THE TERRIBLE TROLL-BIRD

by Ingri & Edgar Parin D'Aulaire D'Aulaire ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 1, 1976

There's nothing very terrible about the appearance of the giant troll-bird that pops up in the forest and threatens to fly off with Lina, Sina, Trina and Ola's horse; the red, blue and yellow creature looks more like a folk-art kitchen design than like the D'Aulaires' fearsome Trolls (1972), and it is killed so easily, when Ola loads his blunderbuss with a silver button, that all your attention will be to the humorous incidentals--Lina, Sina and Trina being blown up the chimney when the bird flaps his giant wings, or all the farm animals (""even the pigs had to come"") being harnessed to drag the dead bird uphill for roasting at a huge, blazing celebration. The mood is so benign that even those treacherous cow-tailed hulder-maidens are friends for the night. . . But wait! When no one is expecting it (readers least of all) a real troll couple emerge from the mountain and are about to carry off the people's houses when the sun comes out and you see, in a flash, why they're creatures of darkness: First the tops of their heads become golden and shattered, and then their whole bodies turn to stone, burst, and scatter as boulders and stones. A totally satisfying ending (and a tremendous headache image to boot), even though this is just a footnote to Trolls and some of the fuzzy black-and-white pictures are as hard to read as footnotes.

Pub Date: Sept. 1, 1976

ISBN: 1590172523

Page Count: -

Publisher: Doubleday

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1976

Categories: CHILDREN'S