Review: Hilda and the Great Parade

Created by Luke Pearson and based on his Hildafolk series of graphic novels, we again meet the inventive and adventurous Hilda with her blue hair and an exploratory nature. She has moved to the new town of Trolberg with her mother from their magical wilderness after a giant crushed their cabin. She brings her pet deer-fox Twig, an invisible elf, plus adjustment problems.

In Trolberg she finds everything boring. Her mother wants her to make human friends, but she is ridiculed by the class bully Trevor.

The Great Parade is looming and Hilda’s class has been chosen to decorate a float. This includes scouring the countryside for plants for the Trolberg Exhibition.

Translated, this means that Hilda sets out on adventures that will fill her life with the magic that is missing.

She saves a wounded talking raven stoned by Trevor and his gang. The bird is added to her list of magic friends.

Hilda encounters Bartel Braga, elf and leader of the Lost Clan of the Northern Countries. To help Bartel, Hilda sets out on a quest to the dangerous and deadly Cauldron Island in search of the lindworm, the only thing that can resolve the conflict between Bartel’s and the Aldrics clans.

But the devious Trevor has taken the raven by stealth from its hiding place. Can Hilda and her two friends get it back from the bully’s deadly clutches in time for the parade? Will the black raven, symbol of a good harvest that everyone is waiting for, fly over the town of Trolberg again?

This magical adventure full of challenge, excitement and daring, is part of a Netflix TV Tie-in series. There are quite a few other books to be sought after about Hilda’s adventures.

The illustrations are superb and are likened to the style of Manga artists. Mustard-coloured pages separate the chapters. Brown, mustard, lemon and white are the only colours used throughout the artwork.

Title: Hilda and the Great Parade

Author: Stephan Davies

Illustrator: Seaerra Miller

Publisher: Penguin Random House, $19.99

Publication Date: April 2019

Format: Hardcover

ISBN: 9781912497799

For ages: 6+

Type: Illustrated Middle Grade Novel

from Kids' Book Review https://ift.tt/39esvU4