Actually, Moominpappa at Sea isn't very comforting. My PhD is about failed masculinity in 1930s Welsh political novels, and many of the same themes are emerging in this Moomins book. Poor old Moominpappa finds that his existing model of masculinity and paternalism is all over - they don't need him to protect him, so he gets depressed. He thinks about starting a forest fire, then moves the whole family to a lighthouse (very phallic) on a remote island so that he can refound the family on conservative lines. Moominmama seems to know that it's a phase she'll endure and seek to mitigate - I'm sure he'll learn the error of his ways in the end.
I hope I haven't just ruined the Moomins for you. They're amongst my very favourites.
