Customer Reviews

Leif the Lucky

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This fascinating biography of Leif Erickson is another classic work by the D'Aulaires. Lavishly illustrated with their wonderful lithographs it accurately relates the adventurous tale of the young Viking explorer, his conversion to Christianity, and his colonization of North America. A must for anyone studying the age of exploration!

We loved this book! The illustrations were so rich in color! The pages were alternated between black and white and color. The story was so interesting. I seriously do not remember studying about the Vikings in school! Do you? What a great introduction!

Leif the Lucky was the first book of our American History curriculum and we fully enjoyed it. It brought many questions to our minds including what happened to the Viking race?

Leif the Lucky is about Leif Ericksson when he found "Wineland".
Leif the Lucky is about Leif Ericksson and his adventures. Including one when he found "Wineland" America. He was given the name lucky when he found America. His father was named Erik the Red who went from Iceland to Greenland. Then Leif picked up and went to America. It is a good book.

I thought this book was a good introduction for my 2nd and 5th graders for the Beautiful Feet American History series, but I was expecting more history that was not detailed. It is possible that the history is "lost", written no where, and so the authors were unable to put it in the book. Admittedly, I knew next to nothing about Leif Erikson prior to reading this book. There's still much more to learn, and the next book in the series for our curriculum is on Columbus. Sometimes the authors would exaggerate to make a point (the waves were so high they nearly touched the moon). That may be fun to read, but I think it could be difficult for a child to believe that this is an actual person of history when the book is written in this style. In the same way that someone may want to tell their children about St. Nicholas, but then there's so many myths surrounding him that the kids would be confused. It felt at times that I was crossing the line between fact and fiction, which I don't like to do. It can still be fun and completely factual. Did he really have a pet polar bear that he brought to the King of Norway? Well, with so many other fictitious phrases, I don't know. I couldn't confirm that with my brief internet search either. So I think you see the conflicts I have in using this book. The art however is fabulous and my children enjoyed studying the pictures for details. Their art teacher also appreciated the book's illustrations.

Ingri and Edgar D'Aulaire first published "Leif the Lucky" in 1941. It has been nearly seventy years and the book is still in print. There are very few children's books that have enjoyed such longevity. The reason this book has survived so long is that it is well written and the mid-century modern lithographs that illustrate the book have a timeless quality to them. "Leif the Lucky" feels as fresh today as it did in the year it was published. One can only hope that more publishers will bring back these classic children's books. Finally, I would recommend that if you can afford it, purchase a 1941 edition of the book. The smell of the old paper only adds pleasure to reading the book.

I love these books by these authors. They're just a tad wordy for the average student. When I homeschooled---well that's a different story. My children LOVED these books! Homeschoolers---BUY THEM WHILE YOU CAN---great addition to your library.

My 7 year old loves this book. We are homeschooling with Beautiful Feet Books. She feels she has learned more about history than she did last year when she was sharing curriculum with her brother. The black and white pages are great for copying and coloring to help reienforce what they have read. I highly recommend all their books for a great history lessons that always keep them engaged. Look out Columbus here we come!

We received the book very quickly. It's beautiful and my 5 year old son was delighted by both the pictures and the story.

A wonderful old book about Vikings with rich colorful illustrations. Leif Erickson is the young son of Eric the Red, a viking leader. The art in this book is incredible and very authentic. Educational without appearing as an educational book. Leif gets command of his own shop while still a teen and travels the sea. He is know for his discovery of new lands and establishing new villages there.