 We encourage you to discuss these themes with your child, and consider some of the following questions to get your conversation started.

At the beginning of the episode, how do you think the troll rock felt about the bell on its nose? How did Hilda respond when she realized it was in distress? What did you think of Hilda’s actions with the troll rock?

How do you think Hilda felt when she and her mom got the letter from the Hidden People telling them they had to move? Why do you think she felt that way? Can you think of a time when you felt that way?

How did the Hidden People feel about Hilda and her mom? Why did they feel this way? Do you think Hilda had known that she was upsetting the Hidden People? How did she try to compromise with the Prime Minister?

In this episode, Hilda and her mom are attacked by the Hidden People who threaten to evict them from their house in the forest. Determined not to move to the city, Hilda befriends one of the Hidden People and seeks to understand their point of view in order to resolve the conflict. After watching this episode, you can discuss themes with your child including 

The episode opens as Hilda is adventuring through the forest with her deer fox companion, Twig. The pair come across a giant troll rock, a creature that is frozen like a rock during daylight but comes alive after dark. Hilda wants to stay and draw the creature, so they place a bell on its long nose that will warn them when it starts to move.

At nightfall, the bell starts to ring as the troll rock comes to live, and Hilda and Twig run away through the forest. When they finally reach Hilda’s house, the troll rock comes up behind them and tears fall from its eyes. Though she was initially frightened, Hilda realizes the troll rock is in distress because of the bell on its nose, and she gently approaches and removes the bell. Instead of hurting her, the troll rock returns her sketchbook that she left in the forest.

Hilda and her mom receive a letter from The Hidden People, an invisible group of tiny creatures that have been threatening them in an attempt to force them to leave their house. Hilda’s mom suggests they move to the nearby city Trollberg, but Hilda is upset by the idea of moving away from the house in the forest where she’s spent her whole life.

The Hidden People attack Hilda’s house that night. Hilda’s mom warns that if one more incident like this happens they’re going to move to the city, and Hilda becomes determined to fix their relationship with the Hidden People. That night, she leaves a note for the group on her doorstep asking them why they’re mad and how they can live together in peace.

In the night, Hilda is visited by one of the Hidden People, Alfur. He gives her a stack of paperwork to sign, and suddenly she’s able to see the Hidden people. Alfur, a tiny elf-like create, pops out from behind her ear.

Alfur explains that Hilda’s house is right in the middle of the Hidden People’s home, and when Hilda goes outside she sees countless tiny houses scattered around. Alfur explains that their new Prime Minister has promised to get rid of Hilda and her mom, so Hilda asks to meet the Prime Minister to resolve the problem.

Alfur first takes Hilda to the Hidden People’s mayor, and she tries to assure him that she and her mother didn’t mean any harm. The mayor tells her it’s out of his hands, though, so she sets out with Alfur and Twig to find the Prime Minister.

When Hilda finds the Prime Minister, he explains that the bright lights and loud sounds from her house have been bothering the Hidden People, as well as her and her mom stepping on their houses. Hilda tries to compromise, and she offers to stop these behaviors if she and her mom are allowed to stay. However, the Prime Minister tells her that her family is an enemy to the King, so it’s out of his hands.

Hilda looks disappointed after her meeting with the Prime Minister, and Alfur offers to take her to the King. They decide to set out for the King the following day.

Hilda

Upset by her mom’s plans to move, Hilda is determined to resolve their conflict with the Hidden People. In doing so, she often seeks to understand others’ perspectives and demonstrates empathy toward creatures different from her.

Alfur

A member of the Hidden People, Alfur befriends Hilda and helps her understand why the Hidden People are made at her and her mom. He understands that Hilda didn’t mean any harm to his community, so he helps her find a way to resolve the conflict.

Hilda's Mom

Concerned about the Hidden People’s attack on their home, Hilda’s mom wants to move their family to the nearby city of Trollberg.

Twig

Twig is Hilda’s dog-like deer fox companion. He sometimes appears frightened by the creatures in the forest, but Hilda helps assure him that everything will be alright.

Hilda is a young girl who grew up with her mother in a cabin in the woods. Over the course of the series, she and her deerfox Twig, later accompanied by an elf named Alfur, and friends David and Frida, go on a number of adventures interacting with and befriending the mysterious animals and spirits that live in and around the city of Trolberg.

Kindness

Season 1

Empathy

Helping

Understanding other Perspectives

Chapter 1: The Hidden People

. Consider exploring some of the following questions in a discussion with your child.

Why do you think Hilda didn’t want to tell her mom about not receiving any Sparrow Scout badges? What do you think might have happened if Hilda had told her mom the truth? Have you ever been afraid to tell someone (or maybe your parent) the truth? What happened, and how did you feel?

