Description
Description:
When a family moves to The Enchanted Village, mischief ensues as they navigate to their new home, the Gingerbread House. Meeting familiar characters from fairytales, stories, and nursery rhymes along the way, they find the meaning of making “new friends” takes on a novel twist. Trolls at Play is set to lyrical verse and scenarios, creating a newfangled land captured in voice bubbles and humorous thoughts. The gentle theme of diversity and friendship is the background for this vibrant community where dwarves, bears Cheshire cats, fairies, big bad wolves, and princesses have their own unique way of welcoming a new family to their midst.
- Language : English
- Perfect Paperback : 36 pages
- ISBN-10 : 1943455376
- ISBN-13 : 978-1943455379
- Reading age : 3 years and up
Emily-Jane Hills Orford for Readers’ Favorite –
Reviewed by Emily-Jane Hills Orford for Readers’ Favorite
A family of four is moving to a new home in a new town, the Enchanted Village. The little girl is excited about the move, but the little boy isn’t so sure. Who will be his friend in this new place? When they arrive, they meet all kinds of fairy tale, storybook, and nursery rhyme characters. Even Humpty Dumpty makes a prestigious appearance, a little cracked up from his historic tumble off the wall. The family follows numerous messages and trails that eventually lead them to their new home, the gingerbread house. The little girl is suddenly upset as she’s lost a tooth. She paints and plants a sign to direct the tooth fairy to come to help her speak better. The little boy is happy now, as he’s made some new and rather unusual friends. It’s a fairy tale, you see, one full of familiar fantasy characters that will have you wanting to join the children in the Enchanted Village so that you can meet your favorite characters. I must admit, I’d like to meet Humpty Dumpty; he’s obviously stronger than his crushing fall suggests, and he knows how to pick himself up and carry on. Raven Howell’s children’s fairy tale compendium, Trolls at Play, is formatted like a comic book, complete with multiple images on each page and dialogue bubbles and other written signs to move the plot forward. Each new window of illustration and commentary reflects on another character from childhood fantasy-land. I like the way the author creates signs with instructions to identify the fairy tale or nursery rhyme character or situation being presented. Each new discovery, each new fairy tale, or nursery rhyme allows the children in the story, as well as the young reader, to discover new adventures and open their minds to many creative possibilities. At the end of the book, there’s an interactive exercise that allows the young reader to explore the background to the many fairy tales and nursery rhymes shared in the story and to do a search to find that tale in the story. This is a positive and fun story, full of adventures and a few funny events to lighten the mood.
Rylanne Burdette for Readers’ Favorite –
Reviewed by Rylanne Burdette for Readers’ Favorite
As a family makes their way to The Enchanted Village, where they are now supposed to live, one member is very hesitant about what he might see. While his younger sister is very excited, he most definitely is not. However, as the family makes their way through the village before reaching their new home, the young boy soon realizes how exciting this opportunity is, and he quickly makes some friends! Full of colorful, magical illustrations and very strong allusions to classic fairytales, Trolls at Play by Raven Howell is an amazing children’s picture book that is sure to captivate everyone who picks it up. I have always enjoyed reading and watching fairytales, and Trolls at
Play by Raven Howell is the perfect homage to that magical genre of stories. I loved that this book reads like a graphic novel, with multiple boxes of images and text on each page. The illustrations were so much fun to look at, and I love how many different fairytales were mentioned and woven throughout the story. The main characters were entertaining, and I enjoyed watching them encounter everything in The Enchanted Village! Although the boy was certainly hesitant at first, it was fun to watch his opinions change as the story moved along and he got used to everything around him. This was, quite honestly, a perfect book, and I would recommend it to all young readers who enjoy fantastical books full of different creatures and stories.
Philip Van Heusen –
Reviewed By Philip Van Heusen
Trolls at Play by Raven Howell & Sarah Gledhill
One of the biggest concerns of children, when a family moves, is friends: missing their old ones and finding new ones. Raven Howell has authored Trolls at Play to help children understand that a move can be an excellent thing. She also wants children to know that making new friends can be fun. Raven gives snippets of old fairy tales and introduces trolls into the mix to make this book even more enjoyable. The family is moving to The Enchanted Village. The rewriting of fairy tales is perfect for a new generation. The old fairy tales have been mostly forgotten, but Raven understands and shares the old classics differently. This little book is more than a joy to read. The memories the book brings back to parents and grandparents will help increase the enjoyment the book brings the child. Read this book to and with your children and grandchildren.
Trolls at Play brings back good memories of my childhood. As a 67-year-old man, I delighted in the presentation of old fairy tales. Raven Howell made a fantastic choice in Sarah Gledhill as her illustrator. Sarah’s drawings enhance the writing. Together, they have made a children’s classic that will endure the test of time. I highly recommend parents, or even better, grandparents, spend time exploring this book with their young family members. Interact with your young reader as you go through this book. Talk to them about moves that will undoubtedly happen and how to make new friends along life’s journey. The last page is full of ideas on helping children make new friends. Use it to encourage youngsters to find new and helpful friends. I give this book 5 thumbs up and a stamp of approval from trolls everywhere.
Emma C. –
Thank you, thank you, thank you for making this book! I loved it so much! It’s super cool that Goldilocks is in a band! My favorite part is when the whole village helps the family move into the Gingerbread House. I wish I had a chocolate staircase! And I found all the polka dot eggs!” – Emma