Finnish author and illustrator Tove Jansson, creator of The Moomintroll series of children's books, included an "Ant-lion" in her book Finn Family Moomintroll. In the story the Moomintroll character conspires to capture the Ant-lion out of revenge for its having pulled Moomintroll's mother down into its pit. After its capture, the Ant-lion undergoes an elaborate and fantastic transformation, finally emerging as "the world's smallest hedgehog." Although marketed as children's literature, Jansson's stories contain sophisticated, secondary meanings that adults will appreciate.
© 1948 Tove Jansson. |