Moomin lovin'

My favorite children's books are the wonderful stories written by Tove Jansson. The Moomin books are just pure, wholesome fun reads. I fell in love with all the Moomin characters, most especially Moomintroll who's always enthusiastic, always ready for some adventure, no matter how absurd it may be.

If you open a Moomin book (I believe there are 9 in the series), there are a few pages devoted to introducing the characters—the Moomin Gallery. Aside from Moomintroll, I love his best friend named Snufkin, the strong-willed Little My, and the ever-supportive Moominmamma.

Just the other day, I received a text message from fellow Moomin fan, Iya, about a set of porcelain containers with Moomin characters. Good news! And what's even better is that there's a store near my office that sells them! I love it when the universe somehow aligns itself to give you the things that you absolutely love, yes?

I went a little bit crazy with purchasing them. I bought 4 on my first go! They're really quite cheap though, just a little more than $1 each. Practically a steal, in my opinion. Unfortunately, Moomin isn't as famous here in the Philippines as they are in Europe or in Japan, where my friend told me that they have a whole store of Moomin products.

But having gone to Moominvalley myself, I know that I have to spread the love. So I never tire of talking about the Moomin books to friends. And you, dear reader, if you haven't read a Moomin book, it's high time you should. Wonderfully escapist fun, these books are. And if you read closely, you'll find out that there's a bit of philosophy in them too.

So far, I've 6 of these Moomin books and 3 of the collected volumes of the Moomin comics that Jansson drew herself. So I will always be on the lookout for more.