The illustration of the Moomins is by Tove Jansson.
The Moomins were borne out of life. The life of Tove Jansson. She was a gifted artist living in turbulent times. A complex woman who was able to find her identity even in a conservative Finnish culture. The Moomins reflect her imagination and her life.
Tove Jansson was 4 years old when the newly independent Finns, having freed themselves during the Russian revolt against the Czars, found themselves in a painful civil war, Reds vs Whites. Healing in Finland took several years
Jansson's mother was an accomplished illustrator and the primary source of family support. Her father, a conflicted man, had a career as a neo-realistic romantic sculptor. Like many Finnish people, her family spent summers where they were close to nature. During those years, family life was often stormy.
Tove was a talented painter and illustrator from a young age. She was 25 in 1939 when Russia invaded Finland in what is known as The Winter War. Finland was at war with Russia throughout WW2; in 1944, the Finns fought the Nazi Army, pushing them out of Lapland, During their retreat, the Germans used a scorched earth policy burning to the ground every town and village they encountered. Fascism and all the brutality and destruction of war deeply affected Tove. It was reflected in her illustration work, especially those satirizing Hitler for Garm magazine. If you click on the Garm cover illustration to enlarge it, you will see an early Moomin drawing on the bottom leg of the letter "M"
During the period after the war, the success of the Moomins -- over 15 million books in 50 different languages -- her hard work, and her personal courage gave Tove a new life. A major outcome in her personal life was finding a lifetime partner and soulmate, artist Tuulikki Peitila. They were together until Tove's death at 82. They spent nearly 30 happy years on a small, rocky island retreat in the Pellinki chain. Together, they designed and built a small house (Kovharn). where they lived, worked, and enjoyed nature.
As time went on, she found more time to paint. Some of her work was exceptional. She was very disturbed following her mother's death in 1970. Her mother had always been supportive and was the soul of the Jansson family. This became a turning point in her creative life as she started writing adult fiction. Her first adult book, The Summer Book, was based on her mother and her grand-daughter, Sophia. It takes place on a small rocky island very much like Tove's island and on which her real life niece, Sophia, had spent many summers. This book, and her later adult fiction were all well received.
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"The Moomins also gave Jansson the opportunity to explore a variety of topics, from morals to personal relations. Many of her characters were informed and openly representative of close friends and lovers. Theatre director, Vivica Bandler, with whom Jansson had a secret affair, inspired the character of Thingumy, who was always accompanied by Bob (who was actually based on Tove herself). And Jansson’s long-term life partner, Pietilä, inspired the positive-thinking Too-Ticky.
Today, the Moomins continue to fascinate and enchant and, although Jansson returned to her first love of painting, she’ll always be best remembered for the strange creatures that endured and succeeded in the face of any obstacle put in their path." Friere Baines The Culture Trip
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Here is a link to an excellent and informative documentary of Tove Jansson.
Here are links to two well written overviews on Tove' s 100th year anniversary.
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“I only want to live in peace, plant potatoes and dream!”-- Moomin quote
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Angela's Fairytales -- Perverse Grace and Wicked Fun
“Angela Carter...refused to join in rejecting or denouncing fairy tales, but instead embraced the whole stigmatized genre, its stock characters and well-known plots, and with wonderful verve and invention, perverse grace and wicked fun, soaked them in a new fiery liquor that brought them leaping back to life. . . she was to become fairy tale’s rescuer, the form’s own knight errant, who seized hold of it in its moribund state and plunged it into the fontaine de jouvence itself."
Marina Warner, Chamber of Secrets: The Sorcery of Angela Carter.
The illustration of Little Redcap is by Gina Litherland.
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Crossing Boundaries with Wise Girls: Angela Carter’s Fairy Tales for Children
by Jack Zipes
Long before Angela Carter had conceived the tales for her remarkable collection The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories (1979), she had begun experimenting with the fairy-tale genre in two highly sophisticated picture books for children, Miss Z, the Dark Young Lady (1970) and The Donkey Prince (1970), both illustrated by Eros Keith. Neglected by critics and unknown to most readers, these two tales actually laid the groundwork for Carter’s future work and reveal some of her basic concepts with regard to the revisionist fairy-tale tradition. All this makes Carter’s stories worth reconsidering. But even more than shedding light on her development as an innovative fairy-tale writer, they also indicate how much she esteemed children, and how much the child in her gave expression to a mischievous humor that stamps the “post-modern” quality of her fairy tales. . .
In Miss Z, the Dark Young Lady, we are told that Miss Z lives in a Parrot Jungle on a farm with her father, who is greatly annoyed by the parrots because they make such a racket with their comic songs. He uses a catapult to chase
them away, and the King Parrot decides to kill him but is killed instead. Miss Z, who has been busy making a magic dress, is convinced that her father acted too rashly, and sure enough, once the parrots depart for an unknown land, everything goes haywire because of a magic spell the revengeful parrots have cast: “Miss Z returned to her sewing machine. But the needle refused to go in and out of the fabric, and she had to finish the magic dress by hand. And the well refused to give water; the cow refused to give milk; the plow refused to turn the soil; and the fire refused to light. Even the rocking chair refused to rock.
