{"id":4685,"date":"2018-07-29T00:01:50","date_gmt":"2018-07-29T06:01:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/?p=4685"},"modified":"2018-07-28T16:17:38","modified_gmt":"2018-07-28T22:17:38","slug":"7-imps-7-kicks-597-featuring-tove-jansson","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/?p=4685","title":{"rendered":"7-Imp\u2019s 7 Kicks #597: Featuring Tove Jansson"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/a>
\n

” … Thingummy muttered, ‘Flazing blame.’
Bob said, ‘It’s hed hed rot!
Smorld up in woke \u2014 a sheadful drame,
When smorld is all we’ve got!'”<\/em>
(Click to enlarge)<\/center>
\n
 

\nHere’s a picture book that arrived on shelves in April but was created in 1970 and is publishing for the first time in North America. The Dangerous Journey<\/a><\/strong><\/em> was the last picture book completed by the legendary Finnish author-illustrator Tove Jansson<\/a><\/strong>. This new edition, published by Drawn & Quarterly, was translated by Sophie Hannah. <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Written in rhyme, readers meet Susanna, sitting outside in the grass and suffering from a bad case of ennui. Even her cat (Mr. Paws) is too lazy, peaceful, and serene for her mood. “I’m wild and crazy,” we read, “and I’m sick of all this green.” Susanna is in the mood for “danger, disaster, scandal” yet has no idea how to go about it. Suddenly, though, she puts on a pair of glasses she finds near her, and the world turns: Her cat is a “spitting frizz of rage, rotating in the sky,” and the forest she knows has disappeared with a dark mangrove swamp in its place. Even the sea is gone, Susanna eventually realizing her mind has moved the sea. “All this is down to me,” she comes to understand. <\/p>\n

She meets a handful of characters \u2014 a Hemulen, Sniff, Sorry-Oo, Thingummy, and Bob (characters from Jansson’s Moominvalley<\/em> series<\/a><\/strong>) \u2014 and they all travel through Moominvalley. There’s an eerie volcano, pounding snow (in summer, no less), “the looming shadow of the GROKE,” sinister moments, and more: Susanna’s wish for an adventure has come true. <\/p>\n

Jansson’s watercolors feature surreal landscapes and are awash in color and texture. It’s a beautiful thing to see this book make it to American shelves. Here’s a bit more art. …
\n
 

\n<\/a>
\n

“HEMULEN, Bob and Thingummy \u2014 those were his friends’ strange names \u2014
All clustered round Susanna for some gossip, fun and games. …”<\/em>
(Click to enlarge)<\/center>
\n
 

\n<\/a>
\n
“Night fell and snow fell, pounding like the drumsticks of a drummer.
HEMULEN cried, ‘Delete! Rewind! It’s still the height of summer!'”<\/em>
(Click to enlarge)<\/center>
\n
 
<\/p>\n

THE DANGEROUS JOURNEY. Entire contents copyright \u00a9 Tove Jansson, 1970, Moomin Characters\u2122. Translation copyright \u00a9 2010, 2018 Sophie Hannah. Illustrations reproduced here by permission of the publisher, First Drawn & Quarterly.<\/em> <\/p>\n

Note for any new readers: 7-Imp\u2019s 7 Kicks is a weekly meeting ground for taking some time to reflect on Seven(ish) Exceptionally Fabulous, Beautiful, Interesting, Hilarious, or Otherwise Positive Noteworthy Things from the past week, whether book-related or not, that happened to you. New kickers are always welcome.<\/p>\n

* * * Jules’ Kicks * * *<\/strong><\/font>
<\/center><\/p>\n

1)<\/strong><\/font> Tove Jansson!<\/p>\n

2)<\/strong><\/font> “GO!” by Santigold (featuring Karen O.). This is related to a TV show, but I can’t explain why I like the song, or I’ll be giving away a spoiler. <\/p>\n

3)<\/strong><\/font> This<\/a><\/strong> made me laugh. I have this dream at least once a week, though it’s always college. <\/p>\n

4)<\/strong><\/font> A trip to Parnassus early in the week to get the new Lumberjanes<\/em> for my daughters. <\/p>\n

5)<\/strong><\/font> Stopping by to visit a friend. <\/p>\n

6)<\/strong><\/font> One of my daughters’ summer goals was to watch all of the Star Wars<\/em> movies (again) in a particular order. (Their nerd-gene is strong.) We are done. …<\/p>\n

7)<\/strong><\/font> … And I’m reminded how kick-ass Rey<\/a><\/strong> is. <\/p>\n

What are YOUR<\/font><\/strong> kicks this week?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

” … Thingummy muttered, ‘Flazing blame.’Bob said, ‘It’s hed hed rot!Smorld up in woke \u2014 a sheadful drame,When smorld is all we’ve got!’”(Click to enlarge)   Here’s a picture book that arrived on shelves in April but was created in 1970 and is publishing for the first time in North America. The Dangerous Journey was […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[21,2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4685","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-seven-good-things-before-monday","category-picture-books"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4685","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4685"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4685\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4685"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4685"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4685"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}