moomin mania

thanks to finland, and the all-encompassing knowledge of anna carlsen , the moomins are now perhaps my favorite little trolls in the entire world. if i have any money left over when i pass through helsinki en route to america, i will surely go to the moomin store in the airport and splurge. if you are wondering how to honor my returning to the homeland, you can buy me all the books compiling this treasure of a comic. browsing through one of the books the first (of three) time i was in the helsinki airport, i came across the most charming little story in which the moomin family nestles down to hibernate for the winter because it is what thier ancestors have always done. however, the younger moomin doesn't feel sleepy, nor does he want to eat pine needles to fortify himself for his long sleep, and so decides they don't have to follow tradition blindly. they venture out into the winter landscape, where they meet a friend who teaches them how to ice skate and ski and all about the athletic joys of the winter, and while the moomins are fairly terrible at all this in the beginning, they of course have fun.