Editing Tove Jansson (section)

=== Moomins ===

{{further|List of Moomin characters}}

[[File:Finn Family.png|thumb|upright|left|Cover of ''Finn Family Moomintroll'' (1948)]]

Jansson is principally known as the author of the Moomin books. Jansson created the [[Moomintroll]]s, a family who are white, round and smooth in appearance, with large snouts that make them vaguely resemble [[hippopotamus]]es. She first drew a deliberately ugly creature as a caricature of [[Immanuel Kant]], the philosopher; a kinder version became the Moomintroll.<ref name="Bosworth 2014"/> The first book, ''[[The Moomins and the Great Flood]]'', was published in 1945. Although the primary characters are Moominmamma and Moomintroll, most of the principal characters of later stories were only introduced in the next book, so ''The Moomins and the Great Flood'' is frequently considered a forerunner to the main series. The book was not a success, but the next two installments in the Moomin series, ''[[Comet in Moominland]]'' (1946) and ''[[Finn Family Moomintroll]]'' (1948), brought Jansson some fame.{{efn|The original title of ''Finn Family Moomintroll'', {{lang|sv|Trollkarlens Hatt}}, which would more literally be ''The Magician's Hat'' in English.}}<ref name="Bosworth 2014">{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-26529309 |title=Tove Jansson: Love, war and the Moomins |last=Bosworth |first=Mark |publisher=[[BBC]] |date=13 March 2014 |accessdate=13 March 2014}}</ref>

The style of the Moomin books changed as time went by. The first books, written starting during the Second World War, up to ''[[Moominland Midwinter]]'' (1957), are adventure stories that include floods, comets and supernatural events.<ref name="Allardice 2019">{{Cite news |last=Allardice |first=Lisa |title='It is a religion': how the world went mad for Moomins |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/apr/06/it-is-a-religion-how-the-world-went-mad-for-moomins |date=2019-04-06 |work=The Guardian |access-date=2019-04-07 |issn=0261-3077}}</ref> ''The Moomins and the Great Flood'' deals with Moominmamma and Moomintroll's flight through a dark and scary forest, where they encounter various dangers. In ''Comet in Moominland'', a comet nearly destroys the Moominvalley. Some critics have considered this an [[allegory]] of [[nuclear weapons]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Schoolfield |first=George C. |title=A history of Finland's literature |page=572 |publisher=[[University of Nebraska Press]] |date=1998 |isbn=978-0-8032-4189-3 }}</ref> ''Finn Family Moomintroll'' deals with adventures brought on by the discovery of a magician's hat.<ref name="Bosworth 2014"/> ''[[The Exploits of Moominpappa]]'' (1950) tells the story of Moominpappa's adventurous youth and cheerfully parodies the [[genre]] of [[memoir]].<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.moomin.com/en/blog/introduction-to-moomin-books-the-exploits-of-moominpappa-1950/#20ecff28 | title=Introduction to Moomin books: The Exploits of Moominpappa, 1950 | date=21 December 2015 }}</ref> Finally, ''[[Moominsummer Madness]]'' (''Farlig midsommar'', 1955) is set in a theatre: the Moomins explore the empty building and perform Moominpappa's [[melodrama]].<ref name="Detweiler 2010">{{cite web |last=Detweiler |first=Katelyn |title=Moominsummer Madness Re-read |url=https://www.tor.com/2010/04/22/moominsummer-madness/ |website=[[Tor.com]] |access-date=3 December 2023 |date=22 April 2010}}</ref> 

