Moomin: The Complete Tove Jansson Comic Strip - Book Three (Bk. 3) [Hardcover]

Tove Jansson (Author)

Book Description

Series: Moomin | Publication Date: September 30, 2008

Moomin has been swiftly making its way into the hearts of North Americans ever since Drawn & Quarterly began collecting the strip in 2006. It debuted in the London Evening News in 1954 and has become the fastest-selling D+Q series to date. Fifty years ago, Tove Jansson’s observations of everyday life—whimsical but with biting undertones—easily caught the attention of an international audience and still resonate today.

This third volume returns to Moominvalley, where its beloved inhabitants get tangled up in five new stories. Moomin falls in love with a damsel in distress, an unseasonably warm spell turns the valley into a tropical rain forest, and a flying saucer crashes into Moominmamma’s garden. Moominpappa decides to live out his dream of occupying a lighthouse and writing a great seaside novel, only to discover that he hates the sea so close up and has no interest in writing about it, and a variety of curious clubs spring up in the valley. Moomin and Moominmamma do their level best to avoid the whole mess but, of course, get drawn into the muddle.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 10 Up—Moomin, the appealing hippolike troll, and his family and friends are back. This volume features characters from the author's well-known children's books in five short, amusingly chaotic adventures, including an errant Martian spaceship crashing in Moomin's garden, Moomin and his family moving into a haunted lighthouse, and Moomin's levelheaded and practical Moominmama joining a gang of burglars. The stories are fast moving and humorous, but also bring up thought-provoking questions such as What is romantic love? and Is it better to have security or freedom? Jansson's expressive line drawings give the Moomin family, as well as other characters like Stinky the burglar and Moomin's neighbor Mrs. Fillyjonk, unique personalities. Teens will enjoy the whimsical characters and appreciate the exploration of human nature and society through the eyes of another species.—Sandy Schmitz, Berkeley Public Library, CA
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From Booklist

The third collection of Moomintroll family comic strips contains five stories. Although they proceed in tripartitioned rectangles (stacked four on a page), reflecting their original newspaper format, their narrative flow doesn’t stutter a bit. It’s as if they were conceived as wholes, despite their story lines’ essential capriciousness. In them, the family faces flood, Martians, lighthouse-keeping, and club life (clubs were big in the newly leisured 1950s, the strip’s era, to which it otherwise gives scant notice), and Moomin, the young male character, falls briefly for a siren. They’re keenly delightful, like Wind in the Willows for adults, especially those who aren’t too adult. --Ray Olson

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 104 pages
• Publisher: Drawn and Quarterly (September 30, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1897299559
• ISBN-13: 978-1897299555
• Product Dimensions: 12.2 x 8.7 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.9 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #255,281 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #42 in Books > Comics & Graphic Novels > Publishers > Drawn and Quarterly

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

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars moomin moving up, October 2, 2008

By 

Tony Medeiros "Sandbox World" (Montreal) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Moomin: The Complete Tove Jansson Comic Strip - Book Three (Bk. 3) (Hardcover)

Imagine if a bottle was adrift for over 50 years in the ocean and finally found way to the shores of North America. Inside you would find the works of Tove Jansson's comic strip Moomin for the first time. Untainted by time, the strip has found new life in North America because of Montreal's premiere graphic book publisher Drawn and Quarterly. This the third in a series that is finding new fans from all over and garnishing awards while it circulates province and state every day. It's amazing how work like this has gone under the radar for so many years. The character Moomin has enjoyed great recognition as far as Japan and all around the world, but is mute in both Canada and United States. This is slowly being remedied thanks to Chris Oliveros of Drawn and Quarterly and his staff of diligent connoisseurs of both new and older talent gathered under one roof. Moomin and other graphic novels by this company is making a dent in book sales all over the world. A true pleasure trip of an idea in the way books are created and the big publishers have taken notice and copied this winning formula.


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Moomin 4 Disc Collector's Set 1

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars haunting midcentury design + characters accept each other's idiosyncracies, May 27, 2009

By 

Beatrice Izzey "Nanny Dog" (Los Angeles) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Moomin: The Complete Tove Jansson Comic Strip - Book Three (Bk. 3) (Hardcover)

The humor is offbeat, and warmly accepting of each character's quirks and personality flaws. The graphics are wonderful midcentury Scandinavian, so non commercial yet original, unique, and recognizable. The author is undiscovered in the United States, proof that the market is rigged, and Borders does not sell good stuff but only stuff it wants to sell.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Moomins Forever!, December 1, 2008

By 

M. Buck "VA librarian" (Virginia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Moomin: The Complete Tove Jansson Comic Strip - Book Three (Bk. 3) (Hardcover)

My eleven year old daughter and I enjoy the intriguingly weird logic of Jansson's world. There's something so sweet and true about Moomintroll's reactions to the other characters and the situations in the comic strip.