Well, I'd blindly recommend the Moomins to anyone with a tender side, slightly warped humor, an apprecation of nature, and a love of quiet, small things/places.
Charming can barely sum the moomins up. They strangely bare much resemblance to the ideals of zen buddhism (a sort of gentle acceptance and enjoyment of all dire matters!) In these little stories are often very complex ideas (but left unannounced for the reader to explore--I think the characters just ignore them!) Also there are many strange moods, honest moods that don't fit into movies and tv shows (probably one of the biggest reason for it never having any draw in the US.)
The result ends up being probably one of the best things ever in children's lit--is it about family? is it about a life connected to nature? is it about our relations with each other and ourselves? is it about a whimsical life that we've left behind in our new mechanized world?
The author never says--she's an observer. You get the spoken parts, and the silence between the words, all the uncomfortable moments where it is hard to know how one should feel. Maybe that's why they are sometimes considered weird or directionless, but they speak stronger of life and what it is like to live than most anything else I can think of. So how can that not be good children's lit?
P.S. If you are looking to break into the Moomin scene, pick yourself up a copy of Finn family moomintroll (can often be found for $1 or so at used bookstores--I have like 5 of them at some point because I loan them out), or alternatively, check out Drawn and Quarterly's publication of the Moomin comics which are absolutely delightful in their own right!
edit: hope the pic isn't too much overload for the forum...