D'Aulaires' Book of Trolls (New York Review Children's Collection)

Best for Ages 7-10. Beautifully illustrated.

As someone who is trying to cultivate a love of literature AND a lengthy attention span in my homeschooled children, I *did* purchase this for my pre-schooler and he sat happily through the entire book (3 evenings worth of reading for us). The d'Aulaire illustrations were, as always, engaging, soft, and encouraging to the child's imagination. Detailed without taking over the telling of the tales. Basically, it covered all of my criteria to be purchased: well written and if it has illustrations they need to be worthy of the story and worth looking at. The down side to this book is that it is in some ways a long treatise on trolls that happens to include some stories as examples. This means that your child ends the book having been exposed to a lot of the folk beliefs of Scandinavian trolls, with a limited number of stories, and that it doesn't offer simple cut-off points for bedtime reading. On the other hand, it means it is a book worth revisiting as a child grows older; in our case so our children will be versed in the folklore and belief of their ancestors. A simpler bedtime book with lovely woodblock illustrations would be Lise Lunge-Larsen's "The Troll with No Heart in His Body." It is a collection of the stories with very brief intros that can be included or omitted according to the moment (at bedtime with my pre-schooler I tend to leave them out; when reading during the day I am more likely to include them). I'm not really suggesting one book over the other. In a search for either cultural literacy or multiculturalism, both have their place and are both well told, well illustrated and will add to your child's imaginative landscape.

The D'Aulaire's Book of Trolls is a delight for any reader who enjoys tales with a bit of gruesome detail. The heavy pages are so satisfying, making this feel much more substantial than just a children's storybook- it has the feel of a work of art. The classic black/white D'Aulaire art was originally done with lithographic stones and the color pages were done with acetate overlays- one for each color. The final feel is almost as if the images were hand done in your personal copy of the book. The tales themselves are filled with fun but not for the faint of heart- here is a favorite passage in our house 'The more heads a troll had, the more trouble he had at mealtimes, for all his greedy mouths shouted, "I am hungry. Feed me first. It's my turn!" Since even a many headed troll had only two hands, he would be a very tired troll before the meal was over...'

We love reading about hobbits, elves and dwarves and so we were thrilled to find D'Aulaire's book about trolls! It is a fascinating look at Norse myths and history, much of which inspired Tolkein's own writing in The Lord of the Rings. I would also reccommend the D'Aulaire's book of Norse mythology - it is a wild and crazy read that reveals many influences on our own culture. Of course the book on Greek Mythology is a must read for any child, and especially for Percy Jackson fans.

This book seems to have perfectly captured the spirit of Norwegian Trolls. These creatures of myth were once genuinely feared by children and adults alike. Yet, with time, the culture has embraced them as a symbol of superstitious mischief. In modern day Norway, the troll is an impishly cute, cuddly sort of a thing. And this beautifully illustrated book has managed to replicate this transition. Your kids will shiver, squeel, and giggle at the stories in this collection. Nothing makes the monster under the bed so easy to deal with as showing that a monster can be cuddly.

My kindergartener loved this book immediately, though it's too long to read in one sitting. The tales elicit disgust and wonder in equal measure, with just enough dread to set the book apart from the many happy learn-to-read books. The book ends with a myth about the nature of evil in the world that I hope may help my kids accept the topsy-turvy time we're living in as the latest chapter of an old story in which the humans have an immeasurable advantage over the trolls and their kin.

My grandmother gave me this book as a child and I have been looking for it for years. Great stories to both read and share with the little ones.

This is a very short introduction to trolls. Plenty of illustrations fatten this book. These stories dovetail nicely with his other books and expand the fairytale cosmos of Norway. There is a little violence mentioned, a sound spanking of a troll brat, but other than that these tales are tame compared to Grimm’s. I especially like the story of the three trolls that share an eye. The part about squeezing water out of a stone is also found in the funniest story in Grimm’s, about the tailor. All in all’s recommend this book ages 6-10, and for nerdy adults like me who love fairytales.

A gorgeous book, beautifully written and illustrated, witty and instructive. Only a troll would not like it.

I you and the kid(s) are tired of sickly uber-politically correct and banal children's stories, then go for this book. It's big and has excellent ilustrations that will get you talking about each page. This is especially good for our family because we speak another language. It's more informative than story-based, which is kind of novel for a childrens' book. Even better than this is 'The Terrible Troll Bird' by the same authors.

Love reading these books to my daughter.

What a beautiful book - to be treasured. Message from my son - it's very good!

Standard of writing and graphics excellent for this book, but found the content of the stories to be aimed at older children. Do understand that all children like a little fear, but these stories and the graphics were really not suitable for younger children at all I felt.