I love the freedom, you can feel the illustrator having fun with this magical wild romp. Could be a moebius story... ( )

A cute, if mildly confusing at times, story of a young girl whose mother is fed up with her adventuring and grounds her. And then when trying to sneak out, manages to get get both her and her mom lost in the trolls' mountain. I can definitely see the draw for younger readers, and finding out it was book 5 in a series makes the fact that I was a bit confused forgivable. ( )

Booklist review excerpt: "When her mother tries to stop [HIlda] from slipping through a portal, they accidentally end up in the stone forest inside a mountain, where they're pursued by angry trolls. Her mom's getting a firsthand glimpse of Hilda's secret life, but with an adult around, it's hard to ignore how dangerous and scary this particular adventure is." ( )

It's been a while since I read the last book about Hilda and her escapades, but watching the new Netflix series totally got me wanting more of Pearson's charming artwork and engaging storytelling. This book starts off a bit randomly, as we see Hilda go on many adventures in pastiche form, but don't get any of their full storylines. Yet Pearson is clearly setting up for something good, and he proves it's worth the wait when Hilda gets grounded for not spending time with her mother and her subsequent escape causes the unexpected climax. Hilda and her mother get thrown into the inside of the mountain just outside Trollberg, which is expectedly full of vicious trolls. Well, maybe not all of them are vicious, but the pair definitely have an interesting journey as they try to get home. By the end of the story both parties have learned a bit more about each other, but the drama is really only beginning since Hilda gets magically switched with a troll child! We'll have to wait and see how this turns out, but I'm thinking that it's time for Hilda's mother to don the adventurer's helm again! ( )