Lukupesä

Lukupesä offers immigrant families and reading mediators a holistic program to support and develop plurilingual reading practices in heritage languages.  The key components are a series of training sessions, tours, workshops and materials to help communities to take advantage of all existing infrastructure and services that supports reading and that exist in the cities of the metropolitan area. Lukupesä has offered activities in 9 different languages so far!

Reading mediation is valuable in supporting the recognition of heritage languages, identity and multiculturality and the key role that reading has in the development of the language, early learning and sustaining well-being in general.  We also have discovered that storytelling times are powerful ways to support new coming families and parents raising multilingual children in their efforts to learn about how things work in Finland. There are many services and infrastructures available but those are not well-connected from the perspective of immigrants.  There is a lack of materials and ideas for how to run, organize and take advantage of existing infrastructure.

The existing wonderful collection of children’s books in HELMET (e.g., via Multilingual Library in Helsinki and others) is often underutilized; there is also need to develop materials that help parents (especially fathers) to awaken their children’s love for reading and for languages in general.  With LUKUPESÄ we are sharing our experience of 10 years organizing reading times in Spanish and Portuguese.

More info: info@ninho.fi

Material Bank

All the material produced by Lukupesä is available for downloading and viewing

Guided tours through the 

children’s book collections 

in HelMet  

Short online sessions for newly arrived and new parents, introducing them to the use of HELMET children’s book collections. The sessions offer a meeting point with practical information on the best way to find good books and authors appropriate to ages and interest of the children. How does one discover great children’s books-in different languages-that can be used for reading at home? Our experience tells us that most of the gems the collections hold are not on the shelves of the libraries and need to be taken from storage and borrowed from other libraries. Some session will be held in collaboration with local libraries and will be planned in Portugues, Spanish, English and Easy Finnish 

Hands on workshops: Heritage Language Reading Nests for families

A series of workshops to support newly arrived families with children and parents to be (expecting mothers and fathers) with concrete and significative resources on how to start interacting with their children from early ages using books written in their own language. The sessions will be highly interactive and will use books available from the HELMET collection, provide book suggestions and other support material. The sessions are organized in the form of a reading circle, with parents trying out strategies as they are introduced and shared.  

Training: Reading mediation for heritage languages and storytelling

A series of training sessions  targeted to all those interested in children’s literature and storytelling that want to develop their skills as storytellers and would like to consider developing and organizing story times with in their own communities. Trainings are offered in English and Spanish (with the possibility for discussion and mentoring in Finnish or portuguese sometimes). 

The sessions will be highly interactive, with book recommendations that are available from the HelMet collection, book suggestions and other support material collected and prepared for this occasion. Ninho issues a certificate for those successfully completing the sessions.  

Biennial Seminar on Bilingualism for Parents 

A hybrid seminar usually arranged in the fall to support immigrants’ parents and locals raising plurilingual children in the Helsinki metropolitan region The seminar discusses with the community, parent’s key role in the development of minority heritage language, identity, early learning and well-being. 

The seminar is a meeting with experts, activists and officers at public institutions and programs in the field of education, culture, and wellbeing. It will also include the participation of international experts in children literature and learning/teaching a second heritage language in a hosting country, and professional and local activists. The focus of the seminar will take into consideration local realities, necessities of beginner families, especially for fathers . The methodology of the seminar is thought as a conversation between adults, who are equal as parents-but that have different resources, knowledge, identities, and necessities at hand. 

Calendar of events 2025

Satakielikuukausi 2025 Lemos Juntos: Storytelling Marathon in Portuguese

🗓 Thursday 20.3.2025 | 4:30 – 5:30 pm.

📌 Oodi Library (Töölönlahdenkatu 4, 00100 Helsinki) | Children’s Section Event Room, Third Floor. ♿ The place is accessible.

Satakielikuukausi 2025 Leemos Juntos: Storytelling Marathon in Spanish

🗓 20.3.2025 | 5:30 – 6:30 pm.

📌 Oodi Library (Töölönlahdenkatu 4, 00100 Helsinki) | Children’s Section Event Room, Third Floor. ♿ The place is accessible.

More info.

Children’s Book Day 2025 Reading Together Multilingual Celebration in 14 languages

🗓 5.4.2025 ⏰ 2-5 pm 📌 Oodi Library (Töölönlahdenkatu 4, 00100 Helsinki) | All activities will be facilitated in different locations of the Chidren’s section (Third floor).

More info

Past editions

Reading mediation and children’s literature with Ivonne Carlos (Online)

5/12.11.2022 11-13:30 ONLINE

The training is an interactive and relaxed space that will help participants reflect about literary mediation with children. The sessions are an invitation to be analytical not only about the books we use to socialize with children, but with the approach we have towards them, and the way we relate and act when connecting children to books. Reading mediation is, in fact, a mutual exchange and represents a loving, ethical, sociocultural and human commitment.

Reading mediators networking

10.10.2022 ONLINE

Is there a need for networking amongst key reading mediators for heritage languages? Join Ninho ry while we explore this theme (Thanks Moniheli for grant to support this work)

Taking shelter in language, with Adolfo Córdova (Hybrid)

13.10. 4-5 Tikkurila Library

The Mexican author Adolfo Córdova will share his experience as a writer, researcher and reading mediator articulating books, childhood stories and keys to reading mediation.  

Lukupesä in Kolibrí Festivaali 2022

Friday, September 23 – Sello Library
2pm (baby): Spanish and Portuguese
3pm (+3 years): Spanish and Portuguese

Saturday, September 24 – Lastenkulttuurikeskus Pessi
2pm (baby): Spanish and Portuguese
3pm (+3 years): Spanish and Portuguese

Saturday, October 1 – Annantalo
11am (+3 years): Swahili and Persian
1pm (+3 years): Spanish and Portuguese
2pm (baby): Spanish and Portuguese

HELSINKI DAY – PLURILINGUAL STORYTELLING CELEBRATION

Sunday, June 12 – In Arabic, Chinese, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Somali, Ukrainian and Easy Finnish – Oodi Library

STORYTELLING MARATHON

Friday, April 1 – In Spanish – Oodi Library
Saturday, April 2 – In Portuguese – Oodi Library

SATAKIELIKUUKAUSI – STORYTELLING

Friday, March 4 – In Spanish – Oodi Library
Saturday, March 5 – In Portuguese – Oodi Library

Calendar of Events 2021

GUIDED TOURS OF HELMET CHILDREN’S COLLECTION

HANDS ON WORKSHOPS: HERITAGE LANGUAGE READING NESTS FOR FAMILIES

We will have many events from Lukupesä at Kolibrí Festivaali. You can find more information at the festival program.

TRAINING ON READING MEDIATION

V BIENNIAL SEMINAR ON BILINGUALISM FOR PARENTS

Tuesday, September 21 at 17:00

CONVERSATORIO (IN SPANISH)

Lukupesä and Moniku
Friday, November 15 at 12:30hs
Kulttuurikeskus Ninho Facebook live

En este conversatorio compartiremos información e ideas sobre diferentes acciones, servicios y programas existentes que apoyan a las familias para mantener el español como lengua de herencia en Finlandia.

Scroll to Top