Kentucky Troll

Havill, Juanita

ISBN 10: 0688104584 ISBN 13: 9780688104580

Publisher: Lothrop Lee & Shepard, 1993

Synopsis

A Swedish troll emigrates to Kentucky and tries to live there in disguise among the humans, using his magic powder to make butter and luring a pretty girl to his cabin

About this title

From School Library Journal

Kindergarten-Grade 2-- Young Troll overhears some people talking about a wonderful place to start a new life. He leaves his native Sweden for America, taking with him a sack of magic powder that makes work easier. He settles down in Kentucky where he tries to farm and find a wife, like the other settlers. He can't resist telling Becky, the young girl who works for him, all about trolls and their powers, which she dismisses as make believe. When she catches him at his magic and brings the townspeople after him, Young Troll retreats to the woods to observe humans from a safe distance again. The realistic watercolors show details of past rural life, although neither they nor the text specifically depict Kentucky. Dodson's part-human, part-animal troll is believably disguised in his scenes with Becky and her father. The book is not an essential purchase, but could be used effectively with such other stories as The Three Billy Goats Gruff , Tomie de Paola's Helga's Dowry (Harcourt, 1977), and Astrid Lindgren's The Tomten (Coward, 1979). --Barbara Chatton, College of Education, University of Wyoming, Laramie
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Publishers Weekly

This diverting and unusual tale stars, of all things, a Swedish troll who journeys to frontier America. Endeavoring to make a life among the folks in his new Kentucky home, Young Troll disguises himself as a man, acquires material goods and pines for a wife. Narrated in a droll and gentle style that falls pleasantly on the ear, Havill's ( Jamaica's Find ) somewhat lengthy saga possesses many of the ingredients of a homespun folktale: the pretty country lass who catches Young Troll's eye, the magic powder that allows the hero to churn unsurpassed butter, the townsfolk who mass in search of the troll after his magic goes awry. These discrete elements, however, never build to a satisfying climax--instead, the thwarted protagonist simply withdraws from society, concluding that people and trolls were never intended to mix. Dodson's ( Supergrandpa ) illustrations portray a suitably ugly--and occasionally oddly appealing--title character, but ultimately, apart from a certain cuteness, lack a distinguishing style. Ages 5-up.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Lothrop Lee & Shepard
• Publication date: 1993
• ISBN 10: 0688104584
• ISBN 13: 9780688104580
• Binding: Library Binding
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 32
• Illustrator: Dodson Bert