One of my sisters bought me all the Puffin translations of Tove Jansson's Moomin books last Christmas but for some reason her first book,
The Moomins and the Great Flood, has not been released in the UK, at least not by Puffin. Tove Jansson died in 2001 and left behind the queer world of the Moomins, a race of trolls that have become cultural icons of Finland's landscape. This second book is about a pending apocalypse in the form of a falling comet heading straight towards the home valley of the pale trolls. The main character, Moomintroll, and his talking animal friend Sniff, are granted permission by very irresponsible parents to make a perilous voyage to the Lonely Mountains in order to seek the advice of secluded astrologers. Along the way they team up with other quirky characters who accompany them on their journey, including the roaming tramp, Snufkin, some Snork siblings, and a cross-dressing Hemulen.
It's a simple story complemented by Tove's illustrations which are bound to appeal to younger readers. The only scene that really stood out in my mind was the gang's return journey across a dried up sea bed on stilts. It provided a particularly fantastical and imaginative chapter which resonated strongly with modern climate issues. Many of the other scenes came across as a little too haphazard and random. Most of the humour arises from the fact that nobody seems to care that much about the impending apocalypse as they go about their daily lives. As this book came out in the 1940s, be prepared for heaps of casual sexism. The ending was a bit of a cop-out in my opinion, but I won't ruin what may be considered a major 'spoiler' by some readers. I look forward to reading the other books in the series, for they can most certainly be enjoyed by children and adults alike.
Rating: 3/5
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