Best Moomin Books to Share with Tweens

This "Best Moomin Books to Share with Tweens" lens contains 10 of our favorite Moomin books determined by our own family experiences and Amazon rankings.

( I grew up with a Mother from Finland, so also grew up reading Moomin Books and have carried on the tradition with my own children.)

In addition to our favorite Top 10 Moomin books within this holiday gift guide, for those who don't know them, you can also meet Tove Jansson, author of the Moomins and the Moomins, themselves who are celebrating 65 years of Moomin Adventures in 2010.

In her later years, Tove Jansson she turned her attention to writing for adults, so several of her books for adults have also been included.

Remember as part of the Holiday Gift Guide, for every Amazon or eBay item you buy here, the Squidoo Charity Fund will give $1 to Room to Read. Look for the Holiday Elf and you'll know your shopping is making a difference.

Moomin Books available on Amazon.

From left to right, Sniff, Snufkin, Moominpappa, Moominmamma,

Moomintroll (In front), Mymble, Groke, Snork Maiden and Hattifatteners.

What are Moomins?

• The Moomins are magical little peace-loving creatures, the creations of artist and author Tove Jansson (1914 - 2001).
• As noted in
• The Moomins
• lens, "Moomins love nature and all her creatures. They possess a tolerant and open attitude toward life with a very strong desire for adventures."
• While the Moomins and friends are gentle, caring and warm-hearted, there is also as sense of melancholy and longing in some of the characters, traits not normally seen in children's books at the time.

• The Moomins are Moominpappa, Moominmamma and Moomintroll.
• They have a whole host of friends, Mymble, Little My, Snork Maiden, Sniff, Snufkin, Groke and a collection of other magical critters. They were were created in 1945 by Tove Jansson in the book, The Moomins and the Great Flood.*

In 2010 the Moomins are celebrating 65 years of adventures in Moominland and Moominvalley.

* The Moomins and the Great Flood or The Little Trolls and the Great Flood was the last book to be translated into English and is only available in a limited edition.

A video clip from Puffinbooks, publishers of the Moomin books in the U.K. Celebrating 65 years of Tove Jansson's delightful MOOMINS! If you haven't met a Moomin yet, you're in for the most magical fun.

I remember being fascinated as a child reading the book with all of the special die-cuts and unique layering. Her technique of innovative die-cuts must have been very unusual for the time, because it is still very unique, nearly 60 years later.

My Mom reviewed The Book About Moomin, Mymble and Little My (Hardcover) for Amazon.

• This Moomin Book and I go back a long way. I have been a Tove Jansson fan since the early 1950's when I was first introduced to her books. This picture book is colorful and pleasing to eye, the art work clear and concise and imaginative. The storyline progresses through holes on each page. I have read the text in its original Swedish as well as the first English translation.
• This new edition retains the artwork and the individualized lettering which describes each character. We follow the adventures of Moomintroll, Mymble and Little My as they meet other Moominland creatures.
• In this new 2001 translation by Sophie Hannah the language flows nicely without the occasional awkwardness of the old edition while still maintaining the whimsy so characteristic to Tove Jansson.
• As a teacher I have introduced Jansson books to countless American children and of course my children and grandchildren all have their own copies! I am delighted this book and others now are available at Amazon.

The image for the Moomin website splash page is taken from

The Book About Moomin, Mymble and Little My.

More about Tove Jansson from Amazon

• Tove Jansson, writer and artist (1914-2001) first published her Moomin stories for children in England sixty years ago. They have remained in print in the UK ever since. From 1968, however, she turned her attention to writing for adults. Her bestselling novel, 'The Summer Book', is a modern Scandinavian classic. 'Travelling Light' was published fifteen years later.
• Tove Jansson, whose Moomintroll comic strip and books brought her international acclaim, lived for much of her life on an island like the one described in The Summer Book, and the work can be enjoyed as her closely observed journal of the sounds, sights, and feel of a summer spent in intimate contact with the natural world.

Real recommendations for the best gifts of the season.

At Squidoo's Holiday Gift Guide you can find some of the best recommendations for holiday gifts.

You can find a unique gift recommendation for the happiest people on your shopping list and make an instant (free) donation to charity at the same time.

For every Amazon or eBay item you buy at a Holiday Gift Guide Lens, the Squidoo Charity Fund gives $1 to Room to Read, an organization transform the lives of millions of children in developing countries by focusing on literacy and gender equality in education.

Look for the Holiday Elf and you'll know your shopping is making a difference.

Have you ever read the Moomins? Will you give the books to your kids?