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Tove Jansson

Comet in Moominland (Moomins, 1) Paperback – Illustrated, April 27, 2010

by Tove Jansson (Author, Illustrator), Elizabeth Portch (Translator)

704 ratings

Book 1 of 8: Moomins

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When Moomintroll learns that a comet will be passing by, he and his friend Sniff travel to the Observatory on the Lonely Mountains to consult the Professors. Along the way, they have many adventures, but the greatest adventure of all awaits them when they learn that the comet is headed straight for their beloved Moominvalley.

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192 pages
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6.32 x 0.51 x 8.22 inches
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Square Fish
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April 27, 2010
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0312608888
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978-0312608880
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Editorial Reviews

Review

“There is, in short, everything in the Moon books: giant comets and secret caves and tree houses and stilts and magic-carpet clouds and amusement parks run by despotic practical-joking kings and time machines and ski instructors.” ―Harper's

“We need Moominland for its gentle pace, its sense of beauty and awe, and its spirit of friendliness and empathy―now more than ever.” ―The Horn Book

“These charming fantasies are propelled by a childlike curiosity and filled with quiet wisdom, appealing geniality, and a satisfying sense of self-discovery.” ―School Library Journal.com

“If you had no shame reading Harry Potter on the subway, there's no need to hide Tove Jansson's witty, whimsically illustrated Finnish series.” ―Daily Candy

“The Moomin books make for both splendid bedtime read-alouds and solitary savoring.” ―Wall Street Journal

“It's more than forty years since Jansson's Moomintrolls first appeared. I found the writing and invention as appealing as ever. She has a thistledown touch.” ―The Washington Post Book World

“The adventures of the easygoing Moomintrolls have all the crispness and tart surprise of a lingonberry, thanks to Jansson's ineffably light touch, her uncanny sensitivity to universal childhood emotions, and her gift for terse, naturalistic dialogue.” ―Entertainment Weekly

“A gentle, offbeat fantasy.” ―The Horn Book

“A lost treasure now rediscovered . . . A surrealist masterpiece.” ―Neil Gaiman

“Jansson was a genius of a very subtle kind. These simple stories resonate with profound and complex emotions that are like nothing else in literature for children or adults: intensely Nordic, and completely universal.” ―Philip Pullman

“Tove Jansson is undoubtedly one of the greatest children's writers there has ever been. She has the extraordinary gift of writing books that are very clearly for children, but can also be enjoyed when the child, like me, is over sixty and can still find new pleasures with the insights that come from adulthood.” ―Sir Terry Pratchett

“Clever, gentle, witty, and completely engrossing.” ―Jeff Smith, author of Bone

“It's not just Tove Jansson's wonderfully strange fairytale world that so appeals but also her beautiful line work and exquisite sense of design.” ―Lauren Child

“[Tove Jansson] is a master.” ―The Times Literary Supplement (London)

“The most original works for children to be published since the Pooh books, and possibly, since Alice.” ―Saturday Review

“You will declare yourself a citizen of Moominvalley and call the stories your own--the Moomin world is that compelling.” ―Riverbank Review

About the Author

Tove Jansson (1914–2001) was born in Helsinki and spent much of her life in Finland. She is the author of the Moomin books, including Comet in Moominland and Finn Family Moomintroll. Born into an artistic family―her father was a sculptor and her mother was a graphic designer and illustrator―Jansson studied at the University College of Arts, Crafts and Design in Stockholm, the Finnish Academy of Fine Arts, and L’École des Beaux-Arts in Paris. In addition to her Moomin books, she also wrote several novels, drew comic strips and worked as a painter and illustrator. In 1966, she was awarded the Hans Christian Andersen Medal for her body of work. Jansson had a studio in Helsinki but spent most of her time at her home on a small island called Klovharu.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Comet in Moominland

