Reviews
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by Tove Jansson
ALL THE MOOMINS WANT TO DO IS SLEEP THROUGH THE LONG, HARSH WINTER, BUT NOTHING GOES ACCORDING TO PLAN WHEN SEVERAL UNEXPECTED AND UNWANTED GUESTS SHOW UP!
One of our favourite print editions of the Moomin stories by Tove Jansson, these full-colour graphic novels are a delightful way to encounter the Moomin stories for younger children, and for them to read along on their own, either following the graphics, or for early readers.
The Moomin stories introduce themes of loyalty and honesty, illustrate the pitfalls of temptation, and make folly of crowd mentality and fads, all with a healthy dose of laughs and reverence for the Moomin family. Some gender stereotypes exist.
In Moomin's Winter, as the Moomins prepare to hibernate through what is going to be the worst winter yet, several unwelcomed guests take advantage of the Moomins’ generosity and keep the family awake throughout the long winter. Their quirky but needy guests prevent the Moomins from hibernating and the chaos only increases with the arrival of a little nibling determined to find out everyone’s secrets. One by one, the nibling sees what the Moomins and each of their houseguests do when no one else is looking. But everyone is ashamed of what the nibling has seen and is determined to keep their secret activities, well, a secret!
Softcover. Full-colour. 60 pages. 8.5 x 6".
Published by Enfant, Drawn & Quarterly. Feb 2018.
Printed in Canada.
Nest Notes: We might recommend for 6 or 7 years and up, but it varies largely. The interpersonal and social tensions in the themes are played out and resolved in a medium that we find approachable even for young children, and our children took a keen interest already at ~4 years old in the Moomin stories, although we wouldn't always recommend them so early. It can work though if you have children of varying ages, for the younger ones to listen in and take interest too. We would paraphrase a little some lines when reading aloud for younger children.
What makes Jansson s comics timelessly delightful and particularly timely in today s culture is that she addresses serious, often uncomfortable issues uncertainty, heartbreak, mortality, natural disasters, our ample human imperfections with great compassion and warmth, never chastising or preaching but instead celebrating the light in life and aiming its generous beam at the dark."-Maria Popova, Brainpickings
In Jansson s narratives, whether tilted to children or adults, a debate can be felt rustling under the surface: it s between voices that speak for the open hand of compromise and diplomacy and those that see the truth as naked or nothing, wills that would rather do whatever the hell they like."-James Guida, New Yorker
