Celebrated for the Moomins, Finnish novelist Tove Jansson also wrote many books for adults. Being able to read one of her best novels in English for the first time is like discovering buried treasure

In 1962 Tove Jansson published a story for children called "The Spring Tune", featuring Snufkin, the peripatetic musician of the Moomin stories. "'It's the right evening for a tune,' Snufkin thought. 'A new tune, one part expectation, two parts sadness and, for the rest, just the great delight of walking alone and liking it.'" As he settles down to compose, he is disturbed by a small creature, a "creep", which rustles out of the undergrowth, declares its admiration for the famous Snufkin, asks him a lot of questions, and demands attention and comfort.

Meanwhile, the tune, which until then had been forming itself out of the noises of forest and brook and the slow revelations of the season, disappears. Snufkin has to wait for it to come back. Never underestimate Jansson, who never ever underestimates her reader. This story for eight-year-olds is a sharply pertinent d