By Tove Jansson

Square Fish

Copyright © 2010 Tove Jansson
All right reserved.
ISBN: 9780312608880
Chapter 1
Which is about Moomintroll and Sniff
following a mysterious path to the sea,
pearl- fishing, the discovery of a cave, and
how the Muskrat avoided catching a cold.
The Moomin family had been living for some weeks in the valley where they had found their house* after the dreadful flood (which is another story). It was a wonderful valley, full of happy little animals and flowering trees, and there was a clear narrow river that came down from the mountain, looped round Moominhouse, and disappeared in the direction of
another valley, where no doubt other little animals wondered where it came from.
*It was painted blue. Moomin houses usually are. Translator.
One morning—it was the morning that Moomintroll's pappa finished building a bridge over the river—the little animal Sniff made a discovery. (There were still plenty of things left for them to discover in the valley.) He was wandering in the forest when he suddenly noticed a path he had never seen before winding mysteriously into the green shadows. Sniff was spellbound and stood gazing at it for several minutes.
“It's funny about paths and rivers,” he mused. “You see them go by, and suddenly you feel upset and want to be somewhere else—wherever the path or the river is going, perhaps. I shall have to tell Moomintroll about this, and we can explore it together, because it would be a bit risky for me to go alone.” Then he carved a secret sign on a tree trunk with his penknife, so that he could find the place again, and thought proudly: “Moomintroll will be surprised.” And after that he scooted home as fast as he could so as not to be late for lunch.
Moomintroll was just putting up a swing when Sniff got home. He seemed very interested in the mysterious path, and directly after lunch they set off to have a look at it.
Halfway up the hill on their way grew a clump of blue-trees covered with big yellow pears, and of course they couldn't get past that without Sniff deciding that he was hungry.
“We'd better only take the windfalls,” said Moomintroll, “because mamma makes jam from these.” But they had to shake the tree a little so that there were some windfalls.
Sniff was very pleased with their haul. “You can carry the provisions,“ he said, “because you haven't got anything else to do, have you? I'm too busy to think about things like that when I'm the Path Pioneer“
When they reached the top of the hill they turned and looked down at the valley. Moomin house was just a blue dot, and the river a narrow ribbon of green: the swing they couldn't see at all. “We've never been such a long way from home before,“ said Moomintroll, and a little goose- fleshy thrill of excitement came over them at the thought.
Sniff started to snuffle about. He looked at the sun, felt the direction of the wind, sniffed the air, and in fact behaved in every way like a great Path Pioneer.
“It should be somewhere here,” he said busily. “I made a secret sign with my knife on a plum tree just where it began.”
“Could it possibly be here?” asked Moomintroll, pointing to a curly flourish on a tree trunk on the left.
“No! Here it is!” screamed Sniff, who had found another curly flourish on a tree trunk on the right.
At the same time they both caught sight of a third curly flourish on a tree trunk right in front of them, but it was terribly high up, at least three feet above the ground.
“That's it, I'm sure,” said Sniff, stretching himself. “I must be taller than I thought!”
“Well, strike me pink!” exclaimed Moomintroll, looking around. “There are curly flourishes everywhere! And some of them are nearly a hundred feet up. I think you've found a haunted path, Sniff, and now the spooks are trying to stop us from using it. What do you say to that?”
Sniff didn't say anything, but he got very pale about the nose. And at that moment a cackle of spooky laughter broke the silence, and down fell a big blue plum, which nearly hit Moomintroll in the eye. Sniff gave a screech of terror and ran for cover, but Moomintroll was just angry, and had decided to have a look for the enemy when, all of a sudden, he saw who it was. For the first time in his life he was face to face with a silk-monkey!
She was crouching in the fork of a tree: a small, dark, velvety ball. Her face was round and much lighter than the rest of her (about the color of Sniff's nose when he had washed rather carelessly), and her laugh was ten times bigger than herself.
“Stop that horrible cackling!” shouted Moomintroll when he saw that she was smaller than he. “This is our valley. You can go and laugh somewhere else.”
“Wretched wretch!” muttered Sniff, pretending he hadn't been frightened. But the silk-monkey just hung by her tail and laughed louder than ever. Then she threw some more plums at them and disappeared into the forest with a parting hoot of evil laughter.
“She's running away!” screamed Sniff. “Come on— let's follow her.” So off they rushed, scrambling headlong through bushes and brambles under a perfect rain of ripe berries and fircones, while all the little animals underfoot escaped into their holes as quickly as they possibly could.
The silk-monkey swung from tree to tree in front of them; she hadn't enjoyed herself so much for weeks.
“Don't you think it's ridiculous (puff) to run after a silly little monkey like that,” panted Sniff at last. “I don't see (puff) that she matters.”
Moomintroll agreed to this, and they sat down under a tree and pretended to be thinking about something important. The silk-monkey made herself comfortable in the fork of a tree above them and tried to look important too; she was having nearly as much fun as before.
