After seeing the Swedish version on stopping off place, I went looking and found the November reissue by the UK publisher Sort of Books, who also publishes some of Tove's adult fiction. The last of the trio of picture books Tove illustrated herself in the Moomin series, this version features a translation by UK writer and poet, Sophie Hannah, with gorgeous calligraphy by American musician and cartoonist, Peter Blegvad.
The story begins when our heroine, Susanna, wakes one morning to find herself bored and annoyed with her cat (ala Alice's Adventures in Wonderland).
You're old, Cat, and you're lazy-- Too peaceful, too serene Not me! I'm wild and crazy And I'm sick of all this green: A field, a tree, a petal-- Quite beautiful, it's true, But I'm far too young to settle For nothing much to do.
Instead of falling down a rabbit hole, her old glasses get inadvertently switched out for a new pair, and her Cat reappears as a wide-eyed loony of a thing. Beyond that, nothing is as it once appeared. A wonderful (yet dangerous) journey through the imagination where all of our Moomin Valley friends make an appearance... the Hemulen, the Hattinfatteners, Thingummy, Little My, Mymble, Moominpappa and the rest.
If you haven't yet gotten acquainted with the Moomin tribe, I suggest you start now. Drawn & Quarterly, here in the US, has reissued the picture books Who Will Comfort Toffle? and The Book About Moomin, Mymble and Little My as well as the complete comic strip. In addition, Macmillian has released a load of the Chapter Books and even created a series of board books with the characters. This UK version is available now from many sellers on Amazon, and D&Q has promised to get it out here in the US post haste. It's nice that after being out-of-print for so long state-side, many American readers will now have access to the good stuff.
Enjoy!
(Along with Alice, this site features a ton of Tove's non-Moomin illustration, including The Hobbit. How awesome is that!?!)
For years, I've been hearing about the Moomin. First from my Finnish-blooded Texas BFF, who loved them all as a child and has passed that passion down to her two lovely daughters. Then through design blogs and the wonderful world of the Internet. Except for brief glimpses of the books at my friend's house, we've never owned or fully read any of them until the Easter Bunny was kind enough to plop one in the boy's basket. (I hear he/she got it at The Twig, but I could be wrong.) Well, for all those readers who are not quite yet in the know, I think it's safe to say that the Moomin (Mumintroll) are the Finnish equivalent of Mickey Mouse. Beginning in 1945, first there were novels and comic strips, then picture books and eventually televisions shows, merchandise, a theme park and finally MOVIES! (I have all fingers and toes crossed that this one will make it to Texas, but somehow I doubt it.)
That said, the Moomin are trolls that look sort of like hippos and there are loads of other characters who, if and when you become a die-hard fan, make up a fully-realized imaginary world of awesome. In this adventure, we find Moomin traveling home through the woods with a jug of milk for his Mum.
Here's little Moomintroll, none other,
Hurrying home with milk for Mother.
Quick, Moomintroll, it's nearly night.
Run home while there's a bit of light.
Don't hang around in WOODS like these.
Strange creatures lurk between the trees.
The wind begins to howl and hiss.
Now, guess what happens after THIS.
Each spread ends with a cliff hanger that is accented by a die-cut giving you a peek of the action on the next page. Really brilliant. By and by, the Moomintroll comes across his friend Mymble who is weeping over her lost sister Little My. The two take up the quest to locate her, meeting all sorts of beings and adventures along the way.
Seriously, everything about this book I love. The matte finish, the colors, the lyrics, the shapes of the characters, how the words are drawn. And to think this book is over fifty years old, really blows my mind. My son totally got it from the get go, and he's dragged the book around with him for the last few days. I'm not sure why after five years of cajoling by my friend it took us this long to get to Moomin, but now that we're here, I suspect the birthday bird is gonna be toting more than a few of these tomes come May.
(I'm particularly endeared to the die-cut on the back cover that offers a view out into the real world. Marvelous, I tell you!!!)