Miss Z’s father is remorseful and promises that he would laugh at the antics of the parrots if they returned. He would even give them marmalade. So, Miss Z goes to a wise woman, who informs her that the parrots have gone to the place where the green lions live, and they plan to return with the lions to force Miss Z and her father off their farm and back to Human Town . . ."
Jack Zipes continues writing about Angela Carter's Miss Z, the Dark Young lady, regarding both the story and its significance. He then writes about her other fairy tale of the era, The Donkey Prince. Here is an excerpt:
Carter’s other fairy tale, The Donkey Prince, concerns a queen who was given a magic apple as a wedding present by her father. This powerful king told his daughter to keep the apple safe and she would never lose her beautiful looks or fall ill. When she comes across a donkey, who asks for the apple, she tells him that she cannot give away such a valuable gift, but she would be willing to give him as much fruit as he wants at her castle. He is saddened by this reply and explains to the queen why he is so distressed: “Madam, though you see us in the shapes of donkeys, my company and I are, in fact, Brown Men of the Hills. Your father transformed us into this shape by a cruel enchantment after my son accidentally transfixed him with an arrow while he was out hunting. If you had given your father’s apple to me of your own free will, because of my need, we should have returned to our natural forms at the very first bite I took from it”(9).
The queen regrets her act and learns that the only way she can help the Brown Men turned donkeys is by adopting a foal named Bruno and raising it as her son. She agrees, and Bruno is raised as a prince . . .
Miss Z and The Donkey Prince (1970) stand at the beginning of Carter’s fairy-tale production. They do not have the density and complexity of her later tales. They do not have the stunning imagery and lust for sexual imagery. But these tales are zestful because they initiate “crossing over” into new realms for her female protagonists, exploring dangerous territory, and returning home fully confident in their abilities. Carter combined the simple folk style, baroque elements of the literary fairy tale, and contemporary jargon to create unorthodox narratives that suggest the potential of women and men to change their destinies and to take full control of their lives. These tales ran counter to traditional expectations. These tales were harbingers of even more radical fairy tales to come from Carter’s pen. Her last novel was fittingly titled Wise Children(1993), and her fascinatingly zany heroine Doris Chance is certainly related to Miss Z and Daisy. She is the wise girl grown up, not straight, but like Carter preferred, prodigiously crooked on the wrong side of the tracks and all the more admirable in her frank approach to life.
Photo of Angela: by Faye Godwin, Irish Times; Book covers by Eros Krief.
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Fighting the Disturbing Ban on The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison -- and other books
As daylight turns to dusk and a closed sign dangles from the outside of EyeSeeMe, a St. Louis children’s bookstore, a glance through a side window reveals an after-hours banned books operation. Paper strips litter the floor. Books pass from hand to hand as eight volunteers package 600 copies of “The Bluest Eye” by Toni Morrison to ship to kids and parents across the nation.
The bookstore is working in partnership with In Purpose Educational Services on the Banned Book Program, a donor-funded campaign that will send a free banned book each month to those who request one, as funding allows. Started just days after a school district in a suburb near St. Louis voted in January to remove copies of “The Bluest Eye” from its libraries, the program has already received over $30,000 from people around the nation. But Missouri residents aren’t the only ones taking action.
As school boards across the United States increasingly vote to remove books from library shelves and classroom curricula, community members are countering by amplifying awareness of those very books. These grassroots efforts – from free book drives to book clubs to lawsuits – differ in method but share a common mission to keep the world of books open for exploration . . .
Written by Nobel- and Pulitzer Prize-winning author Toni Morrison and published in 1970, “The Bluest Eye” tells the story of a young African American girl growing up in Lorain, Ohio, who longs for blue eyes. It addresses a range of themes, including racism, beauty standards, and the girl’s abusive home life.
After a community member in the Wentzville School District challenged the book, objecting to it on the grounds that it includes pedophilia, incest, and rape, the district’s school board voted on Jan. 20 to remove the book from district libraries. Less than a month later, two Wentzville students, represented by the American Civil Liberties Union of Missouri, filed a lawsuit saying the district’s removal of eight books, including “The Bluest Eye,” from school libraries violates their First Amendment rights . . .
Photo by Tara Adhikari, CSM;
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Exceptional Independent Animation
Oliver Nelson, "The Blues and the Abstract Truth" -- Deep Dive
Totally original, exceptional.
The link opens on a full page. Scroll down to the bottom left. Click and be transported. Oliver Edward Nelson (June 4, 1932 – October 28, 1975) was an American jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, arranger, composer, and bandleader.
Created by Diego Basaglio Basa studio
Link:The Blues and Abstract Truth Time 4.36
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Bless You
Sneeze in an alternate reality, imagination, surreal smiles.
Video created by Paulina Ziakowska, music Max Litvinov, editor Piotr Baryza.
Lodz Film School, Polish Film Industry.
