Moominvalley in November ANNOTATION
Winter's approach brings six friends together in Moominvalley where, in the Moomins' absence, they must visit with each other.
FROM THE PUBLISHER
Tove Jansson's Moomin characters and books are admired the world over. In the United States the series beginning with Finn Family Moomintroll (first published in English in 1945) has accumulated generations of fans. Since Farrar, Straus and Giroux began reissuing the books in 1989, grateful readers old and new have been thrilled to have the stories available again. At last the final installment is being published - oddly, the only book that features none of the Moomin family themselves, though it does take place at their house. There familiar characters converge - Snufkin, the Hemulen, Fillyjonk, and others - seeking out the Moomins' welcoming company, only to find them absent. All remain at the house, all have very different personalities that clash often, but something about their homey cohabitation during the icy winter changes each visitor in a gratifying way. As The Times Literary Supplement put it, Moominvalley in November is "possibly the cleverest of the Moomin books."
FROM THE CRITICS
Publishers Weekly
Moominvalley in November (1971) by Tove Jansson, the eighth book about the Moomins, winds up the series, as six friends of Moominpappa and Moominmamma travel separately to their home, only to find that the Finn family Moomintroll is gone. The lonely Snufkin, Fillyjonk, Toft and the others eventually find the companionship they're seeking in each other. Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.
Children's Literature - Julie Govan
Tove Jansson, beloved Finnish author, created an entire series of books about the Moomins, and this final volume is no less dreamy, whimsical, or wise. In fact, its unusual structure and plot may make it the most cleverly crafted of the novels, for not one of his main Moomin family characters appears in it. Instead, six very different and very lonely visitors descend upon the Moomin home while they are away, looking for the comfort and company that the Moomins represent. Somewhat bizarrely, they all stay on, uninvited, and settle in to make themselves at home. There are conflicts, of course, as self-reliant Snufkin, frightened little Toft, neurotically fussy Fillyjonk, the depressed Hemulen, old and lonely Grandpa-Grumble, and breezy little Mymble try to coexist as winter closes in. However, they eventually find ways to interact comfortably with one another, until at last each drifts off to his or her own place—with the exception of Toft, who sits down to wait for the Moomin family to come home. Jansson manages these characters' gentle transitions without any of the over-tidy solutions, which plague so many books, adult or otherwise. The endings in this book are neither exuberantly happy nor overly pensive—instead, the reader gets the feeling that this is simply how people are and accepts each character's vagaries at face value. That gives the book its dreamy, unfocused quality, while also making it a superb choice for thoughtful and sensitive young readers who can imagine the creatures to life. 2003 (orig. 1971), Sunburst/Farrar Strauss and Giroux, Ages 9 to 12.
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