Friday, 26 August 2016
ReadItDaddy's First Book of the Week - Week Ending 26th August 2016 - "The Dragon's Hoard - Stories from the Viking Sagas" by Lari Don and Cate James (Frances Lincoln Children's Books)
Labels:
Book of the Week 2016,
Cate James,
Frances Lincoln Children's Books,
Lari Don,
The Dragon's Hoard Stories from the Viking Sagas
Lari Don is our "go to" when it comes to brilliantly reviving and reinventing classic mythical stories. We've hugely enjoyed her books delving into celtic folklore and scottish mythology. Now Lari turns her steely gaze northwards to the time of the Vikings, and the amazing stories collected and passed down from the viking era.
Children seem to love Vikings, probably for the same reasons they love pirates. Vikings are fierce, brave and resourceful warriors who set out to sea in their fearsome longboats to conquer and pillage. But more than this, they were inventive chroniclers of their own life and times, as depicted beautifully in "The Dragon's Hoard".
Lari, along with illustrator Cate James, have collected together some truly brilliant stories from the viking sagas, including tales of bravery and cunning, tales of fearsome scaly beasts and tales of...zombies! Yes that's right, zombies and in our favourite story a viking farmer is plagued by the undead..! YIKES!
The collected stories include:
The Dragon's Hoard * The Swan Warrior * The Berserker's Baby * Tusker versus the Earl * The Bear in Chains * The Raven Banner * The Boy in the Bones * Sailing to America * The Zombie on the Roof * Hunting Magnus * Odin's Riddles
Each tale is accompanied by glorious illustrations and best of all, each story is short enough that you can devour a tempting tale or two before bed-time (don't worry, nothing in here is too disturbing or upsetting for little ones!)
We really loved "The Beserker's Baby" and "The Zombie on the Roof" the best.
It's a truly stunning collection so if your little ones are learning about Vikings at school (as Charlotte is) or if they just love entertaining and original stories, this anthology is a must-have.
Charlotte's favourite story: The Beserker Baby - where a fearsome viking warrior wants to give up his bloodthirsty battle-torn life, but perhaps it takes the smallest and meekest creature to help that happen.
Daddy's favourite story: The Zombie on the Roof, a curious but brilliant tale of a poor viking farmer trying to work on a haunted farm where the undead are more of a pest than the blight!
(Kindly sent to us for review by Frances Lincoln Children's Books)
"The Dragon's Hoard - Stories from the Viking Sagas"
Written by Lari Don
Illustrated by Cate James
Published by Frances Lincoln Children's Books
Publication Date: 1st September 2016
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