24 July, 2017

Thomas Troll's Travels by Nicolas Starling - [Book Review]

Thomas Troll's Travels 

Thomas the Troll comes from Norway. Like most Trolls he is mischievous, naughty and full of adventure.
One day, he has to leave Norway because the troll elders are going to punish him for being so cheeky.
Thomas decides to live in England and has had all kinds of adventures on the way there.
He meets elves, gnomes and brings Ticklefish with him; Ticklefish are great fun and nearly as naughty as Trolls.
Thomas meets pirates a friendly ghost and even thinks he's sees the queen!
Some people think Trolls are a fairy tale. I don't. Do you?


My Review:

Trolls are cute little beings. I never heard about them until i saw 'Trolls' movie. This children's book is about a naughty and brave troll Thomas and his adventures. 

The story is a bit lengthy but good for children above 6 years old. The story teaches kids about bravery and encourages their exploring nature.

The writing style is good with medium pace and a casual friendly tone. The cover is amazing and attractive for kids. The title of the book is apt. I loved the characters of Ronnie and Tracy. The story is unpredictable with minor twists. Overall, a fun read for kids. I would have loved if there are some pictures/ illustrations in the book.

My Rating: 3.5/5

PS: I have received this book from the author in exchange for a review and this is my honest opinion on the book.

About the author: 
Living in Scarborough, North Yorkshire, retired Butcher Nicolas Starling hasalways enjoyed entertaining people both young and old with his vivid imagination.

In Author's words:

Thomas trolls travels happened quite by accident really. I am a 62 year old man that has taken early retirement through ill health and one day my sister visited us with her granddaughter Gracie. Gracie is a lovely little girl that is nearly three years old. She has a really mischievous smile and never sits still or shuts up. When she talks I can understand the odd word but no more so I talk back to her and hope I am saying yes and no in the right places. A few days after they had gone I was sat having my morning coffee and it was raining I started thinking about what to do to stop boredom setting in and I thought I would write a story to read to Gracie. But what could I write about? I have been to Norway six times on holiday and it really is a beautiful country. I was looking through photos and I had taken one of my mother stood next to a big troll and that's where I got the idea from.

I have always loved tormenting and being tormented. Especially by children and I always try to work it so the child has the last word. As I have been told I have a vivid imagination so being a very early riser would get at 4.30am make my coffee and let my imagination go. Thomas is mixture of myth and Gracie and he is only in his 60s which is very young for a troll and full of mischief which got him in trouble. If you notice in the story he always has help on his journey so that's where I thought of troll toffee hoping that kids would think it is something nice and help Thomas. The pirate ship is a mode of transport and Ronnie is his first friend on the journey and together they have great fun. But when the pirates get caught they leave the ship in London. Theticklefish came to mind again early morning coffee time. I keep tropical fish and find them very relaxing to watch. A pair of guppies were doing what nature intended and ticklefish just appeared in my thoughts. I think the ticklefish are great because they appear wherever needed and hopefully will attach themselves to parents, grandparents or any adult friends of a family and tickle the kids.

Gnomes originated from Germany hundreds of years ago there job is to look after farmers crops from diseases and getting eaten by wild animals so he popped up to help while Thomas and Tracy were trying to get out London. Thomas saw Tracy Troll first when she was made of stone and fell in love straight away. Ronnie made a spell to make Tracy real and they both set off on their journey Tracy taught Thomas how to read and tried to teach him how to behave. They sneaked in to Buckingham palace when the royal standard was flying. They thought they saw the Queen. But they got caught and sent to the tower of London where they met the ghost of Anne Boleyn who was a very nice ghost .I thought with Anne Boleyn I would try and bring a little bit of history into the story. When they had escaped the Tower they sneaked on the back of a lorry which happened to be full of sweets and pop, Thomas got told off for being greedy and sulked. Then they got off at the seaside where Thomas and Tracy got married. I did that to try and bring a little bit love and loyalty into the story. The final part in Scotland is where they meet Chrissy mc Car the lady who ran the donkey sanctuary which both came about from my tormenting. ChristineCarr is a close friend of the family and will do anything to help if she can, and the donkey sanctuary comes from me singing little donkey to her. My singing is absolutely terrible but I tell her it's beautiful and what she says couldn't be put in a children's book. So Thomas just started as a story but everybody thought it should be published so I thought I would have a go.

.P.S I would just like to add that without the help and patience of the publishers I couldn't have done it.



Until next time,

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