A special edition with rare colour images and fold out panorama

In 1961, at the request of her Italian Publisher, Tove Jansson created a unique new edition of Moominland Midwinter, the tale in which Moomin wakes from hibernation to contend all on his own with the mysterious new world of winter. The text and internal line drawings of this much loved story were unchanged, but she added a beautiful new cover illustration and seven glorious full-page colour illustrations plus a colour panorama. It was the only Moomin title that she reworked in this way and became a prized item for fans and collectors. For the first time, this edition will now be available for Moomin fans in the UK.

Tove Jansson wrote and illustrated her first Moomin story, The Moomins and the Great Flood, in 1945 though it was the next two books Comet in Moominland and Finn Family Moomintroll, published in 1946 and 1948 respectively, that brought her worldwide fame. Moominland Midwinter, published in 1957, represented an important shift in her approach to creating children’s stories, asserting that children could cope with the full gamut of emotions, including moments of loneliness and isolation. As a result her books have been a source of comfort and inspiration to children and adults who have found themselves coping with new and unfamiliar situations. Tove credited her life-long partner Tuulikki Pietilä (the inspiration for the wise and able Too-ticky) for encouraging her towards greater emotional honesty and depth.

The Moomin books have since appeared in more than sixty languages and have remained in print for seventy years as new generations of readers become enchanted by the characters, the gentle philosophy, adventurousness and fun of the stories and the timeless beauty of their illustrations.

About this edition

This colour edition of Moominland Midwinter is based on Magia d’Inverno, the 1961 Italian edition of the book, for which Tove Jansson created six colour illustrations and a new cover. This edition has two additional images – the first cover image painted for Puffin – and the wonderful panorama showing events and characters in the book first used on the cover of the 1972 French Nathan edition. These colour images have been restored using the originals in the Moomin Museum in Tampere, Finland, by James Zambra, Tove’s great-nephew.

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