“Take no notice of her,” whispered Moomintroll. Out loud he said: “Good spot this, isn't it, Sniff?”
“Yes. Interesting-looking path, too,” Sniff answered.
“Path,” repeated Moomintroll thoughtfully. And then he suddenly noticed where they were. “Why, this must be the Mysterious Path,” he gasped.
It certainly looked most mysterious. Overhead the branches of the plum trees, oaks, and silver poplars met and formed a dark tunnel which led away into the unknown.
“Now, we must take this seriously,” said Sniff, remembering that he was the Path Pioneer. “I'll look for by-paths, and you knock three times if you see anything dangerous.”
“What shall I knock on?” asked Moomintroll.
“Whatever you like,” said Sniff. “Only don't talk. And what have you done with the provisions? I suppose you've lost them. Oh, dear! Do I have to do everything myself?”
Moomintroll wrinkled his forehead dejectedly but didn't answer.
So they wandered farther into the green tunnel, Sniff looking for by-paths, Moomintroll looking for dangerous intruders, and the silk-monkey leaping overhead from branch to branch.
The path wound in and out of the trees, getting narrower and narrower, until at last it petered out altogether. Moomintroll looked baffled. “Well, that seems to be that,” he said. “It ought to have led to something very special.”
They stood still and looked at each other in disappointment. But as they stood a whiff of salt wind blew in their faces and a faint sighing could be heard in the distance.
“It must be the sea!” exclaimed Moomintroll with a whoop of joy, and he started running upwind, his heart thumping with excitement, for if there is anything Moomintrolls really love, it is swimming.
“Wait!” screamed Sniff. “Don't leave me behind!”
But Moomintroll didn't stop till he came to the sea, and there he sat down and solemnly watched the waves rolling in, one after another, each with its crest of white foam.
After a while Sniff came out from the fringe of the wood and joined him. “It's cold here,” he said. “By the way, do you remember when we sailed with the Hattifatteners in that dreadful storm, and I was so seasick?”
“That's quite another story,” said Moomintroll. “Now I'm going to swim.” And he ran straight out into the breakers, without stopping to undress (because, of course, Moomintrolls don't wear clothes, except sometimes in bed).
The silk-monkey had climbed down from her tree and was sitting on the sandy beach watching them. “What are you doing?” she cried. “Don't you know it's wet and cold?”
“We've managed to impress her at last!” said Sniff.
“Yes. I say, Sniff, can you dive with your eyes open?” asked Moomintroll.
“No!” said Sniff. “And I don't intend to try—you never know what you'll see down there on the bottom. If you do it, don't blame me if something awful happens!”
“Pooh!” said Moomintroll, diving into a big wave and swimming down through green bubbles of light. He went deeper and came upon forests of crinkly seaweed swaying gently in the current—seaweed that was decorated with beautiful white and pink shells—and even farther down the green twilight deepened until he could see only a black hole that seemed to have no bottom.
Moomintroll turned round and shot up to the surface, where a big wave carried him right back to the beach. There sat Sniff and the silk-monkey screaming for help at the tops of their voices.
“We thought you were drowned,” said Sniff, “or that a shark had eaten you up!”
“Pooh!” said Moomintroll again. “I'm used to the sea. While I was down there I got an idea—a good idea, too. But I'm wondering if an outsider should hear it or not.” And he looked pointedly at the silk-monkey.
“Go away!” Sniff said to her. “This is private.”
“Oh, please tell!” entreated the silk-monkey, for she was the most inquisitive creature in the world. “I swear
I won't breathe a word.”
“Shall we make her swear?” asked Moomintroll.
“Well, why not?” answered Sniff. “But it'll have to be a proper swear.”
“Repeat after me,” said Moomintroll. “ ‘May the ground swallow me up, may old hags rattle my dry bones, and may I never more eat ice cream if I don't guard this secret with my life.’ Go on now.”
The silk-monkey repeated the swear, but she was a bit careless over it because she could never keep a thing in her head for long. “Good!” said Moomintroll. “Now I'll tell you. I'm going to go pearl-fishing and then I shall bury all my pearls in a box here on the beach.”
“But where shall we find a box?” asked Sniff.
“I shall hand that job over to you and the silk- monkey,” replied Moomintroll.
“Why do I always have to do the difficult things?” asked Sniff gloomily. “You have all the fun.”
“You were the Path Pioneer just now,” said Moomintroll. “And besides, you can't dive. So don't be silly.”
Sniff and the silk-monkey set off along the beach. “Wretched wretch!” muttered Sniff. “He could have looked for his own old box.”
They poked around for a bit, but after a time the silk-monkey forgot what they were supposed to be doing and began to hunt for crabs instead. There was one that always careered off with his odd sideways gait and hid himself under a stone, so that they could
Excerpted from Comet in Moominland by Tove Jansson.
Copyright © 1946 by Tove Jansson.
Published in 2010 by R. R. Donnelley & Sons Company
All rights reserved. This work is protected under copyright laws and reproduction is strictly prohibited. Permission to reproduce the material in any manner or medium must be secured from the Publisher.

