Seven Ways to Trick a Troll by Lise Lunge-Larsen, illustrated by Kari Vick

In ancient Norse tales, the frost giant, Ymir, used his planet-sized body to create the earth. After the creation process, his troll children crawled out from between his toes. Even at the point, trolls were large beings who loathed humans and coveted what humans had. Luckily troll brains are small so even a child can cleverly trick their way out of any troll dilemma. But a child must be more than clever to trick a troll. They must be brave, persistent, caring, hard-working, and spunky. It also helps to know some key weaknesses to defeat a troll. These weaknesses include distaste of loud noises; exploding when angry; turning into stone from direct or reflected sunlight; easily distracted; unable to swim; and clumsy during a pursuit. Armed with this information, seven children take on various trolls to save themselves, their families, or friends from several greedy trolls.

Larsen and Vick’s collection of troll fairytales is a delight from start to finish. Vick’s bright, engaging, and lively watercolor illustrations harkens to the works of master illustrator Trina Schart Hyman. Larsen’s seven troll-defeating adventures are entertaining yet heartfelt because almost all the stories are about brave children saving their families or loved ones from a troll’s wrath. At the back of the book, Larsen even includes a section dedicated to identifying the remains of trolls turned into stone. One minor flaw of the story is that a troll’s weakness of sunlight is used twice. Even on the book’s back cover it states only six weaknesses because a trolls’ weakness of sunlight, whether direct or reflected, can be condensed into just one weakness. However, the fault is easily forgiven by another satisfying serving of a sunlight-based fairytale. Seven Ways to Trick a Troll is a must-read and must-own for any fairytale lovers or fairytale beginners.