The Moomin fairy-tale presents a safe world for children
Ever heard of Moominvalley? It surely is quite a place, worth much attention especially for all families with young kids. The Moomin fairy-tales by Finnish-Swedish author and artist Tove Jansson present a safe, educating, thoughtful and mightily witty environment for children to learn and develop. Jansson's eight novels are magnificently translated into English and more than thirty other languages.
As noted in the beautifully written liner notes, Moomin music was not a part of the original creations of Jansson's fairy-tales in the 1940s. It was only introduced in a theater setting in the late 1950s, but have since added an inseparable dimension to the stories.
Children learn from everything they hear and see. Too often other children's products and stories are created around a repetitious idea, promoting violence as a means for quick laughter. It is critical that children do hear stories with a development and ideal which support their growth as humans. The Moomins present a safe learning environment based on non-violence and peaceful values, yet, Moominvalley is constantly in action, full of supposedly looming danger, and feelings of care for your friends. The Moomin fairy-tales thus present a rather complex world which makes children think and come to their own independent conclusions after changing their minds several times over.
All these stories are accompanied by a group of songs on the Moomin Voices CDs. The style of the music is expected to be equally high-geared and complex as the Moomins themselves, all of course relative to what children's music otherwise is known to be. But this is not difficult for the kids if allowed to be open to it. The music has a symbiotic connection to the multiple dimensions of the stories. Every character is presented with a song, and several songs take place in a particular event or season. If you understand neither Swedish nor Finnish, the musical and thus intuitive dimension of this music may be of even greater importance for the young audience. In America, where children are too little exposed to hearing languages they don't understand, this music presents a perfect opportunity to introduce the world outside our country, and what other languages are, while safely reading the stories in English for additional questions right before bedtime.
Keywords: Education,Children,Music
Genre: Vocal
Published: Wednesday, May 26, 2010
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