The rooster has a long and meaningful history as a teacher of reading and writing for Finns. In Christian symbolism, the rooster represents light, learning, and the teacher. For this reason, the rooster has appeared in Finnish primers—books used to teach children to read—since the early 1700s.
The first Finnish primer was written by Daniel Medelplan (1657–1737) in 1719. Even in Medelplan’s 28-page primer, printed on wooden sheets, a rooster appeared on the final pages. Unfortunately, the last surviving copy was destroyed in the Great Fire of Turku in 1827. My business logo is inspired by artist Daniel Frilander’s interpretation of Medelplan’s rooster.
I still have my own primer, which I received as a 7-year-old schoolchild. The symbolism of the primer rooster lives on, even though today’s children’s first textbooks feature different characters. The literacy in Finland is among the best in the world, yet studies show that children’s and young people’s reading skills are steadily declining. The rooster would still have work to do!
As a Finnish language teacher and tutor, I’ve had the privilege of teaching many adults who have arrived in Finland. Adult literacy is not a given, even in the 2020s. Learning progresses just as it did in the old primers: from sounds to syllables, and from syllables to words.
For those studying Finnish alphabet, I warmly recommend the free app Ekapeli Maahanmuuttaja, published by the Niilo Mäki Foundation.
Long live the rooster – the voice and light of learning!