My next big project is a coloring book, “The Trolls of Mount Horeb.” The Mount Horeb Historical Society contacted me, saying that they would like an original coloring book to sell in their new Driftless Museum (or is it the Driftless Historium?) opening this June. (HOW COOL IS THAT?????) Since Mount Horeb is now billing itself as “The Troll Capital of the World,” it seemed fitting to make a coloring book of all of the trolls here.
In case you have never been to Mount Horeb, let me just explain for a moment: All over town, there are these statues, mostly of wood. They tend to be two to ten feet high, and they are all of these creatures, these trolls, doing different things. They’re really cute. You can take a selfie with them. It’s fun. (Read about the history of the trolls here.) They were created by a few different artists. I’ve been calling all of those artists and getting their permission to draw their work for the coloring book, and to learn a little bit about their work. Today, I called Bob Younger, creator of the troll at Culver’s, the troll at Village Smile Care, and the troll at Farmers Savings Bank, all in Mount Horeb, Wisconsin.
Bob Younger is such a wealth of information! Let me just list some of the things I learned about trolls from Bob Younger:
- The type of trolls we have sculptures of in Mount Horeb are called, “Land Trolls.”
- Land Trolls are independently wealthy. They just work and interact with us to keep busy. This troll looks a little bit like he’s robbing the bank, but actually he just has all of that money, himself. He would have no reason at all to steal money.
- Land Trolls are the most social of all trolls. The Bridge Trolls are second most social, and the Underground Trolls are the least social of all.
- Land Trolls are also the largest of the three types of trolls, unless you count the Bridge Trolls living under large bridges- because a Bridge Trolls’ size depends on the size of the bridge he lives under, of course. Bridge Trolls can actually be quite massive.
- This troll takes care of the teeth of all mystical beasts and creatures. The toothbrush he is holding is for a small dragon. Of all of the mystical creatures, he has the most trouble taking care of the fairies, because he has a hard time getting his big hands to fit in their tiny little mouths.
- Trolls like butter burgers and frozen custard. This troll was stopping by for a snack, just like you or I would.
Well, I hope you’ve learned a lot! I know I have. All of these trolls pictured today are by Bob Younger. He is still a working artist, making wooden sculptures of all sorts of things. Click on his name to see more of his awesome creations!
Are all the trolls male, like the smurfs? Wait a minute, there was a smurf called ‘Smurfette’! Is there a Trollette?
There are lots of female trolls. It’s just that these three are male.
I never thought I could learn so much about trolls in one post. What a cool place. And extra cool that you get to do the coloring book!