There have been in picture books and in the graphic novel occasional works of genius where the producer of the text and the producer of the art being the same person fuse the art and the text into a seamless work of genius. The story circled around Moominpappa, who felt unnecessary, felt less-of-a-man, felt like his mission as the protector of the family, as a traditional dad, was somehow threatened and was thus filled with fierce need to tame.

Tatuś Muminka i morze" to książka o tym, że każdy czasem nieco irracjonalnie pragnie ucieczki gdziekolwiek, nawet i do miejsca, w którym ostatecznie wcale nie jest lepiej. Tove Jansson wrote and illustrated her first Moomin book, The Moomins and the Great Flood (1945), during World War II.Moominmama longs for home and creates a magical mural, Little My enjoys the solitude, Moominpapa puts off fixing the lighthouse lamps and they meet a reclusive fisherman.

The trip is initiated by Moominpappa, who has lost touch with himself and has started to feel unnecessary. Moomintroll is seaking independence and maturity and is trying to forge his own purpose which he accidentally stumbles into by reaching out to the Groke who is the very embodiment of fear and lonliness and which even the trees and the sand are afraid of. Our amazing news is that we will be launching Special Collectors’ Editions of the original Moomin novels in October 2017: the first four titles to coincide with the opening of the Tove Jansson retrospective at Dulwich Picture Gallery.

Moominpappa at Sea was deliberately darker than other books on the series I've read this far, something I was not expecting.