Refreshingly Sweet
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After a gap of over 40 years, it's great to be reading these wonderful books again. I started with 'Finn Family Moomintroll' because I vaguely remembered this one as including most if not all of the regular characters that inhabit Moomin valley. According to other reviewers, and the noted Jansson biographer Marie Lecomte, some of the later books in the series show a slightly darker side, and hint at a troubled author. Vaguely reminiscent of Tolkein, I can't imagine that Tove Jansson ever troubles the reader to the same extent.
The author is never afraid to bring the reader away from the 'safety zone' briefly, but somehow we always trust in the 'rightness' of her world. It was very touching when Moomin's feelings for Snufkin were revealed later in the book...but in 'Moomin world' the individual's characters are universally respected, and everyone accepted in their own way.
All in all, a delightful book with so many great adventures for children of ALL ages! Highly recommended!
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Sheer delight
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Difficult to add much to the existing reviews, but I would like to put in a word for the translator, who seems to have captured the lyrical prose perfectly. Translation of words without exact equivalents must be very difficult, but it has been done quite seamlessly and the stories are a delight to read. They are comfortable but not anodyne, inventive but not implausible, adventurous but not scary. I loved them when I was young and I still do.
As someone else said (of another Moomin book), you read a chapter to your child, and then read the rest of it yourself when they've gone to sleep!
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A great pleasure!
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As a child I loved the moomins and read all the books. Finn Family Moomintroll was the first I read and has always held a special place in my canon of favourite children's books. What a pleasure then, to read it to my children now. The book has lost none of its charm and the children love it. A magic hat, clouds that you can fly on, adventures at sea, a house that turns into a jungle, what child could resist these enchantments? But the real impact of the book lies in the characters. Although not the first in the series, this book provides perhaps the best introduction to the charming Moomintroll and his family, to the fiercely independent Snufkin, the bashful Snork Maiden, the logical Snork, the every-child Sniff and their friends. The book was written before Tove Jansson moved into the rather darker mood that characterises some of the later moomin books, and the warmth, simplicity, kindliness and love for the character and their surroundings that characterise Finn Family Moomintroll make it ideal for younger readers and a great pleasure for their parents!
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an absolute delight!
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As someone who was not fed a diet of moomins, moomins and more moomins as a kid I can confirm that it is not pure nostalgia for bygone days that keeps these books is print. There is a compulsive quality of sweetness and innocence in the Moomin series that is difficult to find in most modern hectic lives. It leaves the reader with a renewed appreciation of the simple things in life and a determination to make some time for simple but delightful pursuits: reading, walking, noticing nature (at least that's how I feel after dipping in to the world of the Moomins!) Moominland midwinter is certainly the best of the bunch. Moomintroll wakes up in the middle of winter whislt all the rest of the family are still hibernating. He discovers a winter wonderland full of weird characters that he had been completely unaware of in his previous sleepy winters. If you have never read any Moomin books before, now is as good a time as any to start!
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A great book for children and grown-ups alike!
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After a long winter of hibernation, spring is back and Moomintroll and his friends Sniff and Snufkin can finally get out and play in the woods and fields of Moominvalley. That's when they find the Hobgoblin's hat and bring it back home as a present for Moominpappa. Unfortunately, the hat's too big so they decide to use it as a waste paper basket. But overnight, the eggshell they've just thrown away mysteriously turns into five small white clouds... Finn Family Moomintroll is a collection of several of the Moomin funny and silly little adventures following the discovery of the hat. Indeed, the sometimes absurd situations reminded me of Dr. Seuss's Cat in the Hat. Lavishly illustrated with wonderful black and white ink drawings by the author, it is also a perfect book to read aloud to your children! Other titles in the series are: Comet in Moominland, Moominsummer Madness, Moominland Midwinter, Moominpappa at Sea, Moominpappa's Memoirs, and Tales from Moominvalley.
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