About
Moominland Midwinter Special Collector’s Edition Synopsis
Special collectors' hardback editions lovingly restored to original designs
A beautiful collectors' edition of this classic Moomin story, using original 50s and 60s cover artwork, a fold out map and gorgeous endpapers.
Moomins always sleep through the winter while the snow settles all around them, waking up in time for spring and the arrival of Snufkin and other friends. Or they did until one year when Moomintroll happened to wake up and find himself all alone in a sleepy, dusty house in a silent, snow-covered valley. In this moving story of a small, brave Moomin finding his way in the mysterious world of winter we discover that there are always new friends to be found - like the calm and wise Too-ticky and the irrepressible Little My - and new ways to play and be kind.
From the publisher of The Invisible Child and The Fir Tree (all proceeds to Oxfam) here's the Moomin gift editions.
About This Edition
Press Reviews
Tove Jansson Press Reviews
'Tove Jansson is one of the greatest children's writers there has ever been.' - Sir Terry Pratchett
'I was utterly blown away by this as a child. It transported me to an icy, magical world.' - Maggie O'Farrell
'I love these editions - so beautifully produced, so solid and permanent, just as Tove Jansson deserved' - Philip Pullman
'(These editions) are simply stunning, and an absolute must-read. The Moomin novels are timeless stories full of adventure and heartwarming values - perfect for Christmas.' - The Bookseller
'I love Moominland Midwinter for its evocation of winter as both heady and sinister ... Read as a child for wonder and laughter, read as an adult for perception-changing clarity of insight.' - Stef Penney, for the Guardian's best books on life outdoors
Author
About Tove Jansson
Tove Jansson (1914 – 2001), was born in 1914 in Helingsfors, Finland. Her mother was a charicaturist and the designer of many of Finland’s stamps, and her father was a sculptor. Tove studied painting in Finland, Sweden and France and later worked as a book illustrator, a designer and strip cartoonist, as well as being involved in theatre décor and making frescoes in public places. She drew her first Moomin in the 1930s, just for fun, to tease her little brother by drawing the ugliest creature she could think of. Moomin developed a nicer snout and character and in 1939 he became a character in a children’s story. The Finn Family Moomingtroll has been a hugely successful book, translated into many languages – many other Moomin stories followed.
In 1966 Tove Jansson was awarded the Hans Christian Andersen Medal – an international award for the best children’s book of the year.
Most of the books were written on a small island in the Gulf of Finland where Tove, her mother and brother were the only inhabitants. Later Tove continued to live alone on the island - It takes an hour to row to the nearest island. Some years ago she wrote of the island:
‘It is so small you can walk around it in ten minutes. It is shaped like an atoll and surrounds a deep lake which in good weather makes a fine swimming pool, but in bad weather turns into a raging torrent surrounded by waterfalls. Then our boat has to be pulled right up to the house and tied to the veranda. We only have one tree, a rowan, which bloomed for the first time last summer. But we plant wild roses in the crevices, and potatoes. And we fish. We use rainwater for our coffee and driftwood for our fires. My favourite weather is fog, when the island seems to be afloat at the very end of the world in perfect silence and solitude. Only rarely does one hear the foghorns from the open sea where big ships go by for foreign countries.’
In this very special, beautiful and challenging environment Tove’s imagination and artistic talent flourished.
More About Tove Jansson
