Christmas Trolls Book

That clever little heroine Treva, who debuted in author/artist Jan Brett's Trouble with Trolls , returns in this second picture-book devoted to her adventures. Getting ready for Christmas, together with her parents and little brother Sami, she is surprised when decorations and gifts begin to go missing. When she spots the family's Christmas pudding being stolen by a hedgehog, she gives chase, and discovers that the erinaceous thief has been bringing the missing Christmas accoutrements to two trolls. Pitying the quarrelsome pair, who want Christmas for themselves, but don't really understand what it is, she sets out to show them...

Like its predecessor, Christmas Trolls pairs an engaging story featuring a feisty young heroine with a can-do attitude, with beautiful, detailed artwork. I loved all of the little folkloric details in the illustrations here, which are clearly Scandinavian in nature. Treva's most treasured possession is a Swedish Dalecarlian horse, for instance - a symbol of Dalarna. The folk costumes and decorations, the Christmas customs, they are all beautifully captured. As always with Brett's work, the side panels provide more of the story than is revealed in the text alone, here showing the hedgehog's activities, first in stealing and then in restoring the Christmas goodies. Recommended to anyone who enjoyed the previous story about Treva, or who is looking for Christmas stories with a Scandinavian flavor.