Tales from Moominvalley

This article is about the Moomin book by Tove Jansson. For a 1990 television series based on the Jansson's books, see Tales from Moominvalley (TV series).

Tales from Moominvalley (Swedish: Det osynliga barnet och andra berättelser, literally 'The Invisible Child and other stories') is the seventh book in the Moomins series by Finnish author Tove Jansson. Unlike all the other books, which are novels, it is a collection of short stories, the longest book in the series. It was first published in 1962 (second edition 1998). The book forms the basis of episodes 9, 10, 13, 24, and 36 of the 1990 TV series.

Tales from Moominvalley

First edition (Swedish)
Author	Tove Jansson
Language	Swedish
Series	Moomins
Genre	Children's novel
Publisher	Schildts
Publication date	1962
Publication place	Finland
Preceded by	Moominland Midwinter
Followed by	Moominpappa at Sea

The book contains nine stories:

• The Spring Tune (Vårvisan)
• A Tale of Horror (En hemsk historia)
• The Fillyjonk Who Believed in Disasters (Filifjonkan som trodde på katastrofer)
• The Last Dragon in the World (Historien om den sista draken i världen)
• The Hemulen Who Loved Silence (Hemulen som älskade tystnad)
• The Invisible Child (Berättelsen om det osynliga barnet)
• The Secret of the Hattifatteners (Hatifnattarnas hemlighet)
• Cedric (Cedric)
• The Fir Tree (Granen)^[1]

Reception

Kirkus Reviews compared Moominvalley to the writing of Lewis Carroll, highlighting how Jansson "takes up into a fantasia world with near-real inhabitants". In addition to describing the joys of the written text, Kirkus Reviews noted that the book's "creatures are given additional substance by the illustrations".^[2]

Adaptation

Along with other Moomins books, the stories and characters from Tales from Moominvalley were adapted into a Dutch-Japanese-Finnish anime television series produced by Telecable Benelux B.V. and animated by Telescreen Japan in the 1990s.^[3]