So she took off her clothes, slowly and nervously. She waited for opposition, but none came. An elder, dispensing wisdom, regaining innocence and playfulness. A child, still innocent and questioning and playful. It tells of the complicity of infancy and elderness. The picture - for this is a picture, rather than a tale - focuses squarely on Summer, The Island, Sophia and Grandmother.

This is the one clue we get to the fact that Sophia feels the loss of her mother. His being there is clearly far more important than anything he might do.

There are others who pass through briefly, or who, like Papa, always working at his desk or putting out or taking in the nets, are 'there'. These are the main characters in The Summer Book. Grandmother – who really was born in the 1800s and who will die 'quite soon' Sophia – 6 years old when she 'woke up and remembered that they had come back to the island and that she had a bed to herself because her mother was dead'. Book yourself an afternoon this Summer, and take yourself and The Summer Book somewhere quiet, preferably within sight and sound of the sea, settle back and prepare to be transported. Tove Jansson's short novel about Summer is several worlds away from the Moomintrolls she is most famous for outside her native Scandinavia. This was the first of Jansson's that I read a decade or so ago and I've loved it ever since. The characters and the place are real and warm and welcoming. Summary: A simple tale with a true sense of family and of place.

The Summer Book by Tove Jansson