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Excerpted from Comet in Moominland by Tove Jansson Copyright © 2010 by Tove Jansson. Excerpted by permission.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

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Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Square Fish; Reissue edition (April 27, 2010)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 192 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0312608888
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0312608880
Reading age ‏ : ‎ 4 - 8 years, from customers
Grade level ‏ : ‎ 4 - 6
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 5.8 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.32 x 0.51 x 8.22 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #77,431 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #1,147 in Children's Classics
- #2,293 in Children's Fantasy & Magic Books
- #3,213 in Children's Action & Adventure Books (Books)

Customer Reviews:
704 ratings

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Tove Jansson

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Tove Jansson (1914-2001) was born in Helsinki, and was an illustrator and political cartoonist for the left-leaning, anti-Fascist magazine Garm. She created a long-running comic strip and a series of children's books featuring the much-loved hippopotamus-like character, Moomintroll. She is also the author of eleven novels and short-story collections for adults, including The Summer Book and The True Deceiver. In 1994, she was awarded the Prize of the Swedish Academy.

Photo by Hans Gedda [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

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Todd Myers

Melancholy hippos and their friends confront the end of the world

Reviewed in the United States on May 31, 2021

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I love reading to my children and hope that they will love to read all the days of their lives. Children's literature can be particularly enjoyable for adults and when it is done well it has its therapeutic qualities.

Tove Jansson spins a tale of impending catastrophe and conjure the most sensitive emotions from adorable creatures that refuse to give up in the face of doom. Along the way they encounter all sorts of attitudes toward the world. The philosophers find almost everything unnecessary. The scholars obsess about minutiae. The poets rejoice in their impoverished freedom. Moomintroll (an innocent child) is in love with the beautiful Snork Maiden and feels sorrow at the loss of all of the lovely moments nature has to offer, yet he has faith that his mother will know how to save the world.

This book explores the emotional landscape of being human. I worked on developing a k-12 literature, poetry, and writing curriculum, and I remember our director wanted to steer away from this rich emotional landscape. It seemed to be from an unarticulated fear that confronting the emotions of the human condition in this melancholy Scandinavian articulation might cause harm to his children.

For whatever reason this attitude reminded me of the dilemma facing the father of the Buddha. It was prophesied his son would either become a great king or a great sage. His father feared his son becoming a sage so he did everything in his power to try to make certain his son would follow the path of a great king. In the end, his son became the Buddha.

The Moomintroll books contain the spirit that reflects upon our tenuous and sincere connections to this world. The prominence of characters who represent all of the materially unprofitable pursuits of the human condition reveals the priority the books put upon the life of the spirit. This spiritual content makes the books rewarding for adults even as the adventures of the book grip the imagination of children. I love the Moomintrolls because of this combination of elements.

