The Terrible Troll-Bird by Ingri d’Aulaire, Edgar Parin d’Aulaire
My rating: 3/5 cats
i agree with a lot of greg’s review of this book—birds are definitely evil, and if a giant one is going after your horse, i think it is only fair that you kill it and eat it and make shoes from its skin and a boat from its beak. (but i would never set foot in your gross, gross boat)
but the message here is awful. basically, if a giant bird comes into your village, you are allowed to kill it cuz it is self-defense. that seems logical. but then, when the troll-owners of the bird come a-looking for their pet and find him eaten by tiny villagers, who are using its feet as pitchforks, and they get justifiably cross, the solution is to trick the trolls into death-by-sun? that doesn’t seem like justice. poor trolls.
but i guess the real moral here is, if you are a troll, buy a watch, and respect your curfew, rooster or no rooster.
even though this is a children’s book, i have to remark on this part that annoyed me. i don’t understand why the mother would first scold the children for coming back without the wood they were supposed to have been gathering when the troll-bird first made his aggressive move—not believing them when they said they had to run home before the troll-bird got ’em, only to have her turn around, see the giant rooster, and be all “ohhhhh, you mean that bird. yeah, that’s the troll bird from the mountains. that thing’s big, right?” (not a direct quote) so casual, as though she hadn’t just said “i have never heard such silly talk, to think that a bird could fly off with a horse” (direct quote) c’mon mom, you can’t have it both ways. unless you’re greg’s mom.
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