2007_04_01_archive

MOOMIN: THE COMPLETE TOVE JANSSON COMIC STRIP (FICTION)

FICTION/GRAPHIC NOVELS

MOOMIN: THE COMPLETE TOVE JANSSON COMIC STRIP by Tove Jansson (Drawn

and Quarterly)

"I only want to live in peace, plant potatoes and dream," articulates

the docile, pot-bellied Moomin, but the best laid plans often go awry

thanks to the misadventures induced by unwelcome house guests and the

social-climbing aspirations of family members. Cozy humor delivered

through the oddly fetching fantasy characters makes the reader feel

like they are perusing some sort of family album that has fallen from

another planet. In real life, author Tove Jansson grew up in Finland

with bohemian parents, a pet monkey named Poppolino, and their little

home was often visited upon by the notoriously artsy-fartsy and worse

wanna-abe's, personalities which are subtly and cunningly conveyed in

these comic strip v ignettes that double as commentary. Children will

love the rag-doll-like Mymble, the jewelry-wearing Snork-Maiden, a

Thoreau-like troll named Snufkin, and Moomin's parents who

comfortingly remain available to help Moomin when he tires of behaving

completely like a grown-up. I orginally was intrigued as a child by

Jansson's atmospheric children's novels like FINN FAMILY MOOMINTROLL,

but I have to confess it was always the wildy imaginative

black-and-white drawings that cast a spell on me. I was thrilled to

come across this sampling of stories in fully illustrated form,

oversized and with a handsome linen cover, and I'm sure reluctant

readers, visual learners and the kind of kids who like to draw their

own little "characters" to tell stories about will be equally

thrilled. The mark of great fantasy is a fully invented world, and

Jansson achieves this...moreover, it is a world we want to live in,

and play in, if only for a little while. A delightful introduction to

Jannson's work that leaves the reader wanting more. (8 and up)

LITTLE NEMO IN SLUMBERLAND: SO MANY SPLENDID SUNDAYS! by Windsor McCay

(Sunday Press Books) How much would you pay to send a child back in

time to the turn of the century so he or she could belly flop on the

rug, reading Sunday comics in their original size, eyes spinning from

their original saturated they-don't-make-'em-like-this-anymore

coloration? Well, you'd pay pretty dearly in this case, but it's worth

every penny and more to see such impeccably reproduced work of this

surrealist who had the talent to illustrate our dreams. Think I'm

kidding? You'll find out...and so will children who can be free to

peruse this mind-expanding piece of graphic genius. Uh-oh, for young

dreamers who would rather look at a books than play outside, this

volume might just take the place of summer camp. (8 and up)

On a personal note:

Lots going on, lots and lots and lots, and I promise to catch you up