14 people found this helpful

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The Muskrat will find it unnecessary, but almost no one else will... Moomin-mania is no mystery

Reviewed in the United States on December 10, 2014

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Most great children's literature wasn't written strictly for children. Think of A. A. Milne, L. Frank Baum, E.B. White, Dr. Seuss, Wanda Gag, Daniel Pinkwater and of course Tove Jansson. All of these authors share the ability to write books that not only appeal to children and young adults, but also to fully grown adults. Tove Jansson's Moomins remain Scandanavian icons to this day. Though not as immediately recognized in the United States as in some other countries, a Moomin renaissance of sorts has occurred in 2006 following Drawn and Quarterly's publication of the complete Moomin comic strips that ran from 1954 to 1974. A series of books predated these strips and after an initial flop, "The Moomins and the Great Flood" in 1945, Moomin-mania finally took the world by storm in 1946 with the unforgettable "Comet in Moominland." Though Jansson ceased the series in 1970, the momentum never let up. Moomin operas, animated television shows and even a theme park followed. Jansson, who would have turned 100 this year, passed away in 2001 as the Moomins continued to capture the imaginations of new generations.

Anyone who reads "Comet in Moominland" will quickly discover the appeal of these marshmallowly hippopotamus-like creatures. Their strong personalities, endless curiosity and intrepid adventurousness take them and their friends everywhere, even into grisly danger. Things begin as Sniff, a ratlike creature that shares some of Piglet's traits, finds a mysterious path leading to somewhere so potentially interesting that he has to run and tell Moomintroll. Here they meet the silk monkey and eventually find a cozy cave. One night during a rain, Moominpapa lets in the muskrat, a pensive philosopher who claims to "sit and think about how unnecessary everything is." He tells of dark forebodings and of something "horrible and unnecessary" that will happen. All the while the Moomintroll, Sniff and the Silk-Monkey keep encountering symbols resembling stars with tails. The muskrat tells them of comets and that the Professors in the Observatory on the Lonely Mountains would know something about whether the comet would strike earth. Thus begins a grand Odyssean tale that leads them to aggressive crocodiles, Snufkin, a giant lizard, a deep watery hole, Hemulens who collect obsessively, a giant eagle and finally to the cigarette-laden Observatory (the professors like to smoke, how so 20th century). When they find out the comet will arrive in a short number of days, they head back home because "Moominmama," the matriarch, "will know what to do." Along the way Moomintroll saves a lovely Snork Maiden from a poisonous plant, they manage to buy items in a strange store despite the fact that they don't have a cent, they attend a dance lit by glow worms, cross the dried up ocean with stilts, nearly escape an octopus and arrive in Moominland just as everyone flees in terror away from it. Throughout, the comet looms over everything in a creepy, ominous way. It gets larger and larger and more and more intense. Yikes. Not to give anything away, but the comet does come to Moominland, Sniff spills his coffee, the cave really comes in handy and the Muskrat sits on the cake, though it was unnecessary anyway. Other things happen too, of course, such as the ending, but one must consult the book for succor. All along, the story moves with the pace of a hummingbird's heart and will even keep adults, supposedly secure in their maturity and dignified vintage, enraptured. Incredible fun.

This series by Square Fish begins with "Comet in Moominland," even though it's technically the second Moomin book. The beginning even references the flood from the real first book "(which is another story)". But the spine has a "1" on it, signifying the first book. Go figure. The details probably lie outside of most people's pay scales, but, in any case, seven more Moomin books follow "Comet in Moominland," all equally acclaimed. They encompass adventure, morality, love, family, happiness, dread, philosophy, doom, insights into humanity, humor, sadness and just life in general treated in a fantastically addictive yet serious cartoony manner. Moomin-mania is no mystery.

14 people found this helpful

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Kirsten

I love the way the stories model how to accept differences

Reviewed in the United States on March 27, 2018

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The first book written in the series, this introduces the core characters through several vignette stories. Tove Jansson’s text is punctuated by illustrations — one every few pages — that help little readers of listeners to visualize the story.

Our five-year-old loves the adventuresome characters, the unique personalities and the connection to nature. I love the way the stories model how to accept differences, help friends with projects and welcome those who need help.

