April 28, 2009
One quality shared by the few timeless masterpieces of childrens literature is that they make the supremely complex and difficult task of writing a timeless masterpiece appear effortless. We feel that the story and the characters have always been there and will always be there. This is particularly true of Tove Jannson's Moomin books. The Moomin books are beloved worldwide, but somewhat less well known in the United States. This has been changing of late, with the popular reprints of her comic book Moomin stories, and her marvelous adult novel, The Summer Book. Publishers Weekly wrote an article recently, which I chatted with them about, concerning the imminent possibility of the Moomins being franchised, of toys and cartoons, and new writers hired to write Moomin books for younger children and so forth. This issue really made me think about the whole issue of franchising beloved works by deceased authors. My gut reaction was that a quiz for prospective Moomin authors should be made that would look like this.1. Are you Tove Jannson? ☐ Yes ☑ No If you checked no then you should not write new Moomin books but rather read or reread Comet in Moominland  Yet is this reaction perhaps a bit small minded? Isn't fresh attention, no matter how garish or reductive, a good thing if it draws more people to the Moomins? The Lord of the Rings films, for example, were hard for me to watch, as I knew the books too well. Indeed seeing a mass of green jello carry the Battle of the Pelennor Fields was somewhat excruciating to behold. Yet the films certainly reinvigorated interest in the books, which was an unquestionably fine thing. So is it wrong to dread the prospect of new Moomin books written down for toddlers, with titles something along the lines of
Snufkin Learns His Colors, Counting Family Moomintroll and
Sniff Goes to Kindergarten? Let us know by email or by leaving a comment at The Weekly Top 2 Comment Central area of our Facebook page.Here they are! Our weekly picks for the two best: two hardcover, two paperback, and two children's books. The very best new arrivals to leap out of the box and onto our shelves this week. Call or email us if you want more information on any of these titles, or to have us hold you a copy. Or stop in and check them out in person. We'd love to see you. Thanks as always for sharing your reading with us!
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