How did Hilda feel about the Black Hound when she learned from Alfur that he was probably lost and far from home? Why do you think Hilda wanted to help the Black Hound at the end of the episode even when people in the town wanted him captured? Why do you think it’s important to consider other people’s points of view like Hilda did for the Black Hound?

A great way to engage your child in conversation is often to 

. Though we encourage you to use our questions for inspiration during your discussion, we suggest starting off by asking your child what the show they watched was about, and allow the conversation to flow from there.

Leading

In Chapter 13: The Black Hound, Hilda realizes the giant black hound that’s causing panic in her town may actually be misunderstood. This episode touches on themes including 

Continuing from the prior episode, this episode opens as Hilda, David, and Frida are confronted by the Black Hound, a giant dog-like creature, in the woods and must run away from it. Their Sparrow Scout camping trip is cancelled due to the encounter, and the group heads home.

In the car ride home, Hilda appears to feel disappointed and guilty that she had to leave Tontu, the Nisse from the prior episode, by himself in the woods with the beast.

In an attempt to get Hilda her first Sparrow Scout badge, Frida and David take her around to houses to collect fundraiser donations. Busy looking for Tontu, Hilda ends up missing the meeting to get the badge. After meeting several other Nisses who were kicked out of their houses, Hilda finally does find Tontu sitting in a garbage can.

Hilda’s elf Alfur tells her that the Black Hound is likely a Barghest, a type of giant wild dog, who must be lost in the city. Hilda feels bad for the creature, who she thinks is probably lost, scared, and hungry.

Hilda still hasn’t told her mother that she hasn’t received any Sparrow Scout badges, and she appears a bit guilty whenever her mom brings up the badge ceremony. At the ceremony, Hilda’s mom finally learns that Hilda didn’t have any badges, and though she’s initially surprised, she later apologizes to Hilda for making her feel pressured, and she assures her daughter that she’ll be proud of her no matter what.

Pandemonium strikes when the Black Hound drops through the ceiling into the room where the badge ceremony is concluding. Hilda and Tontu run from him, traveling through the Nisse passageways of houses. Eventually they end up in Hilda’s house, where the Nisse in Hilda’s home recognizes the Black Hound as his long lost puppy.

Hilda is particularly witty in this episode!

Chapter 13: The Black Hound

understanding the perspectives of others.

 Consider asking your child some of these questions about the episode during your discussion:

How do you think the giant felt when his friend didn’t show up to meet him? How could you tell? Why do you think he felt this way?

Have you ever felt the way the giant felt in this episode? What happened?

How do you think Hilda felt when the giant stepped on her house at the end of the episode? What did the giant do? After this happened, what do you think Hilda thought about her and her mom accidentally stepping on the elves houses?

In Chapter 2: The Midnight Giant, Hilda meets a sad giant and helps reunite him with his friend who has been waiting for him at their meeting spot for thousands of years. Prominent themes in this episode are 

. Consider asking your child how they think the giant felt in this episode when his friend didn’t arrive, and whether they’ve ever felt that way.

Concerned about the family’s safety given recent threats from the elves, Hilda’s mother wants to move out of the woods into the nearby town, Trolberg. Hilda likes her life in the woods and doesn’t want to move.

Unable to sleep in the middle of the night, Hilda glances out her window and sees a giant peering at her house. She chases him on the back of a flying Woff, and when she catches up to him he tells her that he was waiting to meet someone who didn’t arrive at the time they’d set thousands of years before. The giant walks with his head hung sadly as he carries Hilda back home.

Hilda’s mom takes her to visit Trolberg, but Hilda isn’t happy when she finds out that the students at school have to stop playing outside whenever the bell rings.

The wood man teaches Hilda about the Giants of Old, and Hilda realizes that the sad giant she met might be the last one left after they all left the world when the smaller people arrived.

On her journey to meet the king of the elves, Hilda realizes that the mountain he lives on is actually the sad giant’s lost friend, who had fallen asleep for thousands of years. The two giants are reunited, and walk off happily together.

When the elf king decides Hilda is honorable and no longer an enemy of their people, Hilda is excited that her and her mom won’t have to move. Then, one of the giants accidentally steps on Hilda’s house, so they have to move after all. The giants walk off without realizing what they’ve done, and Hilda seems to realize that this was similar to the way her and her mom have accidentally been stepping on the elve’s houses in the forest.

Hilda empathizes with the giant when he’s upset, and she’s happy when he gets reunited with his friend. She also displays her perseverance and adventurous spirit in this episode when she sets off to meet the elf king.

The Midnight Giant

Hilda gets to know the giant in this episode, and learns that he’s sad because his friend didn’t come to meet him as they’d planned. At the end of the episode he’s finally reunited with his friend, another giant, and the two walk off happily.

