Moomin Mamma’s Maid is Tove Jansson’s sixth comic strip for The Evening News newspaper.

Mrs Fillyjonk, a housekeeping expert and advocate of discipline, moves in with her children next door to the Moomin family. The clash between the two household cultures is total: the Moomin family does housework when they feel like it. Instead of making jam, the Moomins think it’s more fun to steal apples; in the mornings, they don’t weed the garden or air the bedding, but stay in bed and read, etc.

Under pressure from Mrs Fillyjonk, Moominmamma decides to hire a housekeeper and takes in little Misabel, who believes that no one likes her.

The unbridled chaos suddenly turns into a moving story about the development of a person with very low self-esteem. At times, it is difficult for the reader to hold back tears, as everyone probably knows people who believe they are the worst person in the world. Fortunately, Misabel is freed from the shackles of her past with the help of her imagination.

Misan has a dog named Sorry-oo, whose secret is that he only likes cats. Moomin Mamma’s Maid is also a story about the liberation of the dog Sorry-oo. Tove Jansson said that after the story was published, she received several letters from English housewives who had been forced to hide their homosexuality in the mid-1950s. This sweet story about accepting one’s own differences had apparently given these women hope and encouragement.

​​A very entertaining supporting character in the story is a private detective with a bowler hat and pipe who investigates Mrs Fillyjonk’s disappearance. This detective is more or less identical to the master detective Nick Knatterton, who appeared in German publications between 1950 and 1959. 

Moomin Mamma’s Maid was published in 1956. The Finnish name is Kuvitteluleikki, and the Swedish name is Låtsaslek.