On August 9, 1914, Tove Jansson was born in Helsinki. She was the oldest daughter of Signe Hammarsten Jansson, an artist, and Viktor Jansson, a sculptor. Tove was born in a middle-class family and experienced both security and adventure. At an early age, Tove began to study art and illustrating. Before long she turned to writing. In 1945, she wrote the first in a series, The Little Trolls and the Great Flood. Jansson saw her Moomin books used in many different media: theatre, opera, film, radio and TV.
Jansson went on to publish four picture books and received many awards for her work, one being the Hans Christian Andersen medal in 1966. Ms. Jansson died June 27, 2001.