Elf King

Initially appearing terrified of Hilda when she arrives at his castle, the King later decides Hilda is honorable when she helps save him and his castle.

Alfur is Hilda’s elf friend who takes her on the adventure to meet the king.

Chapter 2: The Midnight Giant

Some themes explored in this episode are 

 We encourage you to ask your child some of the following questions in your discussion:

How did Hilda react when the group of kids were throwing rocks at birds? What did you think of this activity? What would you have done if you were in Hilda’s position?

Why do you think Hilda decided that she didn’t want to be friends with that group of kids after all?

In Chapter 3: The Bird Parade, Hilda rescues a raven from a group of mean children and helps it regain its memory in time for the town parade. Prominent themes in this episode are 

. Consider asking your child how Hilda reacted when the group of children were throwing rocks at the bird, and what their own thoughts were on that activity.

On a walk out in town together, Hilda’s mom encourages her to talk to a group of children. Hilda nervously approaches them and asks to be friends, and they initially welcome her to the group. As the group does various activities together, Hilda seems not quite to fit in.

Hilda is shocked when the children start throwing rocks at birds, and scolds them when one of the boys hits a bird with a rock and knocks it to the ground. The bird, a raven, speaks a few words out loud, catching the attention of the mean boy, Trevor, and Hilda snatches the bird and takes it home to keep it safe.

Talking to the raven more, Hilda learns that it’s lost its memory, and can’t remember where it’s supposed to be, but does remember a particular statue. When Hilda’s mom throws the raven outside, he and Alfur set off to try to find the statue.

Meanwhile, Hilda goes to the parade with her mom, and learns that the raven she found is actually The Great Raven, which flies over the annual parade to bless the town. Worried that the raven will miss the parade, she and her mom set off to find him.

Trevor has captured the raven and put it in a cage, and Hilda and her mother find him just as he’s accidentally dropped the cage in the river. Hilda calls out to the bird that he’s the Great Raven, then jumps in the water to save him. The raven then emerges from the water as a giant raven flying with Hilda on his back, and the duo fly over the parade together to the crowd’s delight.

The episode closes with Hilda and her mom watching the parade together from the special spot where her mom used to come as a child, and Hilda is starting to decide that the town they’ve recently moved to might not be so bad after all.

Hilda starts out skeptical about the new town that they’ve moved to, and she’s angry at the group of kids when they throw rocks at birds. As the episode progresses, she decides that the town might be more interesting that she thought

Eager to make Hilda like Trolberg, Hilda’s mom expresses some concern during the episode that Hilda doesn’t want to make friends with other children, but she’s ultimately proud to find out that Hilda chose not to be friends with the kids who were mean.

The Raven

Hilda saves the raven from some mean children, and he’s nervous about missing something important that he can’t remember. When he remembers that he’s the Giant Raven, he regains his confidence.

Trevor

A local boy who threw a rock at the raven and knocked it to the ground, then appeared embarrassed and frustrated when the other kids didn’t believe that the raven had spoken.

Chapter 3: The Bird Parade

. We encourage you to explore some of the following questions in  your discussion today:

How did the Vittra (the creature in the park) feel when Hilda and her friends dug up his friends? Do you think they meant to make him feel this way? Do you think it was important for them to apologize, even if they hadn’t meant to upset him?

In this episode, Hilda, Frida, and David work together on a team. What do you think is good about working on a team? Do you remember a time that you’ve worked on a team?

In “The Sparrow Scouts,” Hilda and her friends get into trouble with a creature (the Vittra) when they accidentally dig up his friends while cleaning the park. The episode explores themes including 

We encourage you to discuss these themes with your child, and you may decide to ask them about how Hilda and Frida reacted when the Vittra accused them of digging up his friends.

Hilda’s mom brings Hilda to a Sparrow Scout meeting, where she joins the troop and meets Frida and David. The trio decide to work together on the Friend of the Park badge, which their troop leader explains will entail cleaning up an area of the park over the weekend.

Frida makes a detailed project plan for the group, but when they arrive at the park on the second day they find that all of their hard work from the day before has been undone.

The Vittra comes out and confronts the group, and he explains that the weeds they’d been digging up were actually his friends. The Vittra accuses Hilda and her friends of being careless. Hilda tries to explain that they made a mistake, and Frida asserts that they really do care.

The Vittra steals Frida’s Sparrow Scout sash, and Hilda and Frida chase him down his tunnel. When Hilda finally catches up to him, he suggests an agreement that he’ll give it back to Frida if they help him find his friends.

The trio had already brought the dug up weeds from the day before to a mulching center, and Hilda says she’ll go back to rescue the Vittras before they get mulched. David and Frida volunteer to go with her to help, and the Vittra tags along as well.

