Exploits of Moominpappa [Hardcover]

Tove Jansson (Author)

Book Description

'I decided to run away. There simply wasn't anything else to do.' Here at last is Moominpappa's promised life story - from the days when he was abandoned in a newspaper parcel on the doorstep of a Moomin orphanage, to when he ran away to see the world and was lucky enough to meet Moominmamma.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover
• Publisher: Random House Childrens Books (June 1966)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 080982387X
• ISBN-13: 978-0809823871
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #9,084,726 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

TOVE JANSSON (1914-2001) is revered around the world as one of the foremost children's authors of the twentieth century for her illustrated Moomin chapter books.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent, with many unforgettable characters., October 17, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Exploits of Moominpappa (Hardcover)

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.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Tall tales from a short moomin., May 26, 2007

By 

Robert P. Beveridge "xterminal" (Lakewood, OH) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Exploits of Moominpappa (Moomintroll) (Paperback)

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

5.0 out of 5 stars Because even Daddy was young once..., June 21, 2008

By 

Miz Ellen "all the letters of my real name" (Bovine Universe) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The Exploits of Moominpappa (Moomintroll) (Paperback)

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.