This article explores the literary landscapes of Swedish- and Finnish-speaking primary school pupils,
using a large questionnaire for teachers as data collected in the Lukuklaani project. The focus is on
the books viewed by teachers as the most popular and motivating among pupils.
Books written originally in pupils’ mother tongue are most popular in the lower grades, whereas the
popularity of foreign books increases in the upper grades. In Finnish-speaking schools, books written
originally in Finland in Finnish are prominent, but the variety of the countries of origin is relatively
wide. In Swedish-speaking schools, books written in Sweden are notably prominent, whereas
different countries are scantly represented, and books originally written in Finnish are absent.
In the light of the study, a gap between Swedish- and Finnish-speaking primary school pupils’ literary
landscapes becomes visible, and the goals presented in the national curriculum are only partly
fulfilled. These results should be taken seriously when developing literature education in primary
schools.