A SCANDINAVIAN MIDCENTURY CLASSIC BACK IN PRINT Who Will Comfort Toffle? is the timeless, magical tale of the wistful wallflower, Toffle-too shy to speak to anyone and too fearful of the world he is watching from afar. Lonely and sad, Toffle runs away from home and watches the magical cast of Moomin Valley-Mymble, My, Snufkin, the merry whompses and the Fillyjonk-celebrate and enjoy life. His insecurity continues to only serve his isolation until he has the courage to overcome his fears by reaching out to another frightened introvert, the mesmerizing Miffle. Who Will Comfort Toffle? is an endearing, introspective story that will speak to readers of all ages-anyone who has ever needed a friend to pull them out of their shell. Joining Drawn & Quarterly's archival series of Moomin The Complete Tove Jansson Comic Strip, Moomin, Mymble & Little My, and the Moomintroll chapter books is the glorious reprinting of the Tove Jansson classic children's book Who Will Comfort Toffle? with a loving translation by British poet Sophie Hannah.
A virtual memoir in letters by the beloved creator of the Moomins Tove Jansson’s works, even her famed Moomin books, fairly teem with letters of one kind or another, from messages bobbing in bottles to whole epistolary novels. Fortunately for her countless readers, her life was no different, unfolding as it did in the letters to family, friends, and lovers that make up this volume, a veritable autobiography over the course of six decades—and the only one Jansson ever wrote. And just as letters carry a weight of significance in Jansson’s writing, those she wrote throughout her life reflect the gravity of her circumstances, the depth of her thoughts and feelings, and the critical moments of humor, sadness, and grace that mark an artist’s days. These letters, penned with characteristic insight and wit, provide an almost seamless commentary on Jansson’s life within Helsinki’s bohemian circles and on her island home. Shifting between hope and despair, yearning and happiness, they describe her immersion in art studies and her ascension to fame with the Moomins. They speak frankly of friendship and love, loneliness and solidarity, and also of politics, art, literature, and society. They summon a particular place and time reflected through a mind finely attuned to her culture, her world, and her own nature—all clearly put into biographical and historical context by the volume’s editors, both longtime friends of Tove Jansson—and, in the end, draw a complex, intimate self-portrait of one of the world’s most beloved authors.
The Moomin family and their friends are the delightful creation of Tove Jansson, and are full of a particular humour and magic that has enchanted generations of children and adults alike. Using the author's original characters and artwork, Moomin and the Birthday Button is part of a stunning new range of children's titles launching in the year of the Moomins' 65th anniversary celebrations. In this, the first of a new series of picture books, Moomintroll wakes up full of excitement. It's his birthday! But when it appears that his friends have forgotten all about his special day, Moomintroll is very upset. Even Moominmamma finds it hard to comfort him! Then there's a knock at the door . . . Who can it be, and what will happen next?
The Finnish-Swedish writer and artist Tove Jansson achieved worldwide fame as the creator of the Moomin stories, written between 1945 and 1970 and still in print in more than twenty languages. However, the Moomins were only a part of her prodigious output. Already admired in Nordic art circles as a painter, cartoonist and illustrator, she would go on to write a series of classic novels and short stories. She remains Scandinavia's best loved author. Tove Jansson's work reflected the tenets of her life: her love of family (and special bond with her mother), of nature, and her insistence on freedom to pursue her art. Love and work was the motto she chose for herself and her approach to both was joyful and uncompromising. If her relationships with men foundered on her ambivalence towards marriage, those with women came as a revelation, especially the love and companionship she found with her long-time partner, the artist Tuulikki Pietilä, with whom she lived on the solitary island of Klovharu. In this meticulously researched, authorised biography, Boel Westin draws together the many threads of Jansson's life: from the studies interrupted to help her family; the dark shades of war and her emergence as an artist with a studio of her own; to the years of Moomin-mania, and later novel writing. Based on numerous conversations with Tove, and unprecedented access to her journals, letters and personal archives, Tove Jansson: Life, Art, Words offers a rare and privileged insight into the world of a writer whom Philip Pullman described, simply, as 'a genius'.
Tove Jansson's Moomin characters and books are admired the world over. In the United States the series beginning with Finn Family Moomintroll (first published in English in 1945) has accumulated generations of fans. Since Farrar, Straus and Giroux began reissuing the books in 1989, grateful readers old and new have been thrilled to have the stories available again. At last the final installment is being published – oddly, the only book that features none of the Moomin family themselves, though it does take place at their house. There familiar characters converge – Snufkin, the Hemulen, Fillyjonk, and others – seeking out the Moomins' welcoming company, only to find them absent. All remain at the house, all have very different personalities that clash often, but something about their homey cohabitation during the icy winter changes each visitor in a gratifying way. As The Times Literary Supplement put it, Moominvalley in November is "possibly the cleverest of the Moomin books."
An ordinary bubble may seem pretty harmless to you. To the monsters of La La Land, however, a fragile, shimmering bubble is an object of terror, and when the frightening habits of bubbles are detailed by a fear-mongering monster, Yerbert, Froofle, and Wumpus run away and cry. But with encouragement from the narrator and from readers—“Go on, Wumpus, you can do it. (Tell Wumpus he can do it.)”—the three learn to confront their fears and triumph over the bubbles! An original, offbeat, and giggle-inducing take on conquering fears from the New York Times best-selling team responsible for the groundbreaking Those Darn Squirrels! books.
Love is . . . Loud Love is . . . Quiet Join The Moomins for a celebration of love. This delightful little book features all of your favourite Moomin characters and whimsical illustrations by Tove Jansson. The perfect gift for Valentine's Day, or any other day you want to say 'I love you!'
Includes four comic strips featuring Moomin, a teenage troll who looks like a hippopotamus and passively deals with life's troubles; including "Moomin's Winter Follies," "Moomin Mamma's Maid," "Moomin Builds a House," and "Moomin Begins a New Life."