MOOMIN ADVENTURES

Seven Moomin family tales are brought together in this collection of the classic Finnish comic strip in this uncredited translation from the original Swedish.

The Moomins, subjects of a series of novels that first appeared in the 1940s, have since featured in picture books, comic strips, and animated TV series and films worldwide. This volume collects comic strips originally published in English in the London Evening News that were written and illustrated by both acclaimed original Moomin author and artist Tove Jansson and her brother Lars. With a grand spirit of adventure, Moomin, a charmingly hippolike creature, and his family look for ways to experience life outside Moomin-valley. The collection kicks off with “Moomin on the Riviera,” in which Moomin, Moominmamma, Moominpappa, and Moomin’s friend and sometimes love interest, Snork-maiden, sail south in search of a glamorous vacation. Shocked and dismayed by how much land is privately owned and inaccessible, they accidentally stumble into an exclusive hotel, where they’re assumed to be eccentric millionaires. More adventures follow, each concluding back in Moomin-valley, with the Moomins feeling a newfound appreciation for the simplicity of their daily lives. The tongue-in-cheek humor pokes fun at pretension, greed, and buffoonery. Some of the jokes about gender dynamics have not aged well, however. The clean, black-and-white line art and regular panels amusingly highlight the creatures’ antics; the lettering is occasionally compressed and, combined with some challenging vocabulary, may prove tricky for younger readers.

Whimsical nostalgia.