Tales from Moominvalley...
adventures of imaginary creatures by Finnish author Tove Jansson...
actually written in Swedish, the title is Det osynliga barnet och andra berättelser,
which translates precisely to: “The Invisible Child and other stories.”
It includes vivid characters like Moomintroll and Moominmomma;
Sniff and Snufkin (the Vagabond), Little My, Snork Maiden, and Snork.
This book was magic to me... read in pictures not words initially, as it was seen first as a toddler, in the form of an illustrated Polish translation which father then read aloud to me and my older sister... and which we listened to (with the thrill of a mental black box theater) as an amazing audio tape repleat with dramatized actors voices and perfect sound effects... It inspired us to tape some stuff of our own in later days...
I did not actually read the book (in English translation) until I was in my twenties. I read it one dark, cold, dramatic winter, wearing cut off gloves with open tip fingers, and clinging to very hot spiked tea... and it rekindled all the magic of the first readngs. Very heart warming.
I’ve no idea if it really inspires my writing at the moment or not, but indirectly, I suppose it must be a sort of ferment in the subconscious. Otherwise... early books would be Mary Poppins and Alice in Wonderland... also read first as illustrations and Polish translations heard aloud. Incidentally, father never stopped reading out loud to me... I absolutely loved it and we read many books that way together... fiction and nonfiction.