.