# Moomins
The Moomins (Swedish: *mumintroll*; Finnish: *muumi*) are the white, roundish trolls with large snouts who live in Moominvalley, created by the Swedish-speaking Finnish writer and illustrator [Tove Jansson](https://www.edgepedia.org/tove-jansson) and first published in Finland in 1945.[1](https://www.moomin.com/en/moomin-faqs/) • [2](https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429432668-8) The series grew into nine books, picture books, a newspaper comic strip read by up to 20 million people a day, television and film adaptations, an opera, theme parks in Finland and Japan, and a museum in Tampere, and the books have been translated into more than 60 languages.[1](https://www.moomin.com/en/moomin-faqs/) • [3](https://www.moomin.com/en/history/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Creator | Tove Jansson, a Swedish-speaking Finnish writer and artist; first book published in Swedish in 1945[2](https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429432668-8) • [4](https://kids.britannica.com/scholars/article/Moomintroll/443862) |
| Books | Nine, from *The Moomins and the Great Flood* (1945) to *Moominvalley in November* (1970)[1](https://www.moomin.com/en/moomin-faqs/) |
| Picture books | Three originals: *The Book about Moomin, Mymble and Little My* (1952), *Who Will Comfort Toffle* (1960), *The Dangerous Journey* (1977)[1](https://www.moomin.com/en/moomin-faqs/) |
| Comic strip | Up to 20 million daily readers in over 40 countries; drawn by Lars Jansson from 1960; ran until 1974[3](https://www.moomin.com/en/history/) |
| Reach | Around 30 million books sold; translations into more than 60 languages[5](https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/articles/zxvymbk) • [1](https://www.moomin.com/en/moomin-faqs/) |
| Brand control | The Moomin license is owned and supervised by Moomin Characters Oy Ltd[1](https://www.moomin.com/en/moomin-faqs/) |
| Parks and museum | Moominworld, Naantali (1994); Moominvalley Park, Hanno City, Japan (2019); Moomin Museum at Tampere Hall[1](https://www.moomin.com/en/moomin-faqs/) • [3](https://www.moomin.com/en/history/) |
## Origins and creation
Jansson was working as a commercial artist in the 1940s when she began incorporating a small, troll-like figure into her signature on magazine illustrations; this doodle eventually became Moomintroll, who made his public debut in the children's novel *Småtrollen och den stora översvämningen* (1945; *The Moomins and the Great Flood*).[4](https://kids.britannica.com/scholars/article/Moomintroll/443862) The publisher Söderström & Co brought out that first story in Swedish; it follows Moominmamma's and Moomintroll's search for the missing Moominpappa.[3](https://www.moomin.com/en/history/)
The books' language matters to their national standing. The original Moomin books were written in Swedish, the mother tongue of Finland's Swedish-speaking minority, yet the characters have become one of Finland's best-known cultural exports; a Moomin is "muumi" in Finnish and "mumintroll" in Swedish.[1](https://www.moomin.com/en/moomin-faqs/) A scholarly survey counts Jansson's books among the most widely translated works of Finnish literature.[2](https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429432668-8)
## The books
The canon consists of nine books: *The Moomins and the Great Flood* (1945), *Comet in Moominland* (1946), *Finn Family Moomintroll* (1948), *Memoirs of Moominpappa* (1950), *Moominsummer Madness* (1954), *Moominland Midwinter* (1957), *Tales from Moominvalley* (1962), *Moominpappa at Sea* (1965), and *Moominvalley in November* (1970).[1](https://www.moomin.com/en/moomin-faqs/) *Comet in Moominland* is often seen as the first novel of the series proper, because it introduces main characters such as Snufkin and the Snorkmaiden and is set in Moominvalley.[3](https://www.moomin.com/en/history/)
**Picture books.** The original picture books are *The Book about Moomin, Mymble and Little My* (1952), *Who Will Comfort Toffle* (1960), and *The Dangerous Journey* (1977); the official FAQ judges them probably more entertaining for young children than the original novels.[1](https://www.moomin.com/en/moomin-faqs/) The count differs between sources: the BBC, citing the estate's account, says the series comprises nine books plus four picture books and a comic strip, while the official FAQ lists three original picture books.[5](https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/articles/zxvymbk) • [1](https://www.moomin.com/en/moomin-faqs/)
**The comic strip.** London's *The Evening News* began publishing the Moomin comic strip, which reached up to 20 million readers daily in over 40 countries and continued until 1974; from 1960 Tove's brother Lars Jansson drew it.