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THE TROLL WITH NO HEART IN HIS BODY

Name: THE TROLL WITH NO HEART IN HIS BODY
Author: Lise Lunge-Larsen
ISBN: 0-395-91371-3

AND OTHER TALES OF TROLLS, FROM NORWAY

adapted by Lise Lunge-Larsen ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 1, 1999

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Not surprisingly, trolls come off second best in all but one of these nine stories. “The Boy Who Became A Lion, a Falcon, and an Ant” turns three monsters into rubble; “The Boy and the North Wind” give a thieving troll-hag a proper comeuppance; in the title story a young prince finds a troll’s heart in an unlikely place; and everyone knows what happens to the menacing bridge-dweller in “The Three Billy Goats Gruff.” In the one exception, “The Handshake,” three trolls greet a stray horse’s owner with a prank, but part on friendly terms with man and animal. Bowen draws inspiration from Norwegian folk art for her polychrome woodcuts, emphasizing silhouettes and giving her long-nosed trolls a properly dimwitted, disheveled look. Lunge-Larsen notes both her printed sources and any changes she’s made, adding an essay on the stories’ significance for young listeners. It’s an appealing collection: varied but not too long, spiced with danger, heroism, humorous moments, and violence that’s toned—not watered—down. (bibliography) (Folklore. 10-13)

Pub Date: Sept. 1, 1999

ISBN: 0-395-91371-3

Page Count: 96

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 1999

Categories:

CHILDREN'S SOCIAL SCIENCES

- BOOK REVIEW
SEVEN WAYS TO TRICK A TROLL
by Lise Lunge-Larsen ; illustrated by Kari Vick

- BOOK REVIEW
GIFTS FROM THE GODS
by Lise Lunge-Larsen & illustrated by Gareth Hinds

- BOOK REVIEW
THE ADVENTURES OF THOR THE THUNDER GOD
adapted by Lise Lunge-Larsen & illustrated by Jim Madsen

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CITY OF ANGELS

by Julie Jaskol & Brian Lewis ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 1, 1999

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Whirls of tiny, brightly dressed people’some with wings—fill Kleven’s kaleidoscopic portraits of sun-drenched Los Angeles neighborhoods and landmarks; the Los Angeles—based authors supply equally colorful accounts of the city’s growth, festivals, and citizens, using an appended chronology to squeeze in a few more anecdotes. As does Kathy Jakobsen’s My New York (1998), Jaskol and Lewis’s book captures a vivid sense of a major urban area’s bustle, diversity, and distinctive character; young Angelenos will get a hearty dose of civic pride, and children everywhere will find new details in the vibrant illustrations at every pass. (Picture book/nonfiction. 7-10)

Pub Date: Oct. 1, 1999

ISBN: 0-525-46214-7

Page Count: 48

Publisher: Dutton

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 1999

Categories:

CHILDREN'S SOCIAL SCIENCES

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NICKOMMOH!

A THANKSGIVING CELEBRATION

by Jackie French Koller ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 1, 1999

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Koller (Bouncing on the Bed, p. 143, etc.) portrays a Narragansett nickommoh, or celebratory gathering, from which it is very likely the tradition of Thanksgiving was drawn. As explained in an exemplary note—brief, clear, interesting—at the end of the book, these gatherings occurred 13 times a year, once each lunar month. The harvest gathering is one of the larger gatherings: a great lodge was built, copious food was prepared, and music and dance extended deep into the night. Koller laces the text with a good selection of Narragansett words, found in the glossary (although there is no key to pronunciation, even for words such as Taqountikeeswush and Puttuckquapuonck). The text is written as a chanted prose poem, with much repetition, which can be both incantatory and hackneyed, as when “frost lies thick on the fields at dawn, and the winged ones pass overhead in great numbers.” Mostly the phrases are stirring—as are Sewall’s scratchboard evocations—and often inspirational—for this nickommoh puts to shame what has become known as the day before the launch of the holiday shopping season. (Picture book. 6-9)