These guys.
A few months ago, I was in a shop in Lexington when I spotted an interesting book out of the corner of my eye. I didn't even know what it was about, but I quickly snapped a picture of it on my phone so I'd remember it later. A few weeks passed and as I was flicking through my iPhone photos, I saw it again. A quick Google showed it to be a book in the Moomin series.
Moomin is a Scandinavian import, and much like those Swedish meatballs from Ikea and cheap, colorful tights from H&M, I was both intrigued and sold. I quickly put the first book on my Christmas list and loved David forever when to my delight, there it was under the tree!
Yay! Here it is!!
So, Moomin was dreamed up, written, and illustrated by the wonderfully Bohemian, Tove Jansson. Critics believe the Moomin characters were inspired by her awesomely wacky family and friends who were all creative, lived close to nature and embraced diversity.
A description of Moomin from Publisher's Weekly:
Moomin's stories begin simply (he needs to rid his home of freeloaders, or goes on a family vacation) and snowball into a series of amusing, whimsical misadventures, which can involve elements of the fantastic, like magic, monsters and ghosts. Although Moomin, his parents and his girlfriend, Snorkmaiden, are trolls, they look like friendly hippopotamuses. Moomin is reminiscent of a big, chubby baby; there is something of Charlie Brown in him: Moomin is like a child beset by life's troubles and usually (but not always) too passive to get angry and fight back. Adults should appreciate Jansson's satire—although she always provides happy endings, dark undercurrents are at play: one episode opens with Moomin attempting suicide; reunited with his missing parents, he's abandoned by them again. Jansson's deceptively childlike style masterfully conveys her characters' personalities. Moomin's mouth rarely appears, but his eyes, his brows and his gestures are expressive and endearing.
There was a long-running comic strip, many books, toys, television shows, films, stage productions, a museum, and even a Moomin World theme park which is still a big draw for tourists in Naantali.
I love that tophat!
Jansson won the Hans Christian Andersen Award for her contributions to children's literature in 1966 and her works have been translated into 33 languages.
Moomin episode on Youtube, The Treasure Hunt
Moomin episode on Youtube, The Hobgoblin
I'm keen to collect all the books just as soon as I can. It's rare to find something that is such great fun to read. Moomin is magical, witty, and as charming as can be.
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