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In “Moominland Winter”, Moomintroll wakes from hibernation while the rest of his family slumber. He is forced to venture out into the snow alone and find a way through a strange and frightening world… This Christmas Day, listen to Radio 4 for a magical dramatisation of Tove Jansson’s classic tale, starring John Finnemore and Samantha Bond. To celebrate, we’ve collated ten fascinating facts about the Moomins and their mystical world.

Moominmamma is the unflappable matriarch in the Moomin stories. She carries a handbag at almost all times, which contains various items in the event of an emergency. These include wire, woolly socks, tummy powder (to ease sensitive stomachs), large bars of chocolate and bark, for making boats.

2. Moomins hate central heating

In “The Moomins and the Great Flood” (the very first Moomin story to be published), Moominmamma tells her son Moomintroll how their ancestors used to live behind tall stoves in people’s houses but, when central heating was introduced, were forced out: “‘Some of us still live there now, I’m sure,’ said Moominmamma. ‘But only where people still have stoves, I mean. We’re not happy with central heating.’”

3. There’s a magician on a flying panther

The Hobgoblin is a character who appears in the third Moomin book, “Finn Family Moomintroll”. He’s a magician with marvellous magical powers who is rather fond of rubies and on a quest to uncover the biggest ruby in the entire world: The King’s Ruby. And how does he get around? On a flying panther of course.

During the icy winter, the Moomin family hibernate. The tomboy, Too-Ticky, spends the winter in the Moomin’s boathouse while they are huddled away. And the wise friend of the family is kept company by eight invisible shrews. Too-Ticky is said to be based on Jansson's life partner, the graphic artist and professor Tuulikki Pietilä.

Moomintroll witnesses snow falling for the first time. He is astonished when snowflakes descend from the sky and land on his snout

5. A frozen squirrel comes back to life

The Lady of the Cold is a powerful, supernatural being who spreads ice and cold throughout Moominvalley. Anyone who looks her in the eye is frozen to death. In “Moominland Midwinter”, a forgetful squirrel, who refers to himself as the Squirrel with the Marvellous Tail, meets her gaze and is frozen solid. However, when spring arrives, Moomintroll meets another absentminded squirrel who goes by the same name. It appears that the Squirrel with the Marvellous Tail may have come back to life after all…

6. Moomintroll thought snow grew from the ground

In “Moominland Midwinter”, Moomintroll witnesses snow falling for the first time. He is astonished when snowflakes descend from the sky and land on his snout: “He looked towards the sky and watched them drift down towards him, more and more, soft and light as a feather. ‘So that’s how it works,’ thought Moomintroll. ‘And I thought somehow that the snow grew from the ground up!’”

7. Thingumy and Bob represent a secret same-sex love affair

Thingumy and Bob are a small, timid, elf-like pair with long noses, who speak with their own made-up language. It is not clear if they are male or female but their names, which are Tofslan och Vifslan in Swedish and Tiuhti ja Viuhti in Finnish, are thought to be based on that of the author and her secret female lover, married theatre director Vivica Bandler.

8. The Hattifatteners grow from seeds

The Hattifatteners are thin, white, ghostlike beings that roam around in groups. They are mute and deaf, but can sense vibrations in the ground. Their eyes change colour depending on the environment around them. Despite their silence, they are an intelligent and social bunch: they are able to fashion boats in which to sail the seas. Interestingly, despite resembling a kind of creature, a Hattifattener grows from a seed like a plant.

9. There’s a ghost that takes up knitting

In “The Exploits of Moominpappa”, the eponymous character winds up on an island, which is haunted by The Island Ghost. He’s not a particularly effective spectre however and the colonists on the island laugh at his failed efforts to scare them. He takes up knitting to calm his nerves.

10. Mymble was born in a clam

Mymble is Little My’s calmer older sister, who wears the same signature bun in her hair. In “The Exploits of Moominpappa”, she tells the eponymous Moomin and friends, “D’you know, I was born in a clam and wasn’t bigger than a waterflea when mother found me in her aquarium!” Moominpappa isn’t convinced, however, and accuses her of “fibbing”.