"The Spring Tune"

"Snufkin was used to cooking his own dinner. He never cooked a dinner for other people if he could avoid it, nor did he care much for other people's dinners. So many people insisted on talking when they had a meal.
Also they had a great liking for chairs and tables, and some of them used napkins. He even had heard of a Hemulen who changed his clothes every time he was about to eat, but that was probably slander."

I hadn't read any of Tove Jansson's stories and was curious. Since the last story in this collection was a Christmas story, I thought, why not do it now? This collection is thoughtful, humourous, with life lessons to be reminded of -- but not in a "in your face" way -- more, a "read between the lines" way. I thoroughly enjoyed each and every one of these tales, with standouts being "The Fillyjonk who Believed in Disasters" and the aforementioned Christmas tale, "The Fir Tree". I will be reading more and my nieces, and Liam, need to become aware of Tove Jansson.