23 January 2012

Picture Book Review | The Troll by Julia Donaldson and David Roberts


At a first glance The Troll has all the makings of a childrens classic. Indeed, a tale that throws together a troll and some pirates with Gruffalo author Julia Donaldson at the helm certainly promises much. Unfortunately, for us, it didnt quite live up to that promise.

The most outstanding aspect of The Troll is probably its complexity. In a departure from the format of her most renowned works, and indeed from the format of most childrens picture books, here the author ambitiously weaves together two discrete narrative threads. We follow the eponymous Troll as he stomps about looking for goats to eat, and the pirates as they sail about looking for treasure to horde. Eventually, their paths cross and the two plot threads are resolved in concert, and not without a gratifying amount of irony. However, whilst this approach offers the story a lot more colour than would have otherwise been the case, its at the expense its pace. Whereas most Donaldson tales glide along at breakneck speed, often carried by gentle rhyme, The Troll lumbers slowly towards its crescendo through fairly traditional prose, demanding patience of its young readers; patience that they might not have.

Fortunately the story is buoyed by David Roberts flamboyant artwork. His monobrow Troll is especially effective; I love the final illustration in which the reader can see the characters rueful fate reflected in his eyes. Roberts also does a splendid job of highlighting the division of the plot by using bland, suitably grumpy colours for the Trolls segments in marked contrast to the vibrant hues of the pirates thread. Its enough to give Axel Scheffler a run for his money.

All told The Troll is a venturesomebook thats aimed a peg or two higher than most of Donaldsons works, and as a result it struggles to sate the same appetites. Im sure that it will appeal to readers who are ready to graduate from the likes of The Gruffalo onto longer, more structurally complicated tales, but even they might find it lacking the same sense of magic.