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Pippi and the Moomins served as a social antidote to fascism
- legerdemain 6y agoI had a lot of Moomin to read as a child. It's definitely a very different mode of storytelling to a lot of popular contemporary content for children. The characters aren't exactly pacifist, but they're not superheroes. Their abilities are quite limited, and they have basic human needs. Overarching conflict is usually external, and often not something the characters can do much about. The joys the characters experience are one of two kinds: the joy of relief (a problem is solved, the danger is past), and the joy of discovery (an eccentric character, a mysterious island, a magic hat). When conflict breaks out, it's usually among children, and then it's the children's job to learn to resolve it peacefully. I'm sure the books aren't entirely 100% unproblematic, but compared to a lot of popular children's writing today they are quite unique. Tove Jansson's biography makes them even more relevant and humane.