Winter reveals a literally darker side of Moominvalley and brings a whole new dimension to the Moomin stories. This book is not nearly as funny as the previous ones. There's no wacky humor this time -- "Midwinter" deals with themes such as death, loneliness and sadness. At first the seriousness is a mild disappointment, but once the new wintery characters have been introduced, the book proves itself one of the best of the series.

It is metaphore of growing up, taking responsibility, having a look at life -- also the darker side of it -- on your own, and having your first entirely own experiences. Too-Ticky's character is great as a realist, introducing Moomintroll to the winter.

The atmosphere is magical, I especially loved the mysterious winter creatures, "too shy or weird to come out in the summer, or nobody believes in them". This makes you look at the other Moomin books in a whole new light. Perhaps as a stand-alone story this wouldn't deserve all five stars, but knowing the characters and the Moominvalley in the summer, this is definitely great. ( )

Taikatalvi (Moominland Midwinter) is the best of the moomin series. It starts as Moomintroll wakes up in the middle of the winter from his usual winter slumber. All the rest of the family is still asleep, leaving Moomintroll to discover the new season all to himself.

And what a beautiful journey it is. Like the best of stories, it is at least as much a tale of self-discovery than it is of finding out things outside. Moomintroll makes new friends, finds out that the things he used to think of as frightening are just different and not that scary anymore, and grows as a moomin in all aspects.

Taikatalvi is a great story for all ages, and we all can look at the world a bit differently once we have read it. Especially during the winter. :) ( )

Brilliant, has lots of imaganation in it....You can read it over and over again.
The only problem is that you may find that you have to read it twice to understand it properly.. ( )

These are just wonderfully twisted little tales. Maybe they are particularly odd to an American so far from the geography and culture of Jannson. Maybe Jansson is particularly twisted. ( )

Ihan kiva ja talvinen kirja. Kirjassa oli kivoja kuvia. Tilanteita oli kuvailtu hyvin ja juoni oli hyvä. ( )