I'm bringing home a Moomin picture book ...
purchased a copy of the very picture book
described in this thread's earlier posts.
ISBN 1-883211-10-7    copyright 1952

"Moomintroll from the milk-shop ran
With milk for Mother in his can,
Up through the forest dark and wide
Wind in the tall trees moaned and sighed.

"The road was eerie, long and drear,
'Twas six o'clock and dusk was near,
How tired he was feeling -- when --
What do YOU think happened then?"


Every open spread of two pages
has rhyming verse like that,
the above is from the opening page.

My memory, as I posted it previously, was faulty.
The milk has been purchased,
and the book tells about
the journey homeward to the Moomin House.

Things came back that I had forgotten.

I had forgotten the vacuum cleaner.
The vacuum cleaner was being put to use
by a big grouchy Hemulen.
By this time the Moomintroll
has been joined by Mymble,
who has misplaced her sister, Little My.

The Hemulen's vacuum cleaner
sucks up Moomintroll and Mymble into the hose attachment.

And it's Little My to the rescue,
fetching a pair of scissors that is bigger than she is,
and she cuts open the vacuum hose
to let the others out, black with dirt.
Then they have to run away
from the irate Hemulen.
Because you really don't
want to damage a Hemulen's vacuum cleaner
with the Hemulen watching you do it ...


The illustrations will be recognizable
to anybody who knows
the Moomintroll books of stories.
Of course the neat thing about the picture book,
besides the laser-cut holes that give you a peek at the next page,
is the lovely colors.

... it's never too late to have a happy childhood ...