Customer Reviews

Tales from Moominvalley

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Readers large and small who enjoy a well-told tale will find many hours of pleasure with Tove Jansson's "Tales From Moominvalley." Written by the famed children's author in the 1950s and first published in English in 1963, "Tales" contains nine pithy short stories that startle and delight.
Jansson's familiar characters -- half animal and half human -- wander through these tales set in the finnish countryside.
In "The Last Dragon in the World," young Moomintroll discovers unrequited love and learns the value of friendship. "The Secret of the Hattifatteners" presents the patriarch Moominpappa in an unusual mid-life crisis: after years of domesticity, he takes to the sea with a band of mysterious silent creatures, who only come alive during thunderstorms.

A magnificent study of the value of letting go is Jansson's bittersweet "The Fillyjonk who Believed in Disaster." In it, a worn, harried creature named the Fillyjonk is conned by a real estate salesman to rent a summer house that supposedly belonged to her ancestors.
Upon arriving at the dreary home on a windswept peninsula, the ever-toiling Fillyjonk senses not only that she's been had -- but that there's further trouble awaiting. Will the images of a violent hurricane that flit in the Fillyjonk's mind come to fruition? The morning finds the Fillyjonk liberated from her house of memories, only a china kitten tucked in her hand.

I loved these stories growing up in the 1960s and '70s, and even today, I re-read them from time to time. Dark, funny, instrospective -- the Moomin characters have little in common with the plastic heroes of many children's books. If only life were half as satisfying as a Moomin book. -- Queza

I picked up this book because I thought I hadn't read it before, wanting to see the Moominvalley books through adult eyes - not to have my childhood memories of favourite books tarnished. As it turns out, I had read "Tales from Moominvalley" before (the fungus-covered granny was the trigger for my recollection), but I was really relieved to find that Tove Jansson's books are just as good as I remember - and there is, I think, even more for the adult to appreciate and enjoy than there is for the child.
I generally dislike the short story genre, but not when it's done like this. Every short story is simply that, a short story; not a contrived literary exercise with the obligatory "twist in the tail". Jansson's stories are charming little gems, full of wonderful moments and images, thought-provoking and touching. Her characters are often the lonely, the lost, and the troubled, and she makes you feel for them and understand them, without ever becoming ridiculous or sentimental. The tales about Snufkin and his tune and the Fillyjonk who believed in disasters are shining examples of this. But Jansson can write humour and happiness just as well, as the tales of the invisible child and the fir tree show.
I really can't speak highly enough of this book. Jansson's wonderful insight into people, her spare, deft prose, and her brilliant imagination make a great combination. Buy it for your children or for yourself.

I would like to say that I, as a small child, read the complete Moomintroll series, given to me by flatmate of my mother and myself who took a particular pleasure in improving my ability to read ( actually, I think he was getting annoyed at my small fingers leafing through his prized historical library every Saturday morning while my mother was at work ), and I can't thank this person enough for doing so, even though I have never seen him since that moment of my life, so thankyou David.
One particular work by the author has stuck with me throughout my life, a story within this volume by the name of " The Fillyjonk Who Believed In Disasters ", the reason being it is a remarkably adult tale given to such young minds. I feel that this story is quite dark, the character leading such a quite, and safe existance, all coming to failing at the hands of a huge storm. I myself being a victem of such events twice in my life I always think of this tale in reflection to our views on " home " and " security ", and the precarious state of their existence in regards to the very strength of natural forces. Such huge upheaval also brings us to the age old question of " purpose ", something which the author gives the reader the opportunity to do with the character in this story, quite a question for a young child. It is a strange tale, this one, and I urge adults as well as children to read it.

As many readers have noted, Tove Jansson's Moomin books may be appreciated by adults as well as children (particularly children who are of a quirky, thoughtful bent, in grades 4 and up.) The "Tales" is a late collection of short stories and not a complete novel like most of the other ones (beginners should start with "Comet in Moominland" instead), but it contains all the characters we know and love from the series. As usual, Jansson deftly captures the exact mood of the time of year portrayed in each tale, as well as the complicated inner workings of the misfit characters, with a few deft words. Two of these stories are absolute masterpieces. The first is "A Spring Tune," in which the fiercely independent Snufkin is prevented from writing a melody by a lonely, talkative squirrel. The other is "The Fir Tree," which comes at the end of the book and is perhaps the finest Christmas short story I have ever read, which is praise indeed. (Were ever layers of irony so superb? All writers take note of this one.) In between we get an offbeat collection of curious tales, not as memorable perhaps as the novels but jolly good fun, and emotionally pure like all of Jansson's amazing body of work. How else to describe it? Read for yourself.

