Bera the One-Headed Troll

by Eric Orchard

First Second / Roaring Brook Press

978-1-626721067

128 pp.

Ages 7-14 

August 2016

With today being Halloween and Bera the One-Headed Troll being filled with pumpkins and trolls and witches, it seems only fitting to review this graphic novel today.  Written and illustrated by Eric Orchard, the illustrator of the recently reviewed If I Were a Zombie (Kate Inglis, Nimbus, 2016) –am I sensing a monstrous theme here?–Bera the One-Headed Troll is atmospherically perfect for a fun but teensy bit scary read.

Bera, who lives on an isolated island with her owl companion Winslowe, is the official pumpkin gardener of the Troll King. (There’s the pumpkin connection for Halloween,  and, except for the cover and an occasional candle burning yellow, it’s the colour scheme of all the book’s graphics.)  When Bera rescues a human baby from three evil mermaids (they are not of the lean and lovely variety), she takes upon herself the task of returning the baby to its humans.  But that is contrary to the wishes of the malevolent Cloote, former  head witch of the Troll King, who wishes to use the baby to return to the good graces of the Troll King.

From Bera the One-Headed Troll 

by Eric Orchard

Bera who feels unprepared for dealing with the baby decides to seek a hero from her books, specifically choosing Wulf the Dragon Masher.  On their journey, Bera and the baby, with Winslowe scouting from above, encounter the mermaids again, as well as the Guardian, a sea monster as big as an island, and a bunch of hedgehog wizards.  Thankfully this last group whose mandate it is to protect the creatures of the wood already know firsthand of Cloote’s destruction and offer to steer Bera to Wulf’s tower.  Wulf, a troll of epic proportions and light-spirit (“Hey, is that a baby?”, “Well, look at that” and “Imagine that!”; pg. 52), has not been on an adventure in a very long time and, though willing of spirit, he succumbs to his epic sleepiness.

So Bera goes in search of another hero, finding both Duke Otig, the two-headed troll hero of the troll-giant war, and then the three-headed Nanna the Great.  But the reader will soon realize that heroes are not just those who undertake adventures and engage in battles.  Heroes are also those who make extraordinary sacrifices to do ordinary things, making their own quests in the spirit of goodwill, not glory.

From Bera the One-Headed Troll 

by Eric Orchard

Bera the One-Headed Troll is a offbeat graphic novel filled with trolls (one-, two- and three-headed varieties), goblins, witches, and rats (Vince is particularly helpful) and positive messages about offering assistance to those in need.  With only her want to do the right thing, Bera takes herself out of her comfortable pumpkin patch island and discovers new strengths and instincts, while making some new friends and good karma in the process.  I thought Bera the One-Headed Troll was going to be a dark, dark tale for a Halloween night, and its graphics would’ve supported that notion.  Eric Orchard’s trolls and witches and other creatures could be seen as darkly unnerving, as are the settings of straggly trees and murky swamps and stone edifices.  But Bera the One-Headed Troll is neither dark nor frightening.  It is a positive message wrapped in a dark cloak festooned with pumpkins.  Read it for Halloween but take its guidance beyond the day.

If I Were a Zombie

by Kate Inglis

Illustrated by Eric Orchard

Nimbus Publishing

978-1-77108-356-0

32 pp.

Ages 4-8

April 2016

With Halloween almost upon us and young children (OK, adults too) thinking about costumes, consider reading If I Were a Zombie to jump start those creative juices and delight young readers with the back-and-forth poems of two friends, Evan and Poppy,  imagining life as monsters and other-worldly creatures.

The list of creatures that Kate Inglis includes is extensive: zombie, fairy, robot, giant, vampire, witch, ninja, ghost, alien, superhero, sea monster, goblin, skeleton, mermaid, and even adult. There’s something a little scary and a lot funny about all of them. Each double-spread has a full-page illustration and a multi-stanza rhyming poem about the entity each child envisions for themselves.

If I were a zombie
I’d package my drool
Put it in Mason jars
Sell it at school. 

I’d mumble and stumble to sniff out some lunch

Chase Ben and Lucy…
(Think they’d be juicy?)
And sweet little Tilly?
“Quit runnin’, silly!
All I want’s a good nibble and munch. (pg. 3)

So begins Evan’s speculative verse about being a zombie, and the two children’s remaining proposals are just as evocative.  There are discussions of the robot’s price tag and robospeak (AFFIRMATIVE for yes, NEGATIVE for no, And DOES-NOT-COMPUTE for “I ain’t gonna go.”; pg. 7); the ninja’s "collection of secrets and dark-of-night prizes" (pp. 15); a pirate ghost who knows of Oak Island and eluding the Mounties; an alien called Zeekoid the Freakoid ready to take over New Brunswick; and a photo-bombing sea monster that has ...

...stingers for fingers
Seaweed for hair
Flip-floppy gills
And a bum that’s bare.” (pg. 23)

From If I Were a Zombie 

by Kate Inglis, illus. by Eric Orchard

But most wonderful of all is the cool dad who declares that,

I’d stay up past midnight
And my kids would too
We’d eat pretzels with pop
That turned our tongues blue. (pg. 31)

Eric Orchard, who illustrated The Terrible, Horrible, Smelly Pirate (Nimbus, 2008), easily gets down and dirty in his imaginings of these weird and wacky characters.  The illustrations are as bold as their colours and more fun than scary, sure to entertain young readers with their quirky whimsy.

From If I Were a Zombie

by Kate Inglis, illus. by Eric Orchard

If I Were a Zombie pairs Kate Inglis’s imaginative rhymes with Eric Orchard’s fanciful but goofy creatures in such a way that life as an other-worldly creature seems almost cool, even if it requires eating nachos with brain dip.