Bera The One-Headed Troll, Nordic, all age fun-with heart

There is a little Bera inside all of us.  Bera The One-Headed Troll is a graphic novel by Eric Orchard and published on First Second. Bera is a troll, to be clear, she’s a one-headed troll, because some trolls-including the internet kind, have two or more heads.  She’s a gentle soul who is much different than the other inhabitants of The Troll King’s kingdom. And, she’s found a baby, something that certainly flies in the face of accessories that other troll’s have, unless they’re using them as a spice for cooking.

It was floating in a large cooking pot in the ocean, being chased by some gnarly trolls with tiny, sharp teeth. Bera didn’t even know that it was a baby until she summoned the spirit of her ancestors who told her that it was a baby and that they were in great danger and not to open the door.

Any good story must open the door when told not to, and on the other side of this door is Mistress Cloote, The Head Witch. She put the baby in the vat for safekeeping, because babies make the best monsters when you add the right ingredients. Thankfully for the baby, Bera hid it, but Cloote knows that something is amiss from the awful human smell that is in the area.

So begins Bera The One-Headed Troll, a fairy tale (of sorts) that will seriously entertain ages 7 and up. From Bera’s island-where she is the Official Pumpkin Gardener of The Troll King, thank you very much; she traverses the kingdom for a couple options who might be able to help her. Her slightly unwilling accomplice is Winslowe, the owl, whose droll sense of observations and ability to fly help Bera and the baby out on numerous occasions. They also meet all manner of hedgehogs, giants, rats, goblins and of course troll, during their quest.

The art in Bera The One-Headed Troll has a very classic vibe. On some panels its soft and atmospheric, while at other times crisp, viscous and alien.  In other words, the illustrations are very much at home in a graphic novel whose craggy, untamed, Scandinavian landscape could kill you or make for hundreds of Instagram likes at the drop of a hat. The differences between the softer, rounded Bera and the horn having, pointy eared Cloote are fun to watch and will help young readers know that her evil is compensated by her kindness.

Will all of this troll talk it’s important to remind you that Bera is great for ages 7 and up.  The vocabulary is fine, with no coarse words and the only assistance that young readers will require are some of the troll names. The book also has enough comedic elements to balance out the actions. The absent minded Wulf, Bera dressed up as a goblin and others make it an even tale that will be re-read many times. There are also lessons that kids will learn like working together, determination and the pitfalls of arrogance.