The Boy, the Troll and the Chalk

NOMINATED FOR A CARNEGIE MEDAL FOR ILLUSTRATION 2025.

AS SEEN ON MILKSHAKE'S STORY DEN IN MARCH 2025!

Everybody knew that a big fierce troll lived in the cave. Only one child cannot turn their back on the troll. One day, he draws a flower with every petal coloured in but one, and leaves the chalk outside the cave. The next day, the flower has been completed. Day-by-day, the boy and the troll finish each other’s drawings, until they one shows a boy holding hands with a fierce, scary troll. "But you're not a troll," says the boy. "You’re a boy - just like me." Patience, kindness and the power of art win out in the end: the two boys wordlessly draw together. Soon everyone joins in and forgets that there was ever a troll inside the cave.

This touching story delicately embodies the philosophy of art therapy, in the face of isolation and difficult emotions. From the creative duo behind A Shelter for Sadness, award-winning artist David Litchfield’s illustrations are a joyful celebration of pavement art, which is sure to have little ones reaching for their own chalks.