Macmillan Children’s Books has announced a new publishing partnership with Moomin Characters, which will see it publish new titles in spring 2022 as part of the Reading, Writing and the Moomins initiative. Macmillan Children’s Books has been publishing The Moomins illustrated gift titles since 2017, with sales of more than half a million copies worldwide and translation into 20 languages.

Nicole Pearson, publishing director, brands and media, brokered the deal with Hanna Pajunen-Walsh, international publishing director, Rights & Brands, the global licensing agent for Moomin Characters. 

“Moomin occupies a very special place for us at Macmillan, and we are delighted to be extending our partnership with Moomin Characters to include this new Moomin publishing,” says Pearson. “We were drawn immediately to the stunning new creative designs, and we felt the vision and aesthetic offered many opportunities for creating a rich publishing program that fosters a love of reading, writing and communication, building on the original Moomin values and classic canon.”

Reading, Writing and the Moomins is a publishing and licensing initiative from Moomin Characters, which will run across all categories, with publishing at its heart.  It will utilize newly created artwork and alphabets based on Tove Jansson’s original hand-lettering and illustrations and will promote the themes and values of the original Moomin stories to build literacy, confidence and compassion in children through reading, writing and developing a love of language.

This illustration art-bank will be used across Macmillan Children’s Books’ Reading, Writing and the Moomins publishing which will launch in spring 2022 with a pair of gift alphabet and counting titles. The initiative will also bring on board a range of charities and partners including Oxfam, Unicef and the Read Hour campaign run by the Finnish Children and Youth Foundation.

“We're launching the Reading, Writing and the Moomins initiative because we know first-hand how powerful words can be: they allow you to communicate your hopes and dreams, relate to others, engage with the big issues of our times and change the world,” says Sophia Jansson, creative director, Moomin Characters and niece of Tove Jansson. “We're delighted that Macmillan will continue their beautiful Moomin publishing and join us on this journey.”

Macmillan Children’s Books’ currently offers three different ranges, including illustrated picture books, tie-in publishing for the award-winning Moominvalley animation and a classic range including The World of Moominvalley.

"We are very proud to be extending our ongoing partnership with Moomin Characters and to be part of this important initiative to spark a love of reading and writing in young children,” says Stephanie Barton, publisher, preschool, brands and classics, Macmillan Children’s Books. “Together with Moomin, and the charitable partners supporting this initiative, we want to inspire children and to create more readers for the future.”