I am one of those who have been thrilled by Tove Jansson's tales of the Moomin trolls since childhood ... I use them as a stress-control, they are often reached for in my book-shelfs during periods of intense work or worries and ALWAYS leave me stoic and happy

Tove Jansson is actually a Finnish author, who is really famous in the norhtern countries for her books about the Moominvalley.
Almost all swedish children recognizes Tove Janssons voice, telling her fashinating stories.
Many people thinks that thise books are only for children. But thats wrong, the stories about the Moominvalley have all got
a kind of hidden message, and they are possible to read in two ways.
Either you read them as pure child litterature, or you read it as an intelligent written book for grown up people.
If you care to look behind the first imagination of the stories, you will discover a deep symbolic story behind the first one.

Tove Jansson create fashinating characters, which you remember for a long time after you have read the book.
The small angry red-hairy girl, Little My, is my favourite. Always angry and gnabbing, but with a heart of gold!

Read the stories by Tove jansson, either if you have got children or not, you wont regret it.

Best wishes Josefin Backstrom, Storuman, Sweden

I had read these books as a kid, and recently my sister bought me the whole set -- I was delighted to find that they are just as enchanting as I remembered, even for adults! They are witty and cleverly written -- much like A A Milne, but in an imaginary world of Moomintrolls and Hemulens. A great read for kids and adults alike.

This is not exacly a book for kids and much as I liked some of the other Moomin books, I used to hate this one. Only after my visit to Finland this year and seeing the museum of Moomins did I re-read all the books.

I fell in love with them. Totally and permanently.

If not for anything else, get this book for the story of the Hemulen who loved silence. I actually had tears in my eyes when reading it.

Beautiful, warm, mature and full of hope, like all the other Moomin books.

Tales from Moominvalley is, as its title suggests, not a cohesive novel but a collection of nine short stories, each centering on a different character. Dedicated to Tove Janssons's niece, these stories are wonderfully universal, in that they are imaginative and wistful, but often filled with some extraordinarily deep dilemmas and themes. Jansson's clear, unsentimental writing style gives space to all of the diverse stories very well.

One of the stories is about a Filijonk who lives in a house by the sea, and cannot shake off the horrible fear that some catastrophe will soon befall her. Another, one of my favourites, is about a quiet hemulen who settles down in his aunt's abandoned park, longing for peace but not getting it when the children of Moomin Valley befriend him. Perhaps the two most well-known stories are The Invisible Child and the Christmas Tree, both stories where we follow the Moomin family as a whole, as opposed to the other stories which are far more individual-character based.

My favourite story is "The Secret of the Hattifatteners," which follows Moominpappa and is, in fact, a vital character development for him. We follow him in his longing to get away from the ordinary family life and joining the eerie, silent Hattifatteners on their cruises over the oceans. Moominpappa, always a fascinating character in my book, goes through a big change that feels very natural thanks to the masterful writing. It remains one of my favourite Moomin stories of all time.

In addition to all this, Jansson's illustrations accompany us through the pages as well. This time, however, Jansson's style was very loose and seemed to have been mostly done with thick markers. It fits the rough, warm attitude of the book very well. Tales of Moominvalley continues the road that Moominland in Midwinter set in that it's deeper and more soul-searching than the first four Moomin novels, a process that's followed through in the final two Moomin novels, where the soul-searching makes way for soul-finding. A most satisfying read, young or old at heart.

After living in Sweden with my six year old son and wife I was introduced to the Moomin Family. What an incredible way to introduce young and old alike to imaginary world where the same daily triumphs and tribulations happen that make us who we are. We have almost collected all of them for my son who is almost eight and an avid reader. I highly recommended these books by Tove Janssen for all ages.