The Tomtes of Hilltop Wood

We received The Tomtes of Hilltop Wood as a gift several months ago, and it quickly became one of Finn's favorite books. We always enjoy looking for tomte and gnome houses in the woods and Finn was so delighted to see the tomtes appear from the Hilltop Wood.

The children in the story learn that the workmen plan to put a road through Hilltop Wood and rush to tell the tomtes right away.

The children and tomtes work long and hard to thwart the road-building. Finn loved seeing how they would run the creek a different way, making the bridge useless or how they moved the protected bats to a different barn which stood in the workmen's way.

When winter comes and the children leave milk out for the tomte, Finn gets excited that it's "just like The Tomten".

The beautiful illustrations really capture the woods and the changing seasons beautifully. My favorite illustration is the little lighted window in the snow which captures the perfect amount of magic and imagination in the chilly wintertime scene.