Moomintroll decides to build a house for himself after losing his room to a new arrival, and hijinx ensue. I enjoyed the Moomin books when I lived in the U.K., and I was surprised that they weren't really known in the U.S. This is a collection of strips which originally ran in British newspapers in the fifties (and were published in the original Finnish before that), but they're pretty much timeless and I'm glad more kids will have the opportunity to read them. There's a lot here on every level; it would take a Simarillion to fully explain all the background of the Moomin universe (which is all cozy drawing rooms one minute and genuinely creepy monsters the next), but you don't need all that to be able to follow the story. Moomintroll's story a great wish-fulfillment fantasy about just being able to go off and build a house all by yourself and having it be, if not exactly symmetrical, at least functional as a house, while the gloriously destructive Little My revels in being 100% pure obnoxious brat. The Moomin books also (without being explicit about it) model a multicultural society where many unique creatures with radically different likes and values strive to get along harmoniously. ( )