Exploits Of Moominpappa (Moomins Fiction)

There's a lot of me in Moominpapa. He's sure there's something special about him. He's got talent. All he needs is for someone to take note . . . and to stay away from Aunts who would force him to play educational games.

I admit to being a little disappointed when I discovered that this was not the story of Moominpappa's adventures following the Hattifatteners, but I soon came round to embrace this strange tale of fathers: Moomintroll's, Sniff's, and Snufkin's, respectively. I was a little concerned that Sniff and

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Snufkin appeared to have never even met their parents, but I guess in Moominland that's not such a crazy notion. Anyway, this is Moominpappa's somewhat embellished account of his early years, from his abandonment at a Hemulen-run orphanage to the day he met Moominmamma. I was truly entertained by the Autocrat's speeches, and the art was wonderful as always, but this was not my favorite Moomin book. Moominpappa's inflated sense of self-importance was amusing at first, but became tiresome by the end. Luckily, it's a very short book, and does not overstay its welcome.

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So, I am always checking out the middle grades fiction section at my local bookstore, looking for books for Jefferson as well as books for my We Need Diverse Books challenge supporting his classroom. The day I was scouring the shelves and found a set of all of Jansson's Moomin novels, I may have

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done a little happy dance. I definitely made a strange animal noise of some kind.

At some point in my childhood, I was gifted with a copy of Tales from Moominvalley by my Uncle Tom, and I quickly realized it was one of the best books ever. It took me a much longer time to realize that it wasn't the only Moomin book out there, and I can't tell you how many times I've looked for Jansson on the shelves of various bookstores, only to slowly accumulate three or four more of the series, over decades.

Now that I was staring at brightly colored versions of all eight, I couldn't let this chance pass me by, despite the fact that I sadly have still not catalogued by entire book collection, and couldn't remember exactly which ones I was still missing. (I did end up having to exchange one of the new ones I bought.)

One of the new books went into my surprise box for reading out loud on a road trip, but this one skipped to the front of my to-read list. I had some concerns, as Moominpappa has never been my favorite character, and most of the other characters are largely absent. But this turned out to be quite lovely, about not knowing where one fits in, and being torn between the desire to have grand adventures and the desire to build a cozy, ornately decorated home. Large parts of the story are absurd, of course, but mostly in a charming way. And finally getting an origin story for Mymble's Daughter and Little My (among others, but you know it's Little My I really care about) was quite satisfying.

Does not quite make it to the level of Moominland Midwinter or Tales from Moominvalley, but those two are, in my opinion, quite near perfection.

Now I want to go read Moominland Midwinter again.

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