Yesterday Tove Janssons big-bellied troll celebrated his 65th birthday in Stockholm. Hostess of the evening was Sophia Jansson, niece to the creator of Moomin, and today the CEO of Moomin Characters Ltd.
Hundreds of Stockholmers and came to pay tribute to Moomin, among them TV-presenter and celebrity Mark Levengood who, just like Tove Jansson, is Finland-Swedish (i.e. born in Finland but with Swedish as native language). He interviewed Sophia Jansson about her relationship to her world-famous aunt and the creation of Moomin, who first appeared in the book: The Moomins and the Great Flood in 1945. Little My was also present, angry that she wasn’t the center of attention.
With the pioneering work of Tove Jansson and Astrid Lindgren, Scandinavian children were introduced to a new type of children’s literature where the child, its needs and rights were in focus. Today the children of Scandinavia are as familiar with Moomin as with the Brother’s Lionheart.
The Award Office will celebrate Moomin by rereading the novels, delightful reads for young and old! (And possibly by dressing as our favourite Moomin characters over the week-end…)
Tags: Moomins
Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award 
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