The Crystal was already drifting into the treetops, so it was no problem to get her down. They landed right in the middle of some spreading bushes, but there was no danger to the delicate fabric of the balloon this time as the bushes were soft and gave way without getting entangled.

“I’ve never actually seen it with my own eyes before,” said Frey “but I’d be willing to bet that this is the farm of a giant.”

He had climbed up onto a packing case and was hanging over the railing. He plucked off a leaf and sniffed it.

“Indeed,” he cried, “carrots! These are carrots!”

Now that Oliver has grown up, we journey instead with his little brother Joel. Crystal is the name of Uncle Bergstrom’s balloon and now all four of them are sitting in the basket: Joel, Uncle Bergstrom and his niece Matilda who comes from the city, and the gnome called Frey.

They have travelled so far north that they have come to the land of giants. When the giants build dams, all the other creatures of the forest are affected, as there are either droughts or floods all the time. And when a giant girl cries a whole warehouse full of towels is needed to mop it up!