Sort of Books Ladies' Lunch & Other Stories Segal Lore

Finnish artist Tove Jansson’s Moomin stories have been continually in print for more than half a century, in 35 languages. They are among Europe’s best loved and enduring children’s classics, and through the current TV animation (BBC2), the warm-hearted, whimsical creatures of Moomin valley have been brought to a new younger British audience • Sort Of Books are proud to present the original full colour Moomin picture book with its irresistible cut-out page designs and playful rhyming text in a new version by one of Britain’s star poets, Sophie Hannah

Following the success of Tove Jansson’s children’s classic, The Book about Moomin, Mymble and Little My, Sort Of Books is delighted to present her equally magic and universally appealing story of Toffle, a lonely, timid creature’s journey in search of friendship and confidence • Who Will Comfort Toffle?: a tale of Moomin Valley sees Toffle driven from his home by the frightening noises of the forest. Too shy at first to approach the many colourful Moomin characters he passes along the way, he gains confidence by discovering a scared and lonely Miffle who needs his help. Toffle’s quest to save Miffle from the dreadful Groke is an inspiring tale that every child (and many adults) are sure to identify with. In Scandinavia, this is one of the most popular of Tove Jansson’s books and in the 43 years since first publication it has never once been out of print

Drawn from youth and older age, and spanning most of the twentieth century, this newly translated selection provides a thrilling showcase of the great Finnish writer’s prose, scattered with insights and home truths. It has been selected and is introduced by Ali Smith, and there are afterwords by Philip Pullman, Esther Freud and Frank Cottrell Boyce • The Winter Book features thirteen stories from Tove Jansson’s first book for adults, The Sculptor’s Daughter (1968) along with seven of her most cherished later stories (from 1971 to 1996), translated into English and published here for the first time

‘If we want to understand what has been lost to time, there is no way other than through the exercise of imagination. …imagination applied with delicate rather than broad strokes.’ So wrote the award winning Japanese author Kyoko Nakajima of her story Things Remembered and Things Forgotten, a prose piece that illuminates, as if by throwing a switch, the layers of wartime devastation that lie just below the surface of Tokyo’s insistently modern culture • Of the ten acclaimed stories in this collection are pervaded by an air of Japanese ghostliness. In beautifully crafted and deceptively light prose, Nakajima portrays men and women beset by cultural amnesia and unaware of how haunted they are – by fragmented memories of war and occupation, by fading traditions, by buildings lost to firestorms and bulldozers, by the spirits of their recent past

Aunt Gerda – the good listener – fears the encroaching forgetfulness of old age. Her solution is to create an artwork that will record and, inevitably, betray the secrets long confided in her. So begins Jansson’s short story debut, a tour de force of scalpel-sharp narration that takes us from a disquieting homage to the artist Edward Gorey, to perfect evocations of childhood innocence and recklessness, to a city ravaged by storms, or the slow halting thaw of spring. These stories are gifts of originality and depth • The Finnish-Swedish writer and artist Tove Jansson achieved worldwide fame as the creator of the Moomin stories, written between 1945 and 1970 and still in print in more than twenty languages. However, the Moomins were only a part of her prolific output

The Moomins, in case you didn’t know, are kind, philosophical creatures with velvety fur and smooth round snouts, who live in a tall blue house in a beautiful woodland valley beside the sea • Featuring the much loved stories in Waterstone’s Oxfam bestseller, The Invisible Child and The Fir Tree – the Moomins’ gloriously funny and generous take on Christmas – Tales from Moominvalley collects together nine delightful Moomin short stories. Highlights include The Spring Tune (which Jarvis Cocker described as the best story about composing music) and The Last Dragon in the World, revealing the true essence of friendship. A perfect Christmas gift to complete the set of Moomin classics • Tales from Moominvalley, the sixth novel in the Moomin series, was published in 1962

Tove Jansson’s first book for adults drew on her childhood memories to capture afresh the enchantments and fears of growing up in Helsinki in the 1910s and 20s. Described as both a memoir and ‘a book of superb stories’ by Ali Smith, Jansson’s startlingly evocative prose offers a glimpse of the mysteries of winter ice, the bonhomie of balalaika parties, and the vastness of Christmas viewed from beneath the tree

An elderly artist and her six-year-old grand-daughter while away a summer together on a tiny island in the gulf of Finland. As the two learn to adjust to each other’s fears, whims and yearnings, a fierce yet understated love emerges – one that encompasses not only the summer inhabitants but the very island itself • Written in a clear, unsentimental style, full of brusque humour, and wisdom, The Summer Book is a profoundly life-affirming story. Tove Jansson captured much of her own life and spirit in the book, which was her favourite of her adult novels. This new edition, with a Foreword by Esther Freud, sees the return of a European literary gem – fresh, authentic and deeply humane

In the deep winter snows of a Swedish hamlet, a strange young woman fakes a break-in at the house of an elderly artist in order to persuade her that she needs companionship. But what does she hope to gain by doing this? And who ultimately is deceiving whom? In this portrayal of two women encircling each other with truth and lies, nothing can be taken for granted. By the time the snow thaws, both their lives will have changed irrevocably

Chris Stewart’s Driving over Lemons told the story of his move to a remote mountain farm in Las Alpujarras – an oddball region of Spain, south of Granada. Funny, insightful and real, the book became an international bestseller • A Parrot in the Pepper Tree, the sequel to Lemons, follows the lives of Chris, Ana and their daughter, Chloe, as they get to grips with a misanthropic parrot who joins their home, Spanish school life, neighbours in love, their amazement at Chris appearing on the bestseller lists… and their shock at discovering that their beloved valley is once more under threat of a dam • A Parrot in the Pepper Tree also looks back on Chris Stewart’s former life – the hard times shearing in midwinter Sweden (and driving across the frozen sea to reach island farms); his first taste of Spain, learning flamenco guitar as a 20-year old; and his illustrious music career, drumming for his school band Genesis (sacked at 17, he never quite became Phil Collins), and then for a circus

A little girl is transported with the help of magic glasses from the tedium of a summer afternoon into an exciting world of mangrove swamps, spluttering volcanoes and sea, where birds fly upside down and wild things threaten to pounce. But she is not alone. Old friends from Moomin Valley – Hemulen, Sniff, Snufkin, Thingummy & Bob – have joined her in her journey, and Tooticky too, who rides to their rescue in a stripey balloon • And who should be waiting to celebrate their safe landing? Why, Moomin of course • This brand new version of a classic book pairs Jansson’s irresistible artwork with a playful rhyming text by Sophie Hannah, one of Britain’s star poets, and calligraphy by Peter Blegvad: the perfect match for Jansson’s quirky illustrations

It is the summer of 1947. A novice Lutheran priest, his wife and baby daughter arrive at a windswept island off the coast of Finland, where they are welcomed by its frugal, self-sufficient community of fisher folk turned reluctant farmers. In this deeply atmospheric and quietly epic tale, Lundberg uses a wealth of everyday detail to draw us irresistibly into a life and mindset far removed from our own – stoic and devout yet touched with humour and a propensity for song. With each season, the young family’s love of the island and its disparate and scattered inhabitants deepens, and when the winter brings ice, new and precarious links appear. Told in spare, simple prose that mirrors the islanders’ unadorned style, this is a story as immersive as it is heartrending