The book features almost all the well-known heroes of Tūve Jānsone’s stories, and their dangerous adventures are crowned by the happy return of the troll Moomin to his mother. Although the images of Jānsone’s books have long been very popular in Latvia, this is the first Jānsone picture book published in Latvian.
Tūve Jānsone’s stories about the Moomins reached Latvia in 1968, when Elija Kliene translated a book The invisible child. This work was continued by translator Mudīte Treimane for many years and for books. However, the artist has also created picture and comic books. What happened next ?, published in Finland in 1952, has been written in played articles that could remind the Latvian reader a bit of Albert Kronenberg’s fairy tales, therefore the poet Inese Zandere worked with Mudīte Treiman in translating the articles this time. The events and characters of the book seem unpredictable and at times even harsh, but loved by love.
The design of the book is especially interesting – every letter drawn by the artist plays an important role in it, which becomes an integral part of the illustration. The letters correspond to the character of the characters – for example, the letters of Moomin’s mother’s name look lovely and feminine, but the letters of little Mijas – small and stubborn. The size and layout of the letters help to follow the events, the letters worry, run away, happily escape just like the characters in the story. In Latvian, the artist Ūna Laukmane has portrayed this world of Jānsone’s letters, in which nothing is accidental, but carefully invented.
The publication of the book has been supported by the European Commission’s program Creative Europe.
Publishing houses Big and small books at the best price can be purchased on the publisher’s website www.lielsmazs.lv, as well as in all major bookstores in Latvia.
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