World Famous Comics: Moominland Midwinter (Moomintrolls)
Moominland Midwinter (Moomintrolls)
From: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR) Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR) Average Rating: Binding: Paperback Label: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR) Number of Items: 1 Number of Pages: 176 Publication Date: September 01, 1992 Reading Level: Ages 9-12
Everyone knows that the Moomins sleep through the winter, but this year Moomintroll has woken up in January. After his initial shock at seeing his familiar haunts under the snow, Moomintroll discovers that winter is worth waking up for after all.
Favorite Jansson Moominland Midwinder is my favorite Moomin story. I think anyone who, like me, has grown up in California - or any relatively temperate climate - will be fascinated by this story of extreme winter.
It does not have the large cast - you are stuck with Moomintroll and Little My mostly. It is a quiet snow-covered book.
Make a cup of cocoa and pull the covers close before you start reading. (It is super bedtime read-aloud material too. My son - 3rd grade -loved it.)
Another fine moomin book. Tove Jansson, Moominland Midwinter (FSG, 1958)
Oh, those crazy moomins! In this installment, Moomintroll wakes up halfway through the winter. It's tough to be a hibernating animal with insomnia. With no one to play with, he mopes about the house for a few days before venturing outside and finding that the world in winter is a very different place than the world in summer, and there are many new friends to be made and adventures to be had.
As always, a charming book. ****
Other Books Smash them, fry them, blow them up or drown them, no joy there, how about freezing?
Well, not really, as the little troll guys actually make like bears and hibernate, to prevent any of that cold problem from bothering them too much. Makes sense to me, bloody cold in Scandinavian type areas, avoiding that is quite clever.
However, our favorite moomin has a minor issue in that his snoozing stops, and he wakes up alone in this yucky cold stuff, and has to deal.
Great Book--Clumsy Translation This translation is very difficult to read out loud--and would be almost impossible for children to read on their own. Syntax is convoluted, diction is oddly stiff and formal, and the grammar isn't even always correct.
Even worse (and more confusing) this translator can't seem to keep his personal pronouns straight or even write in complete sentences. Take these two consecutive sentences, for example:
"I'm growing angry," said little My. "When, for once, one could've had some use for a sister." "Once, one" reads terribly--and the whole chunk is a fragment that messes up the rhythm of a would-be sentence. (The above quote was an entire paragraph, by the way. I haven't mislead by a partial quote.)
The Moomintroll books translated by Elizabeth Portch are delightful reads. I won't buy another Warburton translation again, though, no matter how badly I want another Moomintroll adventure.
Glorious contradictions The story line meanders casually about, yet has a great organic wholeness about it. The language is straightforward, yet profoundly beautiful; narrative, but poetic. Protagonist Moomintroll is Odyssean, yet childlike. Children will find it charmingly engaging while adults are staggered by its wise and innocent beauty.
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