There is a look/hide theory that explains man's preference for landscapes from an evolutionary perspective, which roughly means that we most like to gaze at nature from a safe place because we have the vision of a predator and do not need to worry about the danger behind us.
That's probably the charm of Moomin Valley – standing in Mommy's kitchen and looking out over the harsh winters of Northern Europe, disaster seems like a step away, but you know it's safe here. No matter what dangers there are in the outside world, floods, comets, volcanoes, severe cold, Moomin's house is always comfortable and warm, there is always hot coffee brewed on the stove, there is always cake in the oven, there is no problem in this world that Moomin's coffee and hugs can't solve, no matter what kind of disaster they encounter, There is always something in Moomin's mother's handbag to help them get through it.
The story of Moomin Valley began in 1939. Ms. Tove Jansson was only 25 years old at the time. World War II had just broken out, the Soviets had bombed Helsinki, and both of her brothers had gone to the battlefield. In her memoirs years later, she said that the war had left her depressed and that painting had become meaningless, and that she wanted to write, to write a story about "a long, long time ago," a story of innocence, to create a different world, a world that was not crushed by fear and hatred.
The first story is called "Moomin and the Great Flood", which contains missing people (Moomin's father), a separated family (Moomin's family), and a group of strange creatures (tree spirits) who silently move forward without souls, but after a series of adventures, the Moomin family is finally reunited, kindness is rewarded, and all friends are invited to live together in the warm and safe Moomin house. The book was not published until six years later, after the end of the war, and in the preface, Jansson wrote, "This is my first happy ending."
Tove Jansson was born in Finland to artist parents, his father a famous sculptor and his mother an illustrator who designed books and stamps. She inherited their talents, entering the art academy at the age of 15 and later training in painting in Germany, Italy, France and England. During World War II, she was an active anti-fascist cartoonist, publishing numerous cartoons mocking Hitler and Stalin in a Swedish-language magazine, GARM. She painted Hitler as a giant baby while Then British Prime Minister Gibran was feeding him a piece of cake. At the time, her signature was a small portrait of Moomin, half of her body hidden behind a long letter, a huge nose, a thin figure, a fully guarded and worried look.
Where did this big-nosed, half-hippopotamus half-mountain demon image come from?
Some people say that when Yang Song was a child, adults made it up in order to scare the children who stole food, saying that there were mountain demons hiding in the kitchen cupboards, and they would blow cold air behind the necks of the children who stole food. Others say that after a heated argument with her brother over Kant's philosophy, she painted under the walls of the toilet a "the ugliest creature in the world you can imagine," alongside the phrase "Freedom is the best thing." ”
In short, in the long years that followed, under the pen of Tove Jansson, Moomin became more and more cute, friendly and philosophical from the original ugly and vicious mountain demon image, some people thought he was like Winnie the Pooh, some people said he was like Snoopy. He has no mouth, but his crooked eyebrows, chubby chin, and round belly can show so much joy, sadness, and vulnerability. His life has also become more and more full, the forests, the sea, the lakes of the Moomin Valley, full of adventures and adventures, strange friends come and go, but there is always an almost melancholy warm tone in his world.
But Tove Jansson never shy away from the unpleasant realities of life. There is a lot of love in her story, and there is a lot of loneliness, including the loneliness that love does not respond to. There is a lot of joy and adventure in her story, but there is also a lot of fear and anger, and the shadow of fear spreads almost all over the Moomin Valley, especially in winter.
One year, before the long winter was over, Moomin suddenly woke up to find that everyone was still hibernating, and the whole world seemed incomparably strange and silent. Moomin fell into great fear, wondering if the whole world had died while he was sleeping, leaving him alone.
"Moomin Valley in November" is an even weirder winter story. Several of the moomingu people came to the moomin valley invariably, but found that the Moomin family was not there, leaving only an empty house. It was raining heavily outside the window, and they were wandering aimlessly around the room. They try to find something to do, but everything seems pointless.
For Yang Song, the natural landscapes of Northern Europe are also the landscapes of the soul, with forests, seas, volcanoes, cold, and swamps all seemingly pointing to them, symbolizing the fragile emotional world of her eccentric and vivid characters. They each seem to represent some complex aspect of personality, a certain way of looking at the world, and each has its own madness.
