This is the best of the Moomin books. It is unbelievably deep and thoughtful -- I think reading this can change lives. It's not exactly for children anymore. It isn't funny like most of the previous books, it raises an air of anxiety from the very first pages onward, when we learn that there's a crisis brewing in the usually so happy-go-lucky Moomin family. There's no real adventure in this book, but a lot of struggles on a psychological level.

The book deals with themes such as sense of inadequacy, alienation, and the chance to start over. It grasped me very deeply, I could relate strongly (once again) to Moominpappa, whom I found very Finnish in this book. Actually, I could find a bit of myself in the responses of all of the Moomin family members to the new, hostile environment. This is a must for re-reading. ( )

Link to a review on my personal website (might be in Swedish). ( )

Moominpappa at Sea takes the moomin family out of their usual surroundings, onto a small light-house island in the middle of the sea. This change forces the family to ponder about what is truly important in their lives, and the meaning of their family.

The book starts slow, and while the moomins agonize over whether the choice to come to the island was right or not, I agonized over reading the book. It just didn't seem to live up to the very high moomin standards that I've grown to expect from Jansson. But as the book started to come to a close, so did the story rise to a new level.

At the end Moominpappa at Sea was competing right there with the best of moomin books. Philosophical, making you think about family and friendship, and once again, the feeling of loneliness and overcoming it through my favorite character The Groke.

Well worth the read for any moomin fan because of the reward in the end. ( )

Alone on a small island the Moomin family is forced to deal with who they are and what they want. More a book for adults than for kids. ( )