Who Will Comfort Toffle? Tove Jansson ~ translated by Kingsley Hart
not sure of the original publisher but mine is Schildts, 1960
set for reprint in November 2010 by Drawn and Quarterly
Original title: Vem ska trösta knyttet?
And since I mentioned Moomin this morning... time to pull out the second volume (after The Book of Moomin, Mymble and Little My) in the picture book series. I'll skip the introductions as by now you should all know a little something about the Moomins, if not simply click here.
In this book we meet Toffle.
Now once upon a time, although not very long ago,
And hidden in the forest where the tall dark pine trees grow,
There lived a boy named Toffle in a house that stood alone,
He always felt so lonely, and one night was heard to moan:
"I feel so frightened of the dark, especially tonight,
Perhaps I'll feel a bit more safe if all my lamps I light,
And if that doesn't really help, then into bed I'll creep
And cover up my head and try to cry myself to sleep."
Pitiful, no? The night is spooky and there is no one there to comfort poor Toffle, so he takes off in search of... something. But the more he walked the lonelier he grew. Strangers everywhere, too afraid to make a friend... until he finds a message in a bottle that shows him he is not so alone.
Quirky and way out-there for many an American sensibility, all the Moomin tales are filled with heart and deep soul sifting, something my child (for one) knows all about. The pursuit of home and love and purpose begins the moment we are born, and these books are a wonderful compendium for your child's search for self.
I mentioned a few days back that I got a package from Drawn & Quarterly. Well, avert your eyes all ye children who receive holiday gifts from me, lest your Christmas comeuppance be spoiled. (Hey, if Target can start shilling for the holidays before Halloween, so can I!)
First up is Pippi Moves In! From the publisher... "Pippi Moves In marks the first time that the legendary Pippi Longstocking comics by famed children’s author and creator Astrid Lindgren and Danish illustrator Ingrid Vang Nyman will be published outside of Scandinavia in thirty years, as well as their first ever publication in English." Wowser. Pippi Longstocking on an ultra awesome pill. Awesome as an adjective doesn't even begin to do it justice. Tucked underneath were these little paperback Moomin comic strip books by the eternally fabulous Tove Jansson: Moomin's Winter Follies and Moomin Valley Turns Jungle. Perfect stocking stuffers! And perfect additions to our Moomin picture book collection: The Dangerous Journey, Who Will Comfort Toffle? and The Book About Moomin, Mymble and Little My. Time to start book hoarding for the holidays folks!
VKBMKL: Any children's book illustrators that you love that you discovered as an adult? Or is there a book you find yourself buying over and over again to give to your son's friends?
CARSON: I discovered Alice and Martin Provensen five or six years ago and I couldn't believe I hadn't known of them before. I feel so kindred to them - it seemed impossible that they hadn't been influencing me my whole life. Also, Taro Gomi, Mitsumasa Anno, Miroslav Sasek, Ivan Bilibin, Wanda Gag, Tove Jansson, and Tomi Ungerer, who I didn't truly discover as an adult - I read Crictor and Flat Stanley as a kid - but I don't think I really understood what an amazing, weird genius he was until recently.
As for oft purchased books, I've bought a lot of copies of both Little Fur Family by Margaret Wise Brown and Garth Williams and My Friends by Taro Gomi. They're two of my favorite board books and board books are my favorite gifts to give to new parents.
VKBMKL: Did you go into illustration with children's books in mind or is that something that came about later on?
CARSON: I've wanted to illustrate children's books since I was a kid but I didn't study illustration in college. I grew up in New York but was strongly, mysteriously drawn to the University of Montana, where I got a painting degree because they didn't offer illustration classes. I assumed it would be more or less the same idea. It wasn't. I graduated knowing nothing about illustration - not what an art director does, nor how to use a computer, nor what the term "editorial illustration" means. After college, I was a painter and I worked a lot of cocktail waitressing and bartending jobs. My first illustration gigs were the work I did for The Decemberists - album art, flyers, drawings for t-shirts and websites. More and more people saw that stuff and it led to editorial work, which eventually led to book work. So it was always the goal to illustrate books but I came to it in a long, roundabout way.