[3](https://www.moomin.com/en/history/) The strip's demands left their mark on the prose: Jansson's exhaustion permeated the Moomins, and a more somber tone seeped into the chapter books that had previously been characterized by light-hearted adventures.[6](https://tovejansson.com/story/moomin-history/)
**English-language arrival.** The first Moomin book to receive an English edition was the third, *Trollkarlens Hatt* (*The Hobgoblin's Hat*), translated by Jansson's friend Elizabeth Portch; it reached its widest English-speaking audience when Puffin Books published it in 1961 as *Finn Family Moomintroll*.[7](https://theconversation.com/tove-janssons-moomin-books-explore-the-power-of-adventure-and-transformation-245969)
## Characters and Moominvalley
The Moomin family consists of Moomintroll, Moominmamma and Moominpappa, accompanied by characters including Snorkmaiden, Snufkin, Sniff, Little My, the Hemulen, Stinky, and the Groke.[1](https://www.moomin.com/en/moomin-faqs/) Britannica's entry lists Moominmamma, Moominpappa, Snufkin, Sniff, and the Snork Maiden among the main characters.[4](https://kids.britannica.com/scholars/article/Moomintroll/443862) All of them inhabit Moominvalley, the setting introduced in *Comet in Moominland*.[3](https://www.moomin.com/en/history/)
**What a Moomin looks like.** The official description is a white, roundish troll with a large snout.[1](https://www.moomin.com/en/moomin-faqs/) Scholarly and reference accounts often describe the family as hippopotamus-like creatures, but this is a viewer's comparison, not Jansson's design intent: the character descends from the troll-like signature doodle of her commercial-art years, and the books themselves call the family trolls.[2](https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429432668-8) • [4](https://kids.britannica.com/scholars/article/Moomintroll/443862)
## Themes and interpretation
Sophia Jansson, Tove Jansson's niece, describes the series' themes as friendship, loneliness, belonging, adventure, family, equality, and tolerance.[5](https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/articles/zxvymbk) Her account of her aunt's outlook is explicit: "Respect for nature and seeing whomever is there regardless of creed or skin colour, size or shape or nationality." Tove Jansson was a lesbian, and Sophia Jansson says many of her stories are about being accepted for who you are.[5](https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/articles/zxvymbk)
**Wartime resonance.** In *Comet in Moominland*, when the comet finally arrives, Moomin, his family and friends sit in a cave and hold each other close, an image reminiscent of a bomb shelter during a wartime air raid; the estate's account ties the scene to Jansson's philosophy of friendship, art, beauty, and community.[6](https://tovejansson.com/story/moomin-history/)
**The darker turn.** *Moominland Midwinter* (Swedish title *Trollvinter*, Finnish title *Taikatalvi*), the sixth book, is where Jansson adopted a darker, more introspective tone, with a lonely, frightened Moomintroll who is often miserable, angry, or scared.[3](https://www.moomin.com/en/history/) The final book, *Moominvalley in November* (1970), is dedicated to Lars Jansson, who asked for a cheerier story, but Tove Jansson kept much of the palpable sadness and sense of time passing.[6](https://tovejansson.com/story/moomin-history/)
**A critical reading.** One literary-critical account of *Finn Family Moomintroll* holds that adventure, transformation, and change are presented as both necessary and desirable, but contained within a reassuring frame of reliable predictability; Moominmamma's wonder at, and explanation of, difference assumes an underlying similarity between Moominvalley and the reader's home.[7](https://theconversation.com/tove-janssons-moomin-books-explore-the-power-of-adventure-and-transformation-245969) The same account quotes the final lines of the English translation: "It is autumn in Moomin Valley, for how else can spring come back again?"[7](https://theconversation.com/tove-janssons-moomin-books-explore-the-power-of-adventure-and-transformation-245969)
## Adaptations
After the book series concluded in 1970, the Moomins continued in other media: the newspaper comic strip through 1974, several animated television series made in Finland, Poland, and Japan, and an opera.[4](https://kids.britannica.com/scholars/article/Moomintroll/443862) The most widely distributed animation came from Telecable, which produced 104 half-hour Moomin episodes sold to over 60 countries.[3](https://www.moomin.com/en/history/) The 1990s saw a resurgence in popularity, producing new animated episodes and the Finnish theme park Muumimaailma ([Moomin World](https://www.edgepedia.org/moomin-world)).[4](https://kids.britannica.com/scholars/article/Moomintroll/443862) A new animated television series, *Moominvalley*, premiered worldwide in spring 2019.[3](https://www.moomin.com/en/history/) A remastered Moomin film was released in cinemas in Finland and Sweden in September 2023 and made available on the Finnish streaming services C More and MTV, with no announcements about availability in other countries.[1](https://www.moomin.com/en/moomin-faqs/)
