Moomins Enter the Cuteness Pantheon, With Help From Gen Z

The Moomin family — Moominpappa, Moominmamma, and Moomintroll — live in Moominvalley, where they welcome all friends, visitors, and vagrants for adventures and sweet treats.

- Adrienne Raphel

NEW YORK — The Moomin family — Moominpappa, Moominmamma, and Moomintroll — live in Moominvalley, where they welcome all friends, visitors, and vagrants for adventures and sweet treats.

Lately, though, the hippo-esque characters created by Finnish author and artist Tove Jansson have taken over the central branch of the Brooklyn Public Library in New York City in the United States. With huge, friendly eyes and protruding, snuffly snouts, they peer from balconies and dance across giant pink and green floor displays.

On a recent summer afternoon, Ms. Meera Sastry, who was visiting from Los Angeles, stopped by to see the exhibit.

“I remember Moomins growing up, from online,” said Ms. Sastry, 23. “They were cute, like Sanrio characters. But I liked that they were also anxious, and had little narratives.”