A trip to 'Moomin island' made me rethink summer

Holidaying on this Finnish archipelago taught Matt Charlton that foraging, festivals and ferrying with some of the happiest people in the world beats sweltering on a beach in the Med

- Matt Charlton

Eighty years ago, Tove Jansson’s The Moomins and the Great Flood was published, marking the beginning of an intellectual property empire which has swept across the world like the frost of an advancing Groke (I'll explain later).

It was conceived during the Winter War in 1939, when Russia’s invasion left 300,000 Finns homeless, as a source of comfort to Jansson herself, but also to the country's frightened children.

The tale of the displaced anthropomorphic troll-like Moomins finding a home among the comforting and bucolic surroundings of Moomin Valley certainly struck a chord in those dark days.

"It's got that melancholy at the centre of it but offers safety too, which is quite a Finnish thing - sheltering, safety and cosiness," James Zambra, creative director of Moomin Characters, told me. James's mother, Sophia Jansson, is the company's former CEO, chair of the board and Tove's niece.

In summertime, however, it is important first to lure the Finns out of their natural winter semi-hibernation/cosy state and into the light - for three months where there is an abundance of the stuff - accompanied by the festivals, the foraging, the water and other libations.

For seven years running, Finland has been named the happiest country in the world, according to The World Happiness Report. I won't depress you further by telling you where the UK ranked. On the darkest winter days, Helsinki in the south only sees five hours of daylight, so I figure they must be doing something right. After my visit this summer, I'm fairly certain it's the Finnish – and as it happens, the Moomins' – approach to summertime that is a big contributing factor to all this joy. Who needs the beating heat of various costas when there's a country that knows how to wring every last precious drop out of the warmest season?