Book Review: The Troll Book by Michael Berenstain
Title: The Troll Book
Author: Michael Berenstain
Release date: January 1st, 1980
We found this at a local book sale for $1 and had no idea that Michael was the son of the Berenstain Bear creators and that he had taken over doing those books. We just got it because it looked cool, was a hardcover, and much like myself, my son, Auryn, loves all things mythical and strange. We’ve watched the Netflix movie ‘TROLL’ about two dozen times, each time loving the cinematography and the way the Troll is portrayed – CGI emotions working so well – and somehow I’ve become friends with Espen who wrote the screenplay, so I’ve been able to ask him a few questions regarding the inspiration for parts and so on.
Now, we got this book back in June or so, and it’s sat on our shelf for a bit as we’ve been reading The Dragon Master’s series and lately The Last Firehawk series, but recently, Auryn’s school friend went to Norway and got him a small Troll figure as a gift. I told Espen, and he let us know that we needed to name our Troll. So, in the quest to find a name, we pulled this book out and decided to read it.
What I liked: The book itself is exquisitely illustrated. Each and every page has an illustration – or multiple – that we found ourselves spending time on examining and enjoying. The text aspect goes through the history of Trolls and how they interact with humans and it has a bit on the Hidden Folk and how Trolls live together with them in the forests.
Historically, this had some really great spots and even alluded to The Troll Mountain and Dovregrubben, whom is the who the Troll in the movie Troll is based on. We Googled a few things while reading and loved how vivid Berenstain brought this world to life.
The last portion of the book is dedicated to life in the Troll King’s Kingdom, and what it looks like within the Kingdom itself. The setting is on the cover of the book and we get to investigate each compartment and what the day to day life of the Troll looks like.
What I didn’t like: If this was a book released to be a kid’s book, it does get pretty dark in some places. If this was supposed to be more for young adults or adults, it is a bit short and doesn’t go as dark as it maybe should’ve? It’s kind of a catch-22 in this case.
Why you should buy this: If you can find a copy of this – and it won’t break the bank – definitely grab it. The illustrations are wonderful, bringing about a sense of Kittelsen through Berenstain’s eyes and brought me back to the books I used to love flipping through over and over as a kid.
It covers a good amount of ground in only 60-ish pages and does do a really solid job of sharing the mythology of the Troll.
5/5
