Christmas Trolls

That clever little heroine Treva, who debuted in author/artist Jan Brett's Trouble with Trolls, returns in this second picture-book devoted to her adventures. Getting ready for Christmas, together with her parents and little brother Sami, she is surprised when decorations and gifts begin to go missing. When she spots the family's Christmas pudding being stolen by a hedgehog, she gives chase, and discovers that the erinaceous thief has been bringing the missing Christmas accoutrements to two trolls. Pitying the quarrelsome pair, who want Christmas for themselves, but don't really understand what it is, she sets out to show them...

Like its predecessor, Christmas Trolls pairs an engaging story featuring a feisty young heroine with a can-do show more attitude, with beautiful, detailed artwork. I loved all of the little folkloric details in the illustrations here, which are clearly Scandinavian in nature. Treva's most treasured possession is a Swedish Dalecarlian horse, for instance - a symbol of Dalarna. The folk costumes and decorations, the Christmas customs, they are all beautifully captured. As always with Brett's work, the side panels provide more of the story than is revealed in the text alone, here showing the hedgehog's activities, first in stealing and then in restoring the Christmas goodies. Recommended to anyone who enjoyed the previous story about Treva, or who is looking for Christmas stories with a Scandinavian flavor. show less

Very nice illustrations, but the story is clearly derivative of How the Grinch Stole Christmas - and without the Grinch, it's just not the same!

Christmas is Treva's favorite time of the year. But this year, decorations and presents are mysteriously disappearing. When Treva follows a small creature making off with the Christmas pudding, she discovers two irresistible trolls.

This is a great Christmas story about a little girl who teaches a couple of mischevious trolls how to have a real Christmas without stealing things from other people. It helps children understand what Christmas is about.

How can a person who has BoekenTrol as her nick not have a book with trolls featuring? That can't be, so here's my children's Christmas troll book :-)

I suppose this is a book for children a bit older, maybe even forcthos who've just learned to read.
The illustrations are more complicated, as is the story/ the text.

The story is not out of the Christmas/children ordinary.
What I liked most are the drawings. Colorful, rich in detail, small side-drawings with details about not-main characters in that part of the story.
It reminds me a bit of the Russian fairy tales I read (children's editions).

The story is sweet, with a sweet ending. The mischievous trolls learn a good lesson and the ending is redeeming. I would use this story to teach children that you can always take the opportunity to make things better if you have done wrong.

A Scandinavian alpine setting is perfect for this Christmas fairytale. Our valiant female protagonist teaches two troublesome trolls what the holiday is all about. Hedgehog scampers across the pages tying the tale together.