Moomintroll - paperback whimsy

“A Moomintroll is small and shy and fat, and has a Moominpappa and a Moominmamma. Moomins live in the forests of Finland. They like sunshine, and sleep right through the winter. The snow falls and falls and falls where they live, until their houses look like snowballs. But when spring comes, up they jump.”

I remember being intrigued by Moomin as a kid. And I still am even as a, ahem, mature adult. Tove Jansson, the author of the Moomin series, was apparently drawn to write the Moomin books during WWII to draw out innocence and whimsy during such a depressing time. She became Finland’s most widely read author internationally. Any Finn on earth knows about Moomin and most of them love the lovable little characters. Moomin is most definitely one of the most loved classics of Finnish literatute. Moomin is also very popular in Japan and I notice now that it is a common misconception that Moomin is a Japanese creation.

I trawled eBay a couple of years ago and was rapt to get my hands on 5 of her Moomin books written in the 40s and 50s. I actually bought them for my son but have become engrossed in them myself. They are full of youthful innocence and truly bring out the inner child. If you are a fan of whimsy and want to encourage your children to read I highly recommend trying out Moomin novels.

In our busy, ever-moving and sometimes sorry world I love to escape into a good book. Moomin definitely takes me there.

"With tassels and red plush and everything."

"Stars are my favourite things."

"I wish I knew where that hat disappeared to."

"Now everything will grow!"