''[[Moominland Midwinter]]'' marks a turning point in the series. Jansson described it as a book about “what it is like when things get difficult”: the story focuses on Moomintroll, who wakes up in the middle of the winter (Moomins hibernate from November to April), and has to cope with the strange and unfriendly world he finds.<ref name="Guardian Books 7 May 2020">{{cite news |title=My favourite book as a kid ... Moominland Midwinter by Tove Jansson |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2020/may/07/my-favourite-book-as-a-kid-moominland-midwinter-by-tove-jansson |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |date=7 May 2020}}</ref><ref name="Guardian Books 6 April 2019">{{cite news |title='It is a religion': how the world went mad for Moomins |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/apr/06/it-is-a-religion-how-the-world-went-mad-for-moomins |date=6 April 2019}}</ref> The short story collection ''[[Tales from Moominvalley]]'' (1962) and the novels ''[[Moominpappa at Sea]]'' (1965) and ''[[Moominvalley in November]]'' (1970) are serious and psychologically searching books, far removed from the light-heartedness and cheerful humor of ''Finn Family Moomintroll''.<ref name="Guardian Books 6 April 2019"/> ''Moominvalley in November'', in which the Moomin family themselves never appear, is especially sombre in tone, possibly in consequence of the death of Jansson's mother during the year that it was written. Because of this, it has been described as being a "textbook on letting go, being a mature orphan, existing spiritually alone".<ref name="biografiakeskus"/> Following this book, Jansson stated that she "couldn't go back and find that happy Moominvalley again" and so decided to stop writing the Moomin books.<ref name=Burr>{{cite news |last=Burr |first=Ty |title=Moomin Struck - Tove Jansson: 1914-2001 |url=https://ew.com/article/2001/07/27/moomin-struck/ |newspaper=Entertainment Weekly |accessdate=25 November 2012 |date=27 July 2001 |archive-date=25 July 2015 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150725020417/https://ew.com/article/2001/07/27/moomin-struck/}}</ref>

In addition to the Moomin novels and short stories, Tove Jansson wrote and illustrated four  picture books: ''[[The Book about Moomin, Mymble and Little My]]'' (1952),<ref name="LOC 2014">{{cite web |last=Casper |first=Robert |url=https://blogs.loc.gov/catbird/2014/08/celebrating-tove-jansson/ |title=Celebrating Tove Jansson |publisher=Library of Congress |date=2014-08-11 |accessdate=2017-01-01}}</ref> ''[[Who will Comfort Toffle?]]'' (1960), ''[[The Dangerous Journey]]'' (1977) and ''[[An Unwanted Guest]]'' (1980). As the Moomins' fame grew, two of the original novels, ''Comet in Moominland'' and ''The Exploits of Moominpappa'', were revised{{efn|The first edition (1946) of ''Comet in Moominland'' echoed the threat to Finland of a Soviet takeover at that time. The 1956 and 1968 editions were edited as the threats changed. By 1968, that was nuclear war.<ref name="Markkanen 2016">{{cite journal |last=Markkanen |first=Tapio |title=Echoes of Cosmic Events and Global Politics in Moominvalley: Cosmic and Astronomical Sources of Incitement in Tove Jansson's Comet in Moominland |journal=Acta Baltica Historiae et Philosophiae Scientiarum |date=2016 |volume=4 |issue=1 |doi=10.11590/abhps.2016.1 |doi-access=free }}</ref>}} by Jansson and republished.<ref>{{cite book |last=Jansson |first=Tove |title=Mumintrollet på kometjakt |date=1956 |publisher=Sörlins förlag |location=[[Vadstena]] |edition=2nd |language=Swedish}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Jansson |first=Tove |title=Muminpappans memoarer |date=1956 |publisher=Geber |location=Stockholm |edition=2nd |language=Swedish}}</ref>

[[File:Tove Jansson 1956.jpg|thumb|Jansson in 1956 with Moomintroll dolls made by [[Atelier Fauni]] ]]
Critics have interpreted various Moomin characters as being inspired by real people, especially members of the author's family and close friends, and Jansson spoke in interviews about the backgrounds of, and possible models for, her characters.<ref name="biografiakeskus"/> The personality of Tuulikki Pietilä, Jansson's partner, inspired the character Too-Ticky in ''Moominland Midwinter'',<ref name="Liukkonen"/><ref name="biografiakeskus"/> while Moomintroll and [[Little My]] have been seen as psychological [[self-portrait]]s of the artist.<ref name="Liukkonen"/><ref name="biografiakeskus"/> <!--Jansson referred to Moomintroll as her alter-ego.(Karjalainen 2014, pn)--> The Moomins relate strongly to Jansson's own family – they were [[bohemianism|bohemian]] and lived close to nature. Jansson remained close to her mother until her mother's death in 1970; even after Tove had become an adult, the two often traveled together, and during her final years Signe lived with Tove part-time.<ref name="biografiakeskus"/> Moominpappa and Moominmamma are often seen as portraits of Jansson's parents.<ref name="Liukkonen"/><ref name="biografiakeskus"/>