The headline of this Guardian article made me click immediately: Tove Jansson should have won Nobel Prize, says Philip Pullman. I own four of her books. I have a Moomin paperweight sitting next to three Iittala dishes on my little shelf. My spoon rest has a Moomin on it. [It's likely this dish was not intended to be a spoon rest, but don't tell the Finns.]
Each of the books cost me hours sifting through paperbacks, testing the limits of my Finnish and being mistaken for Russian when I couldn't understand the question "paper or plastic". [This was a compliment by the cashier in that my Finnish was passable.] Finland was my first trek out of the US many years ago and I'd venture a guess that I'm the only person in this state that has been to Moomin World to have ice cream (or Finnish equivalent).
Jansson's books are for adults as much (or more) than children. I agree with Ms. Flood in that the drawings were just as memorable as the tales. Add the Moomin books to your reading list to share with the kids or simply to enjoy with a Midsummer reading water.
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