Customer Reviews

Vikings: The Norse Discovery of America (The Vikings Library)

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If you read much European history recorded during the time of the Viking, you will know that "The Vikings are coming," was a fearsome warning to uncounted towns, villages, cities and indeed, nations throughout most of Europe, both East and West.

This little 24 page book is a delightful (maybe a poor choice of words there), introduction to the young boy or girl interested in history; the history of the Viking, to be more exact, and the Viking habit of wondering around pillaging and at times, trading. Please do note that this work is pretty well "G Rated" so have no fear of graphic text or illustrations. But on the other hand the author does give the young person a relatively good overview of the situation during that time and what the consequences were to the world as a whole.

This work is targeted for a younger age group. I personally feel that five years old is shooting a bit low but each child is different. No matter the age, the kids love the pictures in this work. The text is well written and quite precise and is at the level where many new words will be introduced and the average grade school child will be challenged. An example of the text is as follows and covers the attack on Constantinople in A.D. 879:

"In A.D. 879, a Swedish Viking named Oleg the Wise became ruler of Novgorod, a trading town west of what is now Russsia, and of Kiev in the Ukraine. The Swedes who settled in these lands were called the Rus. From Rus came the name Russia. In A.D. 907, Prince Oleg led a huge force of several hundred ships to conquer the rich and powerful city of Constantinople in the country of Turkey. At first the Vikings were barred from entering the city by a giant chain strung across the river. Oleg and his men put their ships on rollers and dragged them around the chain. Then the people of Constantinople made a trading treaty with the Vikings. They made a large cash payment to prevent their city from being looted for its riches."

The facing page to the text above shows a Viking warrior and a very nice map of all the territory covered by the Viking at that time.

The book is set up so that a page of text faces a page of illustrations which include photographs and paintings. I found all of the information in this book to be quite accurate. This author most certainly knows her subject matter.

The author has included a very nice glossary of terms in the back of the book. The text is quite readable and if the child is unable to read at the level it is written, it is still a very good book to read to the child and explain things as you go along.

The book is printed on high quality slick paper and is quite well bound.

This is one book in a series of books by this author and the others include:

Vikings: The Norse Discovery of America (The Vikings Library)
Viking Gods and Legends (The Viking Library)
Viking Explorers and Settlers (The Viking Library)
Viking Longships (Vikings)
Viking Families and Farms (The Vikings Library)

Don Blankenship
The Ozarks