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'�cole 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.

Reviews

"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