Hilda must climb up a tall conveyor belt to rescue the other Vittras, and David and Frida catch her in a bin of dirt to break her fall on the way down. They return the vittras to the park and Frida gets her sash back.

Frida is disappointed that they didn’t complete the plan and get their badge, but she’s still happy about the experience they all shared.

Having recently moved to town from the forest, Hilda is excited to work on a team in this episode because she’s never worked on a team with other kids her age before. She feels bad that they accidentally dug up the Vittra’s friends, and she apologizes to him for the mistake.

Frida

A highly organized and badge-motivated girl that Hilda meets at Sparrow Scouts, Frida is disappointed during this episode when things don’t go as she’d planned, but she starts to learn that the experiences they share might be worthwhile nonetheless.

David

David is excited to join the team with Hilda and Frida, but at times he becomes afraid during their project.

The Vittra

A creature who lives underground, the Vittra is angry with Hilda, Frida, and David when they dig up his friends in their attempt to clean the park. He steals Frida’s Sparrow Scout sash, but later gives it back to honor their compromise when Hilda and her friends rescue the other vittras.

Working Together

Making Mistakes

Apologizing

Chapter 4: The Sparrow Scouts

. We encourage you to explore some of the following questions in a discussion with your child.

Do you remember a time in this episode when Frida and David got mad at each other and started fighting? What happened? Why do you think Frida was upset with David? How do you think they could have handled the situation without fighting?

Have you ever gotten into a fight with a friend? What happened, and how did you feel?

Throughout this episode, Hilda encountered several challenges when trying to help her friend Frida get her ghost back. Why do you think Hilda kept trying even when things were hard? Can you think of a time that you had to overcome challenges to accomplish a goal?

How do you think Hilda felt when she wasn’t able to keep her promise to Frida in this episode? Do you think it was her fault? Why or why not?

In Chapter 9: The Ghost, Hilda and her friends discover a ghost that has secretly been cleaning Frida’s room each night, but difficulty getting the ghost to come back leads the group to some conflict. This episode explores themes including 

, and we encourage you to ask your child about why Hilda, Frida, and David fought in this episode, in addition to whether they’ve ever gotten in fights with friends.

Hilda and David rush to Frida’s house for a “friend emergency” when Frida wakes up to find her room a complete mess, even though it’s usually neat and tidy. Hilda thinks it’s a ghost, and promises Frida that she’ll take care of it while Frida is busy running for class president. While cleaning up the room, Frida also realizes her favorite book has gone missing.

The group sets up a camera to film Frida’s room overnight, and when they watch the video back they see that Frida was actually the one making a mess of her room. She admits to it, but says that she’s always made a mess of her room and woken up with it clean. Hilda concludes that a ghost must’ve been cleaning it, but now the ghost is gone. David starts making fun of Frida for thinking that rooms cleaned themselves, and the two get into a physical fight that Hilda breaks up.

With the new knowledge that a ghost has been keeping her room clean, Frida starts to doubt her ultra-organized self-identity. She becomes unsure of herself while campaigning for class president. Hilda promises to fix things by finding the ghost and bringing him back.

Hilda, Frida, and David head to the graveyard to wake up the ghost that they think has been cleaning Frida’s room. When they find him, he explains that he liked to visit to read one of Frida’s books and would then clean her room as a token of appreciation, but now the book is gone to he has no reason to visit. They then wake up his brother, a ghost in a nearby grave, who they think might have taken the book.

The trio of kids wrestles with the brother to win the book back, but he defeats them. Hilda refuses to give up, saying “there’s always something else you can do,” and lays on the brother’s grave to force him to give the book back. When he does give them the book, they realize it’s not the book they needed after all.

Hilda feels like a bad friend because she wasn’t able to keep her promise to Frida, and she apologizes for failing her. When Frida doesn’t show up to give her campaign speech at school, Hilda and David go to find her at her house. She’s defeated, and explains that if she’s not perfect she doesn’t know who she is anymore. Hilda tries to assure her that they’re still her friends, but Frida gets mad at Hilda and David because David has been teasing her and Hilda got her hopes up then let her down. This leads to a big fight, and Frida tells Hilda she’s sorry Hilda ever moved to the town. The episode comes to a close as Hilda and David leave Frida’s house.

Hilda tries hard to help her friend Frida in this episode, but she feels bad when she’s ultimately not able to keep her promise.

Frida has a bit of an identity crisis in this episode when she learns that a ghost has been cleaning her room and she starts to question her ultra-organized self-identity. This seems to put her on edge, because she also starts getting in fights with her friends.

David is scared on some of the trio’s adventures in this episode, like when they go to the graveyard to wake up the ghost. David also teases Frida at some points during this episode, which results in the pair fighting.