Magia d'inverno

This book has the best footnotes. A displaced hedgehog is a hedgehog that has been removed from its home against its will and not even had time to pack its toothbrush. And a bit later on, when we are so sad because squirrel is dead, the most comforting footnote I've ever read: In case the reader feels Leggi tutto

Oh, the things that happen to you if you can't hibernate properly! Reread with my big kids in Scandinavian mid-winter. A delight to revisit after a decade!

The human world is a huge mess that somehow survives the day. I don’t know how it happens, and I’m not sure that all our (un)concerted efforts to help it survive don’t just further complicate things and make that daily survival less and less possible. My attitude in these matters is generally that o Leggi tutto

'"When one's dead, then one's dead," said Too-Ticky kindly. "This squirrel will become earth all in his time. And still later on there'll grow trees from him, with new squirrels skipping about in them. Do you think that's so sad?" "Perhaps not," said Moomintroll.' Granted, I've only just finished rea Leggi tutto

“All was silent, nothing stirred, and slender stars were shining everywhere and twinkling in the ice. It was terribly cold.” Moomins go into a state of deep hibernation from November to April, until the ice melts and spring sunshine warms their fur – it has always been so, or was, until a particu Leggi tutto

Cynical comfort reading. Jansson's stories won't warm the depths of mid-winter, but may encourage you to accept that the frozen snowy dark is temporary and not entirely meritless if one remains open to its potential. People also. Most of them are irritating in some way or another, but it'll be okay. Leggi tutto

All things are so very uncertain, and that's exactly what makes me feel reassured. Had the urge to reread this because it kept popping up to my bookstagram feed, so thanks, guys. It was even better than I remembered, and a perfect December read.

So wintry and lovely. My copy had 17 pages missing so I shall have to hunt them down and enjoy them on their own.

For my full review: https://girlwithherheadinabook.co.uk/... The first Moomins book that I read was Finn Family Moomintroll and I fell in love. Moominvalley seemed a magical place of eternal sunshine. The food was plentiful, the company enchanting and even when risky characters such as the Hobgoblin Leggi tutto

There's a fab essay by Maria Popova on this book on Brain Pickings today , encompassing "the paradox of active surrender." Highly recommended. *** Found my childhood copy of this while cleaning out an old box last night, and to my delight I enjoyed it just as much as a grown up. My favourite of all the Leggi tutto