The Little Troll

by Thomas Berger

Deep in the forest among firtrees and lakes, there lived a troll and his friends. Short and squat with matted hair and small red-rimmed eyes, the little troll was very ugly to look at....

28 pages, Library Binding

First published September 1, 1990

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.

Reviews

[Odelia Floris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Deep in the forest, there lives a little troll. He is everything you would expect a troll to be: short, squat, hairy and ‘very ugly to look at’. But deep in his little troll-heart, there lives a secret- he hates hissing and howling in the storms with the rest of his kind, and wishes he was a human being.

When the ringing of the church bells draws him out of the forest one snowy night in deep winter, he creeps up to peer through the windows of the candlelit church, where something wonderful is going on. But he cannot see inside, for the glass is iced over. Tears roll down from his ugly little eyes and freeze in the snow. With no hope of ever fulfilling his cherished wish, he creeps back into the forest. Then one day, he overhears an old man telling his son, ‘If you want to be a real man, you must learn to think of others more then yourself’. From that day forward, the little troll sets about secretly helping the animals and the people who come into the forest. Slowly he becomes more upright and less hairy; but his troll-kin do not like this change…

Every word of this story is a little jewel of perfection; no amount of re-reading is ever likely to make it tiresome. Although simple enough for young children to follow, the story has a rare depth that adults will find compiling too. The little troll is a well-developed, deeply engaging character, and the absolutely beautiful pastel illustrations enhance and harmonise with the words perfectly. The sense of setting these illustrations create is so strong you can almost smell the fir trees, feel the snowflakes falling on your face, and hear the ringing of the church bells. A moving and absolutely enchanting book that will be adored by both the young and the young at heart.

[Moony · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this a thousand times as a little girl. I still love it! The moral was e even then plain as day. I'd love to have this pearl back on the shelf. I love it.

[S]

I love the illustrations in this book. The story is simple with a religious undertone. I enjoyed the illustrations more than the story itself.

[Sylvia · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is so cute about acceptance and helping others. It has beautiful illustrations that are really soft and melodious. I always felt that The Little Troll does have a slightly sad touch to it though.