School Library Journal Review
Gr 3-6-In Norway's Mathildewick Cove, nine-year-old Trille shares his large red house with his parents, three sisters, and grandfather. Trille spends most of his time with Lena, his best friend who lives next door. She is preoccupied looking for a dad. Trille's Auntie Granny comforts and congratulates her family with delicious homemade waffles. Trille and Lena get into some harrowing situations when they save a horse from a burning barn and play Noah's Ark on an uncle's boat. Other antics are laugh-out-loud funny as when they ferry into town on a hot summer day and play a Christmas song on their recorders to earn money for a soccer ball. Actor Luke Daniels successfully creates voices for all the characters, especially Trille's loyal and sensitive first-person narrative. VERDICT Children and parents will enjoy listening to this story of a childhood with time for exploration and make believe.-Mary Lee Bulat, Harwinton Public Library, CT © Copyright 2015. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
This heartfelt and humorous debut novel comes to the U.S. having received award attention abroad and spawned a television show in the author's native Norway. Trille considers his classmate Lena his best friend ("There isn't really any such thing as an ordinary day when you've got a... friend like Lena"), but she's too free-spirited to think of their relationship in those terms. The episodic novel follows the friends as they make mischief together-playing Christmas music in June for money on the street, for example, or pretending they are spies while riding on Trille's grandfather's moped. "You and Lena never do the same thing twice," exclaims Trille's father after the busking incident. "You only come up with more insanity!" Trille and Lena's warm friendship recalls that of Astrid Lindgren's Pippi and Tommy, though Parr does engage in serious issues, too. Lena's hunt for a father (her mother is her only family) often has Trille considering his own close-knit family, and the loss of Trille's grandmother and his shared grief with his grandfather are tenderly and authentically treated. Forrester's handsome b&w silhouette-style images open each brief chapter. Ages 7-9. (May) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.