With over thirty four million books in print, Jan Brett is one of
the nation's foremost author illustrators of children's books. Jan
lives in a seacoast town in Massachusetts, close to where she grew
up. During the summer her family moves to a home in the Berkshire
Hills of Massachusetts.As a child, Jan Brett decided to be an
illustrator and spent many hours reading and drawing. She says, "I
remember the special quiet of rainy days when I felt that I could
enter the pages of my beautiful picture books. Now I try to
recreate that feeling of believing that the imaginary place I'm
drawing really exists. The detail in my work helps to convince me,
and I hope others as well, that such places might be real."
As a student at the Boston Museum School, she spent hours in the
Museum of Fine Arts. "It was overwhelming to see the room-size
landscapes and towering stone sculptures, and then moments later to
refocus on delicately embroidered kimonos and ancient porcelain,"
she says. "I'm delighted and surprised when fragments of these
beautiful images come back to me in my painting."
Travel is also a constant inspiration. Together with her husband,
Joe Hearne, who is a member of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Jan
visits many different countries where she researches the
architecture and costumes that appear in her work. "From cave
paintings to Norwegian sleighs, to Japanese gardens, I study the
traditions of the many countries I visit and use them as a starting
point for my children's books."
"A Scandinavian girl must use her wits to outsmart a bunch of pesky
trolls in Brett's latest picture book. . . . Brett's sumptuous
paintings are typically replete with detail of landscape and
costume, this time vividly capturing Scandinavian mountains and
villages. . . . A wintry winner with a sunny glow."—Publishers
Weekly
"With the fine details that have become her trademark, Brett tells
two stories at the same time: the child's encounters with the
trolls appear on the top three-fourths of each spread, and a
cross-section of their abode occupies the bottom. A humorous
subplot involves a curious hedgehog. Set against a wintery,
snow-capped background, the saturated colors seem to jump off the
page. As always, Brett does a remarkably realistic job of depicting
clothing and the natural landscape."—School Library Journal
PreS-Gr 3-- Treva's trouble begins when she and her dog, Tuffi, go up Mount Baldy. She meets five white-haired trolls, all intent on taking Tuffi; they want a dog and have filled their underground burrow with the things such a pet would need. Quick-thinking Treva, using tactics worthy of Br'er Rabbit, convinces the trolls that her mittens, hat, sweater, etc., are much more important to her than a dog, but wins all her belongings back before she and Tuffi escape down the mountain. Obviously influenced by Scandinavian folklore, the story is appealing. With the fine details that have become her trademark, Brett tells two stories at the same time: the child's encounters with the trolls appear on the top three-fourths of each spread, and a cross-section of their abode occupies the bottom. A humorous subplot involves a curious hedgehog. Set against a wintery, snow-capped background, the saturated colors seem to jump off the page. As always, Brett does a remarkably realistic job of depicting clothing and the natural landscape. Less successful, however, are her renderings of Treva and Tuffi, who have a slightly frozen quality. But the trolls are a personable bunch and readers may hate to see them disappear at the end. Overall, a visually attractive and accessible book that's ideal for individual use, but also fun to share aloud. --Denise Anton Wright, Illinois State Univ . , Normal
"A Scandinavian girl must use her wits to outsmart a bunch of pesky
trolls in Brett's latest picture book. . . . Brett's sumptuous
paintings are typically replete with detail of landscape and
costume, this time vividly capturing Scandinavian mountains and
villages. . . . A wintry winner with a sunny glow."-Publishers
Weekly
"With the fine details that have become her trademark, Brett tells
two stories at the same time: the child's encounters with the
trolls appear on the top three-fourths of each spread, and a
cross-section of their abode occupies the bottom. A humorous
subplot involves a curious hedgehog. Set against a wintery,
snow-capped background, the saturated colors seem to jump off the
page. As always, Brett does a remarkably realistic job of depicting
clothing and the natural landscape."-School Library Journal
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