This review has been posted on behalf of Katherine Miller.
Troll Stinks is a Junior Picture book about two billy goat kids, Billy Goat and Cyril, who find a cell phone. At first, they use it for silly kid stuff like selfies and prank calls, but that changes when they find Troll's number in the phone's contact list. Grandpa Gruff has warned them that Troll is a monster who will eat them, so Billy and Cyril decide to use the phone to teach Troll a lesson. They send it obnoxious and insulting texts, but not satisfied, they decide to post cruel photos on the worst website they can find. They just need to find the troll and get a picture.
When the kids sneak up on the troll, they are horrified. Instead of a big ugly billy goat eating monster, they discover a tiny little girl troll weeping because she cannot understand why someone she does not know is being so mean to her. Billy and Cyril are ashamed of themselves and learn a lesson about bullying.
What sets Troll Stinks apart from other books about bullying is that it focuses on the bullies. The bullies start out as average kids who never intend to hurt anyone, but when their prejudices kick in, things spiral out of control. There are several lessons in Troll Stinks, but it is primarily a cautionary tale of how it is possible for nice kids to unintentionally become bullies, and technology can make it easy.
The pictures in Troll Stinks are colorful and entertaining, and there are lots of opportunities for the reader to ham it up for the listeners. There are also a few other sneaky teachable moments along the way (who really owned that cell phone anyway?) but it is so cheerful that it avoids being preachy. This book holds up well both as a delightful story and as a serious word to the wise for children in the internet age.
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