6 people found this helpful

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Top reviews from other countries

V.

Unfortunate shortcuts taken

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 11, 2021

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This is not a review of the book's literary merit or specific translation, just the quality of the particular edition.

My first impression was full of mixed feelings but disappointment over a lost chance was the most prominent one. The book is a delightful size, barely bigger than an adult's palm, almost as if inviting a kid to crawl under a blanket fort on a lazy Sunday afternoon and hungrily pour over the text in all sorts of acrobatic, yet for kids somehow comfy, positions. The dustjacket, the minimalist print on the face of the hardcover itself, and the colourful endpapers were designed with obvious fondness. The font is just the right size, clear and easy to read, the paper an off-white colour.
However, for the following reasons I will not be purchasing other books from the collection:

1) These books aren't made to last. There will be no passing this on as a family heirloom to the kids of your kids as that beloved story you read a thousand times. Unfortunately, the binding is glued despite this being a hardback. As a result, the book doesn't lay flat so brace yourself for some workout for your hand muscles, fighting the book on every page as it attempts to shut itself.
2) The paper is so thin, not only do the illustrations bleed through but so does the text. On every page, you can entertain yourself trying to read ahead backwards.

I've learnt already that in the UK I can't expect more for the price but the real letdown is there aren't (m)any alternatives. Surely, there must be more people who love books enough to wish them to last a lifetime and would be willing to cough up a couple Starbucks coffees’ worth to get them in decent quality.

That being said, this might still be the only way to get to read the stories at all and the illustrations are of course lovely so as long as you don't expect longevity or quality above that of a paperback, you should still be in for a treat.

Reviewing the edition published by Sort of Books in 2017, ISBN: 978-1-908745-65-1., priced £9 at the time.

8 people found this helpful

M. Dowden

Danger in the Skies

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 8, 2019

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Here we have the second book in the Moomin series, and here, with the family now settled down in Moomin Valley, so there are concerns. It has only been a short time since the flood in the first book, and here there is news of a comet approaching Earth.

With Sniff living with the Moomin family so he finds a mysterious path which he and Moomintroll explore, after meeting Silk Monkey, and the following day both Sniff and Moomintroll set out to the Lonely Mountains to visit the observatory there. With portents, excessive heat, and the sea drying up, could it be the end of the world? At the time some turned to this book and argued that Tove Jansson was writing about a nuclear holocaust, although today we are more likely to think about climate change.

With adventure and danger, along with the quirky humour there are also of course Jansson’s wonderful illustrations. This book also introduces us to more characters, so we meet the likes of Muskrat, Snufkin, and Snork Maiden (who bears an uncanny resemblance to my sister). Although written for children these books still entertain us adults. Whereas younger minds pick up on the more exciting elements and strange creatures, as adults we are more likely to pick up on the different personality traits of the characters, and let’s be honest I am sure most of us could come up with names of people we currently know, or have known, who resemble the characters in the books.

In all another great tale that adults are just as likely to enjoy as their children, and which can give a family something to talk about and laugh over.

8 people found this helpful

Laura

and enjoy the story as something like an innocent romp

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 24, 2018

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I do smile when people surprised by the darkness of Tove Jansson's final novel, Moominvalley in November, invoke this story as its antithesis and a light and cheerful Moomin story. It's a parable, as far as I can make out, for life under the early years of the newly realized threat of global nuclear annihilation: Moomintroll and Sniff discover that the earth lies in the path of a rapidly approaching comet that will destroy the planet, and the book documents their quest to grasp the threat and then, with ample helpings of pathos, their flight back home in hopes that Moominmamma will somehow make it all okay. So if you discount the threat of the imminent fiery destruction of the world, then sure, it's a lighthearted bedtime read. The thing is, the nature of Jansson's incredible writing is such that you actually almost CAN discount that threat, and enjoy the story as something like an innocent romp. It's punctuated with ample humour and plenty of derring-do, midsummer-night's dances and shopping expeditions. The characters are constantly distracted from the horror that threatens to overwhelm them, by the simple joys of life: Moomintroll snaps out of his torpor when he meets and falls immediately head over heels for the secretly rather capable Snork Maiden, the fearful Sniff is happy so long as there's a get-rich-quick scheme somewhere on the horizon, pedantry is its own reward for the pernickety Snork and even Snufkin, the closest the series has to a straight man, can set his growing dread aside for long enough to play harmonica for the tree-spirits. This is part of Tove Jansson's genius: her writing holds in tension genuine darkness and a boundless, bubbling joy, two sides of life, never allowing one to obliterate the other, never tempted to say that one is real and the other an illusion. Yes, this story has a happy ending, and it's full of the signature optimism and the loving handling of its characters' flaws that are the series's hallmark. Yes, Sniff totally fights a dragon (well, giant lizard) and there's plenty of lemonade and a fuddled Hemulen. But if this is the lighthearted end of the series's spectrum, that's just to illustrate how deep these books go. Anyway. My five-year-old loved it for the adventuring and exploring -- I don't want to make it sound as though the existential horror is laid on thick, or anything. But it's maybe the first bedtime story series that I've been as rapt with as she was.

