Reviews

Näkymätön lapsi ja muita kertomuksia by Tove Jansson

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apechild's review against another edition

4.0

Hey! My last Moomin book to read. I have now re read all the Moomin books in 2007 =)

This one is a collection of short stories about the moomins and other characters living in Moominvalley. Some are better than others and I don't think this is my favourite Moomin book. But it was still worth reading.

2016 note - review from my bookcrossing 2007 journal.

iamstraightasanoodle's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

One of the best children's books I have ever read. The important issue of what happens when a child is neglected but also the importance of anger as a feeling. Good book for both children and adults. I will def use this in the future both with my own children and in the classroom.

Content Warnings

fini_hch's review against another edition

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adventurous lighthearted reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

juushika's review against another edition

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4.0

Nine stories. Short fiction provides an opportunity to view lesser-seen aspects of characters (Snufkin's hidden depths are always a delight, particularly the view into his relationship with Moomintroll in "The Spring Tune") and build one-off arcs and characters. Most stories have distinct lessons, but the moralizing is lampshaded (as in "Cedric") and has new and mollifying tone: a cynicism that caveats the hopeful endings but also makes them more valuable. The Moomin cast are frequently at odds with social expectation, they're awkward or yearning; but this sense of discontent is different and feels more mature. It makes for stories like "The Fillyjonk Who Believed in Disasters," raw and cathartic and bitter and joyful, which I loved. And while short fiction collections always vary in quality, the bits of tone that don't work for me are contained to a single story rather than compromising an otherwise-strong work, which is an issue I've had in the novels. This is probably my favorite of the Moomin books thus far, which I wouldn't've expected of a short story collection, but I guess it's no surprise that I prefer my whimsy with a side of bitterness/sadness.

kittybetty's review against another edition

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5.0

This is an all-time favorite, and reading the final story aloud is a Yuletide tradition. My daughter and I shared the whole volume as a read-aloud in our latest re-read, savoring it slowly, one story at a time, every few days. Even so, it was over too soon, and now we will have to re-read the entire Moomin series together. Every time I read Tove Jansson, I treasure familiar moments, but other moments pop out that I hadn't savored enough before, and so I'm surprised and delighted anew. Recently we branched out to read Jansson's writing for adults, not having realized before that she had written anything non-Moomin, so now we have a whole pile of new favorites, but it's her ability to weave wisdom for all ages into light and fanciful children's books that puts Jansson forever on a top shelf, alongside Milne, Kipling, Grahame, and Lindgren.