Mommy's mother is of course the source of eternal love and warmth, no matter what kind of difficulties and difficulties encountered, Moomin always believes that as long as Momin's mother is there, everything will be fine, even if the comet will immediately hit the earth. But Mommy's mom also has her moment of collapse, in "Mommy Daddy at Sea", Momin's father has to move the family to live in the lighthouse of the isolated island, Moming's mother misses Moomin Valley and frantically paints her garden over and over the wall.
Papa Moomin has an inexhaustible sense of loss in life, a seed of restlessness in his heart, and a strong narcissistic tendency in his romantic and adventurous stories, as if he must put his family at risk and make them dependent on him in order to prove the value of his existence.
In the garden of the Moomin Valley there is a crystal ball belonging to one person. He liked to stare at the crystal ball for a long time, to see his family members reflected on the crystal ball, "it made him feel that they all needed protection, they were all under the deep sea that only he knew." ”
Schletch represented freedom and, perhaps loneliness, and though he was Moomin's best friend, the musician, who always smoked a pipe, always wandered around, leaving at the first sign of winter and returning on time on the first warm spring day. Children may envy Schlich's freedom to wander around, but adults may be more curious as to why he always comes back.
Yami, the smallest elf in the Moomin Valley, is sharp and mean, even a little ruthless, but also insightful and to the point. Seeing a squirrel freeze to death on the road, she thought about how to make a flashlight with the squirrel's big tail.
Muskrat is a philosopher who spends his days lying in a hammock thinking about the meaninglessness of everything while waiting for Mommy's mother to bring him hot food and clean pillows.
Does Himillon represent the order and authority that the adult world craves? Insects, flowers, stamps... Whatever it is, it seems that after collecting, sorting, and labeling, the world has order, and he can be free from those existential anxieties and know how to live. But when his collection was finally complete, it fell into a crash – now, he is just an owner.
Feni Zhong belongs to the obsessive-compulsive personality, a little silly, a little fussy, afraid of bugs and everything dirty, always cleaning up. They are old-fashioned and polite, always inviting relatives and friends they don't like to dinner.
Tree spirits are strange elves that look like asparagus, pale and quiet, they don't think, they don't feel, they don't say anything, they don't care about anything, they just keep looking around, but they don't know what they're looking for.
Gogu was probably an image of fear or despair, huge, gray, cold, and the ground she sat on was frosted, and anything she touched would die. If she sits somewhere for an hour, the land there will become a permanent desert. The Dementors in Harry Potter don't know if it was inspired by her?
But the most rare thing about Jansson is that she sympathizes and comforts even the most unlikable characters. She made fun of them, but also respected their clumsy efforts. In the end, it was Moomin who saw the desire for warmth in the cold, dark Gogu and eventually tamed her. He carried the lantern to the beach and watched Gogu dance until the sand she was sitting on stopped frosting. Dutch children's book author Katie Krause told me that she loves the world of Moomin because it's where everyone embraces everyone.
Yes, there are natural disasters, heartbreaks, and deaths in the Moomin Valley, but all the madness, flaws, and imperfections are also tolerated. However, until children can understand and appreciate such inclusion, I would like to recommend this series of picture books adapted from the story of Moomin Valley.
The top 90 orderers receive a limited edition canvas bag
In this set of books, children can first get to know these wonderful landscapes and creatures in the Moomin Valley, such as the sea, forests, isolated islands, lighthouses, storms on the sea, the aurora on the edge of the sky, Moomin's mother's tea party, Moomin's father's adventure, Moomin's love with Goni, Moomin's friendship with Schlieffle...
One of the stories, "Moomin and the Wishing Star," tells the story of Moomin who, while playing by the water's edge, discovers a perfect pebble that shines with the light of a star. So everyone agreed that this should be a falling star, and you can make a wish on it. What exactly should I make a wish? When will it come true after you have made a wish?
"Wish is a very elusive thing." Slick said so, and so did Momin's mother. It may come true in the next second, it may never happen, it may just be a wishful thinking.
How you read this story determines how you will understand Moomin Valley. If you think it's just a silly little story, a trick to a child, then it's just a silly little story. But if you are willing to think and feel a little more about these words and pictures, if you are willing to read the novel of "Moomin Valley", you may wonder, maybe the whole Moomin Valley is a wish made by Tove Jansson to the shooting star? Then, perhaps you will realize that the power of this wish is far beyond the Moomin Valley itself, and even far beyond the starry sky of Northern Europe, and even if we stand half a world away, we can feel the light it casts in our hearts.
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Top 90 readers who place orders are given a limited canvas bag in a random color.