Moominpappa's Memoirs

The patriarch of the Moomin family tells the story of his misspent youth to his children. (A Moomin is a sort of troll whose ancestors lived in or behind old-fashioned stoves--the best way to know what they are is to collect every book in this wonderful series and study the illustrations.) This is a wonderful book to read aloud, chapter by chapter, to the whole family. Parents and older children can enjoy a sly wink together while the younger ones can just enjoy the story. Many surprising twists enliven the plot which begins with Moominpapa as a child in a stern orphanage. He escapes and soon finds true friendship with the laconic Hodgkins, the rebellious Joxer and the confused Muddler. They set to sea in the wonderful boat/submarine that Hodgkins has made, evade a monster, pick up a stowaway and ride out a storm. They encounter a king and a ghost. They undertake an undersea voyage. Periodically, Moominpapa is overcome by emotion as he tells his story. Both the story which he tells so seriously and his breaks are funny. The moral of the story is that Daddy was young once, but he's young no longer. Read it to your kids using funny voices for the different characters, then savor it yourself after they have gone to bed.

Tove Jansson, The Exploits of Moominpappa, As Related by Himself (Ernest Benn, 1952) The third Moomin book is, as its title advertises, the exploits of Moominpappa (it's also been released as Moominpappa's Memoirs, by the by). The frame here is that Moominpappa is reading them to Moomintroll, Sniff, and Snufkin (and the parents of those two feature prominently--which is rather odd, considering that Snufkin seems to have had nothing more than a chance meeting with Moomintroll and Sniff in Comet in Moominland, but who's counting?), who are listening with wide-eyed awe. And of course, we all know that it's all just tall tales--or is it? Ah, wonderful Moomins, how we still adore thee after all these years. If it's been a while--or, heavens forbid, if you didn't read the series as a kid--what are you waiting for? These are great, and you'll love them as much now as you did, or would have, as a little Moomintroll. *** ½

This is without doubt one of the most enjoyable childrens books ever written. I started reading the 'moomin' books when I was about ten,and they still have me reading them again and again every night (literaly!) .They're equal(or better) to the famed 'Oz',Harry Potter, and Roald Dahl books. This particular one gives the background history to Moominpappas capers as a 'young moomin' and the finding of the moomin family treasurs, such as the meerschaum tram. The dialouge every othr chapter between Moominpappa and his family and friends bring the story back to'present day' and gives it an loving quality. This is a wonderful,timless book, not to be passed up by older kids just because it is classified as a '9-12 age range' book. Tove Jansson's simple, flowing writing will set these books as classics.

After Moominsummer madness, Tove Jannson slipped into a more subtle and even philosophical vein (that is, more philosophical then the first three books), however, Memoirs (formerly Exploits of Moominpapa) returns to the more slapstick antics of her early book. Although I am a fan of all of these books, Memoirs was a welcome return to that earlier style, though it in itself is a unique entry in the series. In Memoirs, Moominpapa is both a wonderfully adorable character as well as a characture or himself, filled with pride, egotism, and prejudice--making him all the more human. The story itself is almost a parody of the big rolling adventure tales, full of various fantastic happenings, and culminating in Moominpapa's dilemma: to following his adventuring instinct, or another instinct that drives him to build moominhouses with moomin verandahs, etc etc... The end is as happy as finn family moomintroll, maybe even happier--completely over the top. Although this shouldn't be the first moominbook to read (since knowledge of the characters is pretty central to the humor here) it is nonetheless one of the most uplifting books in the series and I can't recommend it more!!!

Moominpapa writes his memoirs recalling his childhood. He escapes from an orphanage and falls in with three friends who sail away on the Oshun Oxtra to have some fantastic adventures. Moominpapa writes about saving Moominmamma from drowning and there's a happy ending where we find all Moominpapa's friends are the fathers of Moomintrolls playmates. This book seems to be the same as Moominpapa's Memoirs.