The Finnish artist and author Tove Jansson (1914-2001) wrote and illustrated her first Moomin story, The Moomins and the Great Flood, in 1945 as a form of escape from the dark shadows of war.

By 1962, when Tales From Moominvalley was published her books had become world famous. The eight Moomin titles would be translated into over fifty languages and remain in print for the next six decades.

Tove Jansson lived in Helsinki and a tiny island in the Gulf of Finland which she shared with her life partner, the graphic artist, Tuulikki Pietila.