VKBMKL: As the subject matter hits home for this blog, can you tell me how the idea for the "Reading Frenzy" print came about?
CARSON: My friend (and fellow vintage kids' book enthusiast) Chloe Eudaly owns an awesome little bookstore in Portland called Reading Frenzy. I made the print for her to sell there. It's a portrait of Hank who really exists in a perpetual reading frenzy, though this illustration is a bit staged. If this was an actual portrait of my son reading, half the books in this pile would be Eyewitness Books. It's an ode to Hank and his love of reading but equally to the books I especially love.
VKBMKL: I've always been fascinated by married couples who work together in children's literature: Ruth Krauss and Crocket Johnson; Leo and Diane Dillon; Martin and Alice Provensen. How has working on The Wildwood Chronicles with your husband changed your home life and how has it affected you as an artist?
CARSON: It was fun and challenging. In general, I've found there's not a lot of collaboration happening between authors and illustrators of books these days. Illustrators are typically handed finished manuscripts and there's not really an invitation to offer criticism or feedback. And, in my experience, it goes both ways - I've never gotten feedback from an author on my sketches and, in a couple of cases, the author didn't even see the illustrations until the final art was all done. So, of course, working with Colin was really different. We thought about Wildwood, talked about it and worked on it around the clock. Creative collaboration can be a messy and painful thing though, especially when undertaken by people who love each other and who are comfortable being honest with each other about what they like and don't like. We fought over things in a way I never would with another author. There's something to be said for having an editor as a diplomat and go-between. That said, we've been collaborating for over ten years on all things Decemberists so we're not strangers to that process; to hurting feelings, melting down and then somehow, in the end, coming to accord. Disagreeing seems an inevitable part of the process for us but I think we've gotten pretty good at it. I also think there's a sort of telepathy that happens between married couples that really streamlines creative collaboration. I can often picture what Colin is envisioning when he writes a passage and he can often picture what the illustration will look like when I draw it. In this way, once we settled on how Wildwood would look - it's medium and palette - the interior illustrations came really easily and peacefully.As for how it changed our home life, I'd say, occasional bickering aside, it was very sweet. We're both always working on something - each of us knee deep in some all-consuming project - and it was fun to have that project be the same thing for both of us this time. Our household revolved around Wildwood for a couple of years. We were always thinking and talking about it; Colin read Hank and I new pages at the end of every day; Hank was totally wrapped up in it. We were really immersed in that world.
VKBMKL: And one silly question about your husband. In his music, as in what I've read so far of the book, he's a very lyrical writer. He often uses dated phrasing and words, and I wondered if he talks like that in real life or if he keeps note books where he collects words that strike him?
CARSON: Ha! No, he doesn't talk like that. He's an articulate guy and an eloquent speaker when he wants to be. He loves lyrical, multi-syllabic words and I guess he'd use words like palanquin and bombazine and arabesque if they came up in conversation but, really, how often do they come up in conversation?
Thanks Carson. My husband and son have been reading a chapter a night of Wildwood for the past few weeks, and it's right up my son's alley. Nature and fantasy combined is his perfection.
The Dangerous Journey
You're old, Cat, and you're lazy--
Instead of falling down a rabbit hole, her old glasses get inadvertently switched out for a new pair, and her Cat reappears as a wide-eyed loony of a thing. Beyond that, nothing is as it once appeared. A wonderful (yet dangerous) journey through the imagination where all of our Moomin Valley friends make an appearance... the Hemulen, the Hattinfatteners, Thingummy, Little My, Mymble, Moominpappa and the rest. 
If you haven't yet gotten acquainted with the Moomin tribe, I suggest you start now. Drawn & Quarterly, here in the US, has reissued the picture books Who Will Comfort Toffle? and The Book About Moomin, Mymble and Little My as well as the complete comic strip. In addition, Macmillian has released a load of the Chapter Books and even created a series of board books with the characters. This UK version is available now from many sellers on Amazon, and D&Q has promised to get it out here in the US post haste. It's nice that after being out-of-print for so long state-side, many American readers will now have access to the good stuff. 
Also by: 
