The Bridge-Builder Troll

Ben meets a troll by the river who does not guard bridges at all. He draws them, and then he builds one just for Ben.

Ages 4 to 63 minute read10 illustrated pages

Cover illustration for The Bridge-Builder Troll
The Bridge-Builder Troll, illustration for page 1

Ben stood by the big river. He wanted to go to the other side to play. But the water was wide and flowed fast.

The Bridge-Builder Troll, illustration for page 2

Then Ben saw something new. A big troll sat on the riverbank! This troll was named Stones.

The Bridge-Builder Troll, illustration for page 3

Stones was drawing with a small, blunt pencil. Stones was not guarding the river.

The Bridge-Builder Troll, illustration for page 4

Ben got very brave and walked right up. Stones looked up from his flat grey stone and smiled. Stones had kind amber eyes.

The Bridge-Builder Troll, illustration for page 5

Stones showed Ben his drawings. They were pictures of bridges! Big bridges and little bridges. Stones loved to build things.

The Bridge-Builder Troll, illustration for page 6

Ben pulled his small wooden boat from his pocket. He said, 'I want to cross the big river to play!'

The Bridge-Builder Troll, illustration for page 7

Stones looked at the big river. He looked at Ben's small wooden boat. Stones had a great idea!

The Bridge-Builder Troll, illustration for page 8

Stones started to build. He used his heavy wooden mallet. Bang! Clank! He worked fast and strong.

The Bridge-Builder Troll, illustration for page 9

Soon, a small long wooden bridge stretched over the water. It was strong and new! Stones made a great bridge.

The Bridge-Builder Troll, illustration for page 10

Ben walked across his new bridge. He waved to Stones. Stones waved back. Ben found a new friend and a way to play!

The end.

Talk about it after reading

  • How was Stones different from trolls in other stories?
  • Why did Stones decide to build a bridge?
  • What would you build to help a friend?

Where this story came from

Every Storybox story starts with one idea, said out loud. This one started with:

“A troll who builds bridges instead of guarding them.”

Your child can do the same. They say what they want the story to be about, and Storybox writes and illustrates a picture book like this one in about a minute.

Get Storybox for iPhone and iPad

How it was made: Storybox wrote and illustrated this story with AI from the idea above. Our team picked it for the free library and edited the text by hand.