Link: Bless You Time 4.30
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Football
Outrageous, imaginative, humorous, absurdist
Created by Joseph Bennet in collaboration with Martin Starr
Background design Wes McClain, Animation assistance Felipe DI Poi
Music Nic Snyder, Sound design Mike Jansson
Link: Football Time 1.12
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To Create
“To understand what I am saying, you have to believe that dance is something other than technique. We forget where the movements come from. They are born from life.
When you create a new work, the point of departure must be contemporary life -- not existing forms of dance.” Pina Bausch
Photo: Dance International Magazine
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Amelia, a 7-Year Old Ukranian Girl, Sings in a Bomb Shelter
"Ukranians huddled together in a dimly lit bomb shelter in Kyiv seeking safety from deadly explosions and chaos overhead. One young girl, wearing a sweater decorated with silver stars began to sing.
She was scared at first, worried that her voice would not be heard over the commotion inside the crowded bunker. But the sound of her singing "Let It Go" from the 2013 Disney movie "Frozen" pierced the uncertainty and fear, drowning out the sound of babies, crying and adults chatting. The Link is of that moment." Amelia Photo credit: ai.com
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Wonder Tales, Through Millenia, Have Always Dealt with the Brutal Abuses of Power
War is the worst evil that people have inflicted upon one another, at costs to themselves, since some hominid discovered the lethal efficacy of rocks. It is waged continually somewhere or other in every generation, furiously now, in Ukraine, and fitfully in the Middle East and Africa. The recurring horror has paused on a global scale—holding its breath, you may feel—only because, post-Hiroshima, nuclear weaponry bodes suicide for the next power to use it. Or so we have thought, and perhaps still think, but with shaken complacency. What never ends is the primordial emotional tug toward organized mayhem, which is playing out, yet again, in Eastern Europe in the face of widespread revulsion. Putin: Monster! But a madman? Diagnosing him as such assumes that sanity is the normative state of people with power."
Peter Schjeldahl ,excerpted from Facing War, The New Yorker
The illustration by Francisco Goya is from The Disasters of War
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HOME Excerpted from a poem that went viral by Somali refugee Warsan Shire.
no one leaves home unless
home is the mouth of a shark
you only run for the border
when you see the whole city running as well. . .
you only leave home
when home won’t let you stay.
no one leaves home unless home chases you
fire under feet
hot blood in your belly
it’s not something you ever thought of doing
until the blade burnt threats into
your neck. . . you have to understand,
that no one puts their children in a boat
unless the water is safer than the land . . .
Photo credit: USA for UNHCR
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Is your money that good
Will it buy you forgiveness
Do you think that it could
I think you will find
When your death takes its toll
All the money you made
Will never buy back your soul
HOULTON, Maine, By Joseph CYR — Aroostook County will be the first to have a dog stationed at the courthouse that is specifically trained to comfort people who are dealing with traumatic experiences.
Holiday, a yellow Labrador retriever who was donated by a local breeder and lives with Aroostook County District Attorney Todd Collins in Presque Isle, is being trained to work with people in a courtroom setting.
“Courthouse facility dogs can provide a sense of normalcy during juvenile and family court proceedings, and can accompany vulnerable crime victims, including children, rape victims, developmentally delayed adults and the elderly during investigations and court proceedings,” Collins said. “They can also provide emotional comfort to family members during the trial and sentencing of the offender.”
Link Bangor News
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"Floyd is an adorable character that steals your heart from the get-go. He's happy, he's spunky and he loves life. He has tons of friends: some are dogs, some are cats, some live in the water, and some live in the sky. He is a very, very popular little pooch! One day he is asked why he is yellow? Floyd hadn't thought of that aspect of himself before but this gets him wondering and finally searching for an answer to that question. Off he goes on a mission to seek why! "
Storywraps Review An outstanding Children's Book Blog.
Why Am I ? is Written and illustrated by Ariel Wulff -- Link Yelodoggie Book
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Author Ariel Wulff, in addition to writing dog books for children, writes fiction and dog related books for adults.
"Like Wulff's "How to Change the World in 30 Seconds", this book is another practical handbook for helping pets. Easy to follow steps, important data, and insider info. . . Many times the pet's people have no idea where, or how, to start looking for them. This guide spells it out with lots of helpful tips and advice. And all the sales go to charity - how great is that?! " Kristina Kaine, Amazon Review
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Castle In The Mist
“Do you think that it is possible for dogs to stop a war? Author Robert J. McCarty has created a charming fantasy-allegory that can be read and understood on at least two different levels. Children will enjoy the story about dogs who come from another planet to help people on earth. But under the surface are the important messages of friendship, love, loyalty, and how to overcome evil with good.” The same things are true as the story continues in Castle in the Mist. The book is well written and easy to read. It will keep you turning the pages to find out what happens next, and, as with Volume I, leads to a satisfying conclusion."
Review excerpt by Wayne Walker: Stories for Children Magazine and Home School Buzz
Here is a link for sample chapters from the Planet Of The Dogs Series.
Here is a link to Goodreads for more reviews
The photo by Susan Purser is of her nephew, Chase, reading Castle In The Mist with Rose, her departed therapy dog.
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"A man may smile and bid you hail
Yet wish you to the Devil;
But when a good dog wags his tail,
You know he's on the level." -- Author Unknown
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