## By the numbers
Around 30 million Moomin books have been sold worldwide, and the characters have featured in TV animations, films, opera and puppet shows.[5](https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/articles/zxvymbk) The translation count differs by source and date: the official FAQ says more than 60 languages,[1](https://www.moomin.com/en/moomin-faqs/) while a scholarly chapter, citing a 1996 study, gives 45 languages.[2](https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429432668-8) The comic strip at its height reached up to 20 million daily readers in over 40 countries.[3](https://www.moomin.com/en/history/) The Moomin Museum at Tampere Hall is the world's only purpose-built Moomin museum with original artwork, hosting more than 2,000 original works donated by Tove Jansson.[3](https://www.moomin.com/en/history/)
## Cultural status in Finland and beyond
**Parks.** The original Moomin theme park, Moominworld, opened in 1994 in Naantali, Finland, and still opens for a summer season every year.[1](https://www.moomin.com/en/moomin-faqs/) In Japan, Moominvalley Park opened in March 2019 in Hanno City as part of the Metsä facility, with the adjoining Metsä Village opening in November 2018.[1](https://www.moomin.com/en/moomin-faqs/) • [3](https://www.moomin.com/en/history/) A Moomin Ice Cave operates about half the year in Leppävirta, Finland.[1](https://www.moomin.com/en/moomin-faqs/)
**Brand control.** The Moomin license is owned and supervised by Moomin Characters Oy Ltd.[1](https://www.moomin.com/en/moomin-faqs/)
**A Swedish-language Finnish icon.** The combination of Swedish-language origin and Finnish national-icon status is a defining feature of the Moomins' cultural position: the books were first published in Swedish by a Swedish-speaking Finn, yet they rank among the most widely translated works of Finnish literature and anchor a Finnish theme-park and museum economy.[1](https://www.moomin.com/en/moomin-faqs/) • [2](https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429432668-8) • [4](https://kids.britannica.com/scholars/article/Moomintroll/443862)
## What has changed since 2023
The 80th anniversary of the first book fell in 2025, marked in coverage of the franchise's continuing reach across books, screen, opera, puppetry, and parks.[5](https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/articles/zxvymbk) The September 2023 remastered film release in Finland and Sweden, with streaming on C More and MTV, remains the most recent screen release documented in the official record.[1](https://www.moomin.com/en/moomin-faqs/) Anniversary-year coverage has also prompted reappraisal of the series' themes, with Sophia Jansson framing the books' endurance through their equality, tolerance, and respect for nature.[5](https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/articles/zxvymbk)
## References
1. [Moomin FAQs, Moomin Characters Oy Ltd](https://www.moomin.com/en/moomin-faqs/)
2. [Making the Moomins, book chapter, Routledge](https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429432668-8)
3. [The History of Moomins: a tale of wonder through the years, Moomin Characters Oy Ltd](https://www.moomin.com/en/history/)
4. [Moomintroll, Britannica Kids Scholars](https://kids.britannica.com/scholars/article/Moomintroll/443862)
5. [Why we still love The Moomins – 80 years on, BBC Bitesize](https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/articles/zxvymbk)
6. [Tove Jansson • The Moomins take on the world, tovejansson.com](https://tovejansson.com/story/moomin-history/)
7. [Tove Jansson's Moomin books explore the power of adventure and transformation, The Conversation](https://theconversation.com/tove-janssons-moomin-books-explore-the-power-of-adventure-and-transformation-245969)
---
*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Literature and written works › Creative written works and worlds › Adaptations, tie-ins, and fictional worlds › Fictional universes, characters, and places › Fictional worlds of children's and young-adult series*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license