Meet Our Authors

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Authors Betty Cetas and Amanda M. Cetas

Troll Tales and Other Stories from Grandma's Cottage is a series of stories my mother told to my children when they were little. They are fictional, but they are based on the antics that my children and my brother’s children got up to when we visited her at her cottage in Finland. Mom told these stories to gently teach her grandchildren important life lessons that they might grow in wisdom.

Now that I have grandchildren of my own, I am noticing how childhood has changed, and I wonder if these little ones of mine could also benefit from the stories told to their parents?

When my brother and I were young, we climbed trees, fished in the pond, and explored the woods of the Midwest during long summers visiting our grandparents.

My children too had opportunities to fish, climb trees, and explore the near virgin woods of Finland in the summers when they visited their grandmother there.

The lessons we learned in these excursions were priceless.

We discovered our own abilities and limitations as we explored the natural world and looked out for each other. We let our imaginations run wild and developed creative solutions to problems. We learned dozens of life lessons that helped us to develop wisdom as we grew into adults.

Today, it seems more and more rare for children to have the opportunities or desire to explore the outdoors and to test their physical abilities.

 I wanted to bring back these stories that my mother told to this next generation in the hopes that they too will learn to see the natural world with wonder and to learn something more about themselves.

 It is my hope that you too, or someone you know, will also benefit from these tales, told with humor, whimsy, and love. Come and join Oscar the Troll, Otto the Tricky Trout, and Moe the fearful moose these adventures into the Finnish forest to discover the courage to help others in need.