9 people found this helpful

Sebastian Palmer

Sublime enchantment

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 26, 2014

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Comet In Moominland - Tove Jansson (Puffin hardback edition)

Oh my goodness! If ever you feared that childish enchantment might be inexorably snuffed out with the steady encroachment of careworn adult years, then I'd thoroughly recommend a dose of Tove Jansson's sublimely enchanting Moomintroll stories. Clearly written with children in mind, I'm nonetheless just discovering Jansson's delightful world of Moomins, Snorks, Hemulens, Hattifatteners and the like, at the ripe young age of forty-something. And the experience is just terrific.

In this story you get everything, including a great adventurous journey, taking in such archetypical fairy-tale locations as a cave, forests, mountains, the sea, with all kinds of places and characters, from the humble village store to a lofty mountain-top observatory. The cast ranges from people to animals to mythological or fanciful beasts and spirits, all of which have a magically natural pagan mythological feel.

Like its predecessor The Moomins and the Great Flood , there's a cataclysm, in this instance the titular Comet, simultaneously wondrous and terrifying. As with the best of the fairy-tale tradition, be it old or new, the emotional and psychological range is complete, from carefree fun to fearful terror, but always with a sweetly gentle quasi-philosophical undertow, the whole package wrapped up in a beautiful combination of word and image that together combine into an enchanting and unique whole.

As an artist and illustrator myself, finally paying note to Jansson's work, which I've been dimly aware of since childhood, is like stubbing your toe on a pot of gold in the back garden. There's something, to use a phrase once used in reference to Tolkien, both 'epic and homely' about what she's created. And as a Northern European it also feels totally at one with my 'psyche'/worldview. This Puffin hardback is also a tremendously beautiful edition, everything form the paper, print quality, fonts, layout and dust-jacket design conspiring to make a gorgeous whole.

Through pure fortuitous happenstance I came to The Moomins & The Great Flood and Comet In Moominland in turn, not knowing that this was also their order of appearance. However, having now read both, I do now know that Finn Family Moomintroll comes next, and I can't wait to get that!

9 people found this helpful

kevinthegerbil

A joy!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 28, 2012

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I'm 41 and long have I loved the Moomins and are perhaps my favourite of all children's stories.

Tove Jansson created lovable and quirky characters, characters that you instantly feel reflect your own personality, with a simple message that a simple way of life and a life of acceptance is best, set in a beautiful land where nature is also a leading character.

Here is the second in the series, Comet in Moominland, where boyish Moomintroll and timid Sniff leave Moomin Valley to find out about a comet that is threatening the Earth. Along the way, future main characters are introduced; carefree Snufkin, the vain Snork Maiden, the officious Snork and the obsessive Hemulen. On returning home, all cower in the arms of motherly Moominmamma, I must say, in a scene which nearly had me in tears.

I agree wholeheartedly with Philip Pullman when he said "they seem to grow in wisdom and delight every time I read them." It gives a simple message of acceptance without wearing it's message on it's sleeve, something one appreciates more as one gets older.

A life-affirming joy!

4 people found this helpful

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Comet in Moominland (Moomins, 1) Paperback – Illustrated, April 27, 2010

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