Troubling times calls for comforting books and few things are as comforting Tove Jansson‘s Moomin family. In addition the novel I selected for a reread, Finn Family Moomintroll (original title: Trollkarlens hatt, Direct translation: The Magician’s Hat) is probably the most uplifting of them.
In The Magician’s Hat (I really don’t like the English title…) we follow the Moomin family and their friends during their summer adventures, adventures that are getting even more magical by a certain influence from a strange black hat. While all the Moomin novels have at least a touch of melancholy in them, this one is a distinctly happy story.
In general I like the darker Moomin stories better, especially Moominland midwinter and Tales from Moominvalley. It is not even Jansson’s best summer novel, her The Summer Book is one of my favourite books in all categories. Still, out of the lighter Moomin books, this one is probably my favourite. I enjoy the overarching story-arc around the magical hat and reading it just gives me the feeling of a happy summer holiday.
Previous Tove Jansson reviews:
I read that in a book 
It’s a wonderful little book, and the various metamorphoses caused by the hat are a delight to read about! In Polish, the book is called Lato Muminków, which translates to Moomin Summer 🙂
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Moomin Summer I can get behind, that’s a much better title than the English one, and I agree, the transformations are great!
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I think in the case of the Polish translation they wanted to keep Moomins in the titles of all books so that people wouldn’t be confused. It’s a pretty apt title, all things considered, and it makes the hat a great surprise for the readers 😉
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I might well have to dig the Moomins out – they could be perfect isolation reading!
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They are, I’m already half-way into the next one, eager to stay a bit longer in Moominvalley.
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I second your first aspiration, which is why I’ve largely avoided books likely to depress and gone for positivity, fantasy and hope in my fiction. It may be becoming a cliché to say but I still hope you stay safe, enough to at least keep reading books that comfort.
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Thank you, I wish you the same! So far we are safe, even doing surprisingly well, and I’m getting lots of practice with online teaching…
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As soon as the bookshops re open I’m going to buy The Summer Book, I’ve been talking about it since we started blogging!
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Sounds like a great plan! It may even be seasonal then…
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let’s hope so!
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