Title: Living on Troll Mountain
Author: Judith Olson
Publisher: XlibrisUS
ISBN: 978-1-5245-4503-1
Pages: 64
Genre: Children’s Books
Reviewed by: Beth Adams
Pacific Book Review Star
Awarded to Books of Excellent Merit
Fanciful characters embellish this baker’s dozen collection of storyline antics about three sisters growing up and Living on Troll Mountain. Troll Mountain is in Norway, on the edge of Hardangerfjord, a real place. Although a work of fiction, author Judith Olson has brought the authenticity and credibility of each of the stories to such a believable level, the episodes are hard to believe they did not in fact happen! The sequence of events of each story are built on a foundation of believable situations, while even to some degree the lackluster of the finale of
each of the stories suggests a true account of what might have happened. Olson doesn’t bring in unbelievable events to set apart her stories as “superhero” characters; although the courage of the little girls along with their parents, grandparents and townspeople ring fourth the qualities of integrity, curiosity and love.
Certainly some of the stories have storylines generated to lull children into an imaginative world, such as the chapter where the king’s bag of jewels are lost and subsequently found by these young girls. Afraid to tell anyone they found this treasure, being sought after by the king’s guards, they place it back in a spot hoping the guards will find it, bringing the drama to an end. In another story, the sisters get lost in the fog during trick-or-treating on a Halloween night, and are spooked by odd events. Another one involves the saving of the chickens by shooting a mountain lion with a rifle – and all of the sequences of events which lead up to the climax of this episode. The story I liked the most was when the girls came across a wounded wolf pup, and needed to nurse it back to health. Hoping they could keep it as a pet, it became obvious the pup, they named Fang, needed to go back to its pack, where it rightfully belonged. Each springtime thereafter, Fang would come down from the mountain and “check in” with the girls symbolizing the life long bond between animals and humans, even wild animals.
The nicknames of the three sisters are used – Puzzy, Punky and Tully, as it was Tully (the youngest) which couldn’t pronounce her sister’s real names. That’s a very cute detail. Each chapter is another episode in the lives of these young sisters, as they stumble into trouble and find their way out – keeping each other safe.
Judith Olson has the charm and loving inflections of a Grandmother telling tales to her grandchildren. Her writing is impeccable with clarity and credibility, albeit some stretches of one’s imagination is needed at times. Yet imagination is in abundance within a child’s mind, and Olson’s wordsmithing these stories to children in Living on Troll Mountain is taking the ancient art of storytelling to its finest pinnacle of literary simplicity. What she has done in telling these tales is what used to be handed down throughout the generations in verbal bedtime storytelling. Youngsters, in particular young girls, reading these stories or having them read to them, will create powerful personality traits exemplifying qualities of strength of character, honesty, along with a little devilish fooling around, chipping the facets of the diamond each and every little girl has inside of them to sparkle from within.
Living on Troll Mountain is written with love, for Judith Olson has immortalized some colloquial tales of the Norwegian culture and folklore. I highly recommend this book for all families to enjoy and pass along as a keepsake children’s book.
