These wonderful stories of the North will delight children of all ages with the humanity and grace of the gnomes. The first few stories in this collection recount the exploits of a disagreeable troll, who ensnares unsuspecting creatures – a goldfish, butterflies – in his net and keeps them in his dark cave; other animals help to free the captives. Then begins the story, in short chapters, of Liputto, a gnome whose job it is to bring drops of sunlight deep into the earth; after seven years of work, he is awarded a kind of sabbatical, to explore for a year. For this purpose he is given an invisibility cap, so that he can remain unseen by humans, though his stated hope is to learn more about them.