The Troll With no Heart in His Body [Hardcover]

Lise Lunge-Larsen (Author), Betsy Bowen (Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 8 and up | Grade Level: 4 and up

As tall as trees and as ancient and rugged as the Norwegian landscape from which they come, trolls are some of lore's most fascinating and varied creatures. Some live under bridges, others deep inside caves. They can carry their heads under their arms or hide their hearts inside wells. They can walk across oceans and fly over mountains. Trees and shrubs may grow from their heads, and their noses can be long enough to stir soup. There are troll hags, troll daughters, and elderly, shrunken trolls. Old or young, they are quarrelsome, ugly, and boastful, and they love to trick princesses and children. To defeat them, children must rely on the strengths of their humanity-persistence, kindness, pluck, and willingness to heed good advice

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Norwegian-born storyteller Lunge-Larsen scoured her homeland's literary landscape for this stellar collection of nine troll tales, many of which will be unfamiliar to American children. Ugly, greedy, fierce and dimwitted, trolls provide admirable subject matter, and Lunge-Larsen spins her stories with enthusiasm. The other characters are memorable, too, from the feckless Butterball, a boy who outwits his captor (a hungry troll hag who carries her head under her arm) to the familiar trio of goats in "The Three Billy Goats Gruff." A Nordic flavor permeates the customary folktale elements present here (such as kidnapped princesses and magical quests) and each tale ends with the Norwegian refrain "Snipp, snapp, snute/ Her er eventyret ute! (Snip, snap, snout/ This tale's told out!)." Short introductions and afterwords for every entry expand on troll lore. Readers learn, for example, that trolls will burst and turn into stone when exposed to sunlight, and that Edvard Grieg's famous "In the Hall of the Mountain King" for Henrik Ibsen's Peer Gynt refers to the trolls of Norway's Dovre Mountains. Bowen (Antler, Bear, Canoe) fills the slightly narrow pages of this oversize volume with striking woodblock-print compositions and border motifs; according to an illustrator's note, her work draws on ancient carvings as well as early-20th-century art from Norway. Their rough-hewn, almost primitive quality belies the sophisticated use of color and line. A noteworthy addition to the folktale shelf. Ages 5-12. (Sept.)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Grade 2-5-Nine Norwegian tales that feature ugly, dim-witted giants who live inside mountains or under bridges, as in "The Three Billy Goats Gruff," the best known of these tales. In fact, the majority of the stories here will be unfamiliar to American audiences. Trolls readily capture children to eat for dinner ("Butterball"), steal princesses and hold them captive to rub their aching heads ("The Boy Who Became a Lion, a Falcon, and an Ant"), and covet human possessions ("The Handshake" and "The Boy and the North Wind"). Lunge-Larsen has fashioned her retellings largely from the folktales collected by Peter Christian Asbjirnsen and Jirgen Moe in the early 1800s. She includes detailed source notes for each selection, a bibliography, and an insightful introduction that discusses her experience with trolls. The retellings retain the power of the originals and don't shy away from the violent nature of several of these stories. Each tale is accompanied by a full-page illustration, several smaller images, and decorative borders that underscore the plot. Bowen's colorful woodcuts-with their folk-art sensibilities-evoke traditional Norwegian decorative art and architecture. The interplay between the art and the text is outstanding. Because of its readability, tellability, and strong visual presentation, this collection should have wide and enduring appeal.
Denise Anton Wright, Alliance Library System, Bloomington, IL
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 8 and up
  
• Hardcover: 96 pages
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Books for Children; First edition. edition (September 27, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0395913713
• ISBN-13: 978-0395913710
• Product Dimensions: 11.8 x 8.6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,370,319 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #88 in Books > Children's Books > Fairy Tales, Folk Tales & Myths > Norse

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Stories to Tell and Retell, May 21, 2000

By 

Louise Cox - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Troll With no Heart in His Body (Hardcover)

Lise Lunge-Larsen grew up with troll stories in Norway and has been sharing them with American children since her coming to this country. For a parent to read, or a storyteller to tell, this collection is rich and valuable. Children need stories as vehicles for understanding. They reveal universal turths. They speak to our inner circumstances, they make us human. Some of the basic lessons that are repeated and surface include: -be true to your nature -remember who you are -Life is a journey and only you can take yours -Use your gifts -Don't ever give up -Everything you need can be found inside yourself While learning these stories, children can rest in a world that is full of magic, but mirrors their own. A world that has the possibility of greatness that lies within each human heart. I bought this book to add to my collection of stories to tell again and again to children to remind them of their own capacity to overcome challenging situations in thier lives. I could not be more pleased!

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Enrapturing for my 8 year old!, April 27, 2001

By 

Christine Wyne "tall teacher" (Lake Oswego, OR United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Troll With no Heart in His Body (Hardcover)

Because I am of Scandanavian descent, I saw this book in my public library and immediately picked it up. My son loves Harry Potter, Narnia, etc and wants me to read and re-read every story I have time for in this book for the last few nights. The author has been a storyteller for the last 20 years and this book is one of the easiest to read aloud books I've gotten. Great woodcut illustrations that capture the essence of trolls and Norway. I'm buying copies for myself and my nieces and nephews as an essential for a child's library. Has some violent, Grimm's fairy tale images, that the author explains to disquieted parents in afterwords to each story. children are less upset by the violence than the parents, it seems to her and me. My son delighted at the images of trolls being turned into stone, or shoved by little boys into boiling water head first. ... can tell parents more about the meaning of this child's delight.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful, January 16, 2002

By 

Kurt A. Johnson (North-Central Illinois, USA) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Troll With no Heart in His Body (Hardcover)

Lise Lunge-Larsen is a Norwegian-American storyteller who wants to tell us about a creature rarely reported on in zoological circles, the Norwegian Troll. These nine (really ten, if you keep reading past the bibliography and sources) stories are relatively short, and easy to read. The illustrations are provided by woodcuts created by Betsy Bowen, and they provide just the right atmosphere for these wonderful tales.

My children and I all loved these stories, and we recommend them to you.