On the anniversary of Tove Jansson’s first book, The Moomins and the Great Flood, we take a look back on her wartime creations and why they continue to resonate.

Even those unfamiliar with Tove Jansson’s internationally beloved comic strip know the Moomins. Like the iconic characters from Winnie the Pooh or Peanuts, you’ve seen them – plump, upright hippo-horse hybrids with kind, curious eyes – on book covers, cards and bed sheets, on television. But the chances are better, if you’re reading this, that you know the Moomins – Moomintroll, Moominmamma, and Moominpappa, the family of creatures (trolls?) who inhabit the whimsical, serene Moominvalley alongside