The Book about Moomin, Mymble and Little My

My aunt gave this book to our family about 45 years ago and I can vividly remember my father reading it to us. We all loved the interesting characters with definite traits, the page cut-outs allowing views into the next page, and the last line on most pages: "And what do you think happened then?" Curiosity piqued by the glimpse of the next page, I felt invited to answer the question, and really thought about what might happen. Interesting vocabulary and fun story line, illustrations that stimulate creativity, engages the reader in a way that encourages thinking, and a happy ending--this book has it all. I'm going to buy this new edition for my preschool science classrooms and young friends.

...these books are not known in this country. I, for one, brought my Moomin book with me from the former Soviet Union, and I fully intend to indoctrinate my future children into the Moomin Religion (even if they will have to learn Russian just for that). Tove Jahsson (who passed away last year, sadly) created a wonderful world, full of adorable and memorable characters. The Moomins are...well, G-d knows what they are. They are little hyppopotamus-looking cute things that walk on their hind legs, live in the picturesquee little valley (and in houses, of course), do all the things that humans do (or that humans do in children's imagination) and wear hats. Sometimes. In fact, there is even a story about a magic hat somewhere. But I digress.Muumi-Troll, the protagonist, is your average kid. Or a teenager. He has a Muumi-Mother, and Muumi-Father, and two best friends: Sniff (who looks like a rat and is a terrible coward--but always manages to overcome it at the last possible moment) and Snusmumrik (who looks like a duck and is a Traveler). He has a love interest, Froeken (Miss) Snork (Snorks are similar to Moomins, except that their color changes together with their mood), who has an obnoxious brother, you guessed it, Snork. There are also Hemul, who, like all Hemulen, wears his aunt's old dress (don't ask), and the Muskrat (I think that's what it is). There are predicaments and dangers and wonerful adventures. The Moomins are known--and beloved--in all of teh world, from their native Finland, to Russia to Japan. Hopefully, the States will come around at some point--and Harry Potter (no offense, I love HP) will tremble in his shoes.

For some reason, I had a copy of the original Finnish version. I couldn't read it, but I just LOVED the pictures! I still have fond memories of looking through the little cut-out holes from page to page; the hole on one side turns out to be an element on the next page! I remember it really had my imagination going -- since I couldn't understand the text, I got to make the story up as I went along. Moomin was a favorite among Japanese kids (I grew up there), so it was an extra treasure to have the original characters (bearing their original names) all beautifully illustrated in Tove Jansson's own hand. Truly a must for any kid's library, or even an adult's! I just ordered one again for myself, having long lost the Finnish copy. There's something special about the use of cut-outs and the colors that makes it extra-wonderful for firing up any child's imagination, even if you can understand the text!

Having grown up in Scandinavia this was one of the first books I ever read, and I have read it many times since. It is a poetic wonderfully bizarre book, and when you read it along with the rest of Tove Jansson's books you realize that her magical world of mumins isn't really all that different from the one we live in. Best of all, Tove Jansson opens a window to the reader's soul in her writing, and you recognize yourself in her books.