The Moomins

Small trolls or a great flood: Autumn is coming—meaning it’s time for the Moomin-troll and his mother to find a cozy place quickly and build a home there. In the past, Moomin-trolls didn’t need to roam forests and swamps looking for housing—they lived by people’s stoves. But now there are far fewer stoves, and steam heating doesn’t suit the Moomin-trolls. That’s why the Moomin-troll and his mother risked setting out on a journey, dreaming of finding not only a new home, but also Moomin-troll’s father, who disappeared long ago. Meanwhile, a great flood is on its way…

When the comet arrives: The end of the world is approaching Moominvalley! Somewhere far away in the impenetrably black Universe, a star with a burning tail— a comet—is moving, and it is about to fall to Earth. And then no one knows what awaits all earthly inhabitants. The Moomin-troll and Sniff were told about this by their new friend Snufkin, whom they met on the way to the observatory (they went there to find out whether the Universe really is that black. And it was a very dangerous journey!). In the observatory, the scientists even named the day and hour when the comet will arrive. There’s no time to waste— they need to get home as soon as possible. Because mother and father will surely figure out how to save the world!

The magician’s hat: All winter, as you know, the Moomin-troll sleeps—and that doesn’t make him any different from any other Moomin-troll. But in spring, once he wakes up, he is very much willing to do something unusual. For example, he might climb the mountain with his friends Snufkin and Sniff and discover a forgotten black cylinder at the top. And it turns out it’s not just a pretty hat, but a hat that can work wonders! With it you can defeat the Ant Lion and ride on charming clouds. But there is one trouble: you never know what the hat will throw out next time. Maybe it’s better to get rid of it? But as it turns out, that’s not so simple. And the main magic will begin when the real owner of the hat comes to Moominvalley…

Moominmama’s father’s memoirs: One day, in the height of summer heat, Moominmama’s father managed to catch a cold. You never know how a cold might end—especially if you’re catching it for the first time. So it’s better to make sure ahead of time that you’ll remain in the memory of future generations. After all, when it comes to Moominmama’s father, his biography is full of incredible incidents, dreadful dangers, tragic twists, and heroic deeds. And what did you think? Before becoming a respectable family man, Moominmama’s father was an adventurer and sailed the river and sea waves on a ship with the poetic name “Morzky orkestor.” Later descendants (and you as well) will one day read about it in the memoirs that Moominmama’s father started writing as soon as he recovered from his cold…

Dangerous summer: The summer turned out to be unsettling—floodwaters came into the valley and swept away the Moomin-trolls’ house. The family set off to look for a new place to live. Fortunately for them, a house that was just right was carried to the shore by the waves—although it behaved rather strangely. It had a roof like a seashell flap, and a rotating floor; and if you pulled a string, a picture would fall from the ceiling. Or rain might start. Or hundreds of multicolored lights would go on. Hardly had the family tidied up a bit and sat down to drink tea when one of the old residents appeared from a dark corner and declared that the whole house was a theater. So why shouldn’t the Moomin-trolls become actors? And Moominmama’s father takes on the staging of a play written by himself!

The Moomin-troll’s winter: In winter the world becomes different—white, motionless, and cold. Snowdrifts and ice everywhere, and where apples used to grow, snow now grows. But the Moomin-troll isn’t supposed to know any of this. From November to April, all decent Moomin-trolls sleep and dream. But it happened that this winter the Moomin-troll woke up and couldn’t fall back asleep. At first the winter world seemed alien to him, even somehow wrong. But then the Moomin-troll saw snow, met Toot-tikki, who had moved into papa’s bathhouse, encountered the Ice Lady, went sledding down a slope, and even visited the very heart of a snowstorm. And amazingly enough: the winter world turned out no worse than the summer one. The Moomin-troll became the first Moomin-troll to live through a full year—really a whole year. At least, that’s why it was worth waking up in the middle of winter!

Papa and the sea: The Moomin-trolls have already had to move, and Moominmama’s father is a great traveler. Now, at the end of summer, he decided that a peaceful life in the Valley wasn’t for his restless soul. His calling is to live on an island with a lighthouse, amid the raging sea, and show the way to ships. The family sets off. At first, the lighthouse seems like a rather boring and uncomfortable place. But only at first glance. Because Moominmama will be able to make even a bare cliff cozy, and there will be plenty of secrets, dangers, and raging sea for the family for a long time!

Deep in November: Summer is over, and winter is just around the corner. Snufkin, as usual, sets out on a journey. But for some reason, this time he can’t carefree leave Moominvalley—his feet seem to bring him back by themselves. And, by the way, as winter gets closer, many friends and acquaintances of the Moomin-trolls suddenly decide that now is the perfect time to pay a visit to the Moomin house. And so the golden glow of the kerosene lamp flares up again on the veranda, making the autumn evenings warmer—and everyone is so happy to see one another.

The invisible girl and other stories: The world of Moomin-trolls is “a world that, deep down in our souls, everyone longs for.” Tove Jansson, the famous Swedish-Finnish writer and artist, proves that this is true with her books, which have become an essential part of the childhood of several generations already. Naïve and wise, warm and kind—despite all the storms that sometimes shake it—this world is always open both to children and adults.