Tove Jansson: Comet In Moominland

[Heteronym]

Comet in Moominland is a fun, simple book about a troll and his adventures. Moomintroll and his Moominparents have just discovered their blue house after a flood carried it away. As Moomintroll explores his new valley with his friend, Sniff, a rodent according to the illustrations, there come signs that a comet may be heading towards Earth. So Moomintroll and Sniff, after adequately supplied with goodies from Moominmamma, set out on a journey to the Lonely Mountains Observatory to gather information.

The novel is short on plot and tension: everyone takes in the idea of the comet blowing up Earth rather calmly. On the other hand, the novel is full of wonderful characters: Snufkin, a vagabond, nature-loving wanderer; the Snork Maiden and her authoritarian, order-loving brother Snork; the Hemulens, a race devoted to obsessively collecting things like butterflies and stamps, blocking out everything else; the air-headed Silk Monkey; and the philosophical Muskrat, whose studies have led him to think nothing is necessary.

Complementing the writing are hypnotizing, black-and-white illustrations. The design of the Moomintrolls, with their tails and huge noses, is one of the simplest and yet cutest things I?ve ever seen. They?ll make you wish these white creatures really existed.

Like I said, it's a simple book, but a fun introduction to a world worth exploring further. Jansson wrote eight books in the series, and I can't wait to try the next one.

[Flower]

I grew up with the mommitrols and loved them! In Scandinavia they had the status of child literature which became a most, in the same field as Astrid Lindgren and H.C. Andersen.

They are great and has a wide range of real original characters!
Some of the stories are real scary for kids but still they love them. And not all the characters act in the most political correct way and thats what makes them great and quite unique.

The books has been made into cartoons and they are cute, funny and scary. Certainly worth giving a go if you can get hold of them.

[Heteronym]

Yes, I know there are comics, and I must admit I feel like giving those a try sooner than the novels. In the end it was especially Jansson's illustrations that won me over; her moomins are the cutest and most heartwarming things I've ever seen in a long time.

[Eric]

Here's an blog article of mine on an early Moomin book:

Nordic Voices in Translation: Moomintroll and the End of the World

And another article by my blog colleague David McDuff:

Nordic Voices in Translation: The Moomins and the Great Flood

[edyta]

Do you remember the groke - cold, hairy creature. I was so afraid of her as a kid.

[Eric]

I'd never even heard of Tove Jansson and her Moomintrolls when I was a kid. So the groke didn't frighten me at an early age. I couldn't find it in the two Moomin books I've got in English, but I did find a little girl with the curious name of Misabel in "Moominsummer Madness".

[Svidrigailov]

Stories about the Mummy-Trolls are my favorite books as a child. I think it's one of the best books in children's literature (although, of course silly divide the literature on "adult" and "child").

[GeoBar]

This book is great as every Tove Jansson`s book!!!

[John]

I love Jansson and her trolls.

Some other favorite books: Nobody's Boy, Heidi, Hans Christian Andersen's fairy-tales, The NeverEnding Story.