Who's That Knocking on Christmas Eve?

When a Finnmark boy and his ice bear, enroute to Oslo, stop off at a small mountainside hut for shelter in this traditional Norwegian folktale, they find themselves unintentionally performing a much-needed service for the people who live there. Kyri and her father, long plagued by trolls on Christmas Eve, keep watch to no avail, and lose their holiday feast every year. With the advent of the boy and the bear however, all that changes, as a series of events - the children flee when the trolls arrive, one of the trolls mistakes the bear for a cat and pokes him in the nose with a hot sausage, and the enraged bear chases the trolls out of the hut and onto the mountain - ensures that the problem will never recur...

First collected by show more Asbjørnsen and Moe, in their Norske Folkeeventyr, this tale - Kjetta på Dovre ("The Cat on the Dovrefell") in the original - can also be found in some other picture-books, from Tomie dePaolo's fairly traditional The Cat on the Dovrefell, to Jane Yolen's more recent revisionist interpretation, Sister Bear: A Norse Tale. This retelling by Jan Brett is engaging, and the artwork is truly gorgeous! Lovely decorative endpapers, full two-page illustrations, with smaller sidebar illustrations inset on the edges - one of the hallmarks of Brett's work - and copious use of Scandinavian motifs, make this a true visual treat. I probably would have awarded four stars, if I weren't irritated at the absence of any note about source material, which is always a pet peeve of mine, when it comes to folkloric retellings. Leaving that aside, this is a book I would recommend to young folklore enthusiasts, particularly those looking for Christmas stories, as well as to fans of Jan Brett. show less

I never tire of Jan Brett's artistry. What a tremendous gift she possesses. One again, using a Norwegian folktale for the springboard of the story, the illustrations are filled with attention to detail. Each page contains images galore, and while one might think it difficult to focus, Brett always has the two page spreads with a focal point and then smaller images on the periphery.

Cold and weary, Olso travels with his very special ice bear. Spotting chimney smoke and smelling delightful food, Olso is inspired to continue to move along to the source of his needs.

Finding a delightful cottage, he knocks on the door asking for rest and respite. Hesitant to open the door, Kyri is surprised to find that it is not troublesome trolls, but show more rather a person who might help her.

Each Christmas Eve the sneaky, nasty trolls invade and steal Kyri's well planned, delicious meal. This year, when the trolls invade, Olso's ice bear comes to the rescue. Mistaking the bear for a kitty cat, the ugly troll sticks his nose with a hot ember. When the bear roars, the trolls flee.

This is creative, beautiful and, once again, the art work is stunning. show less

Those pesky trolls! In one of Brett's earlier books they were out to get items of clothing, but now they're invading people's homes to try to steal the Christmas Eve feast!Thankfuly a boy travelling to Oslo with his ice bear save the day (since Trolls don't know better than to poke a sleeping bear) and everyone can eat the feast in peace.

A boy from Finnmark is in the Arctic circle cold and hungry, when he sees the smoke of a fireplace in the distance. He discovers the hut and is let in by his new friend, Kyri. She is inside making Christmas Eve feast for her family and now the boy from Finnmark and his pet bear. The boy is warned of the annual visit by trolls to steal their food but he welcomes the invitation and is very grateful. Kyri's father went to go watch for the trolls to scare them off but they still appeared at the house knocking constantly. The boy's bear scares off the trolls on this Christmas Eve, and are never again a problem for Kyri and her family.

I love Jan Brett's beautiful illustrations. But this story didn't do much for me. One highlight: The troll's confusion of the polar bear ("ice bear") for a cat, and the little girl's using that to trick the troll ("Missy," [the troll] called in a high, cracky voice, "do you still have that kitty that sleeps under the stove?" "Oh, yes," Kyri said, "only she has grown up into a big cat now, and she has seven kittens, all larger and fiercer than herself.") I found it amusing and so did my 3yo.

I love Jan Brett's beautiful illustrations. But this story didn't do much for me. One highlight: The troll's confusion of the polar bear ("ice bear") for a cat, and the little girl's using that to trick the troll ("Missy," [the troll] called in a high, cracky voice, "do you still have that kitty that sleeps under the stove?" "Oh, yes," Kyri said, "only she has grown up into a big cat now, and she has seven kittens, all larger and fiercer than herself.") I found it amusing and so did my 3yo.

This one's an odd little Christmas tale. Kyri prepares a Christmas feast, but is worried that some trolls will come and gobble it up before she and her family get a chance to eat it. A boy from Finnmark - a Northern province of Norway? - comes along with his pet polar bear - he tries to scare the trolls away, but it's the bear that really frightens them.

The illustrations are framed in a really interesting way - the dark night sky appears at the top of each double-page spread, filled with mountain peaks and northern lights and stars and trolls. On either side of the main scene are two illustrated wood cut-outs framing the illustration. The wood cut-outs change with each page and also have two separate scenes in them. It's almost like a show more (very weird) comic book.

The book is full of details about how Scandinavians celebrate (or celebrated?) the Christmas holiday. Theres tons of little scandinavian details in the scenery, the outfits, the woodcarvings, the food, etc. It's very chock full of detaily little scenes.

The story's apparently based on a Norwegian folk tale, but there weren't any source notes as far as I could tell. show less