24 Hours with the Vikings

24 Hours with the Vikings

Lan Cook

Pedro Rodriguez

Usborne, 2026

64pp., hbk., RRP $A17.99

9781835406816

It is morning on the chieftain’s estate and already people are up and about.  But for one family it is a special day because it is their last in the village before brother and sister Toki and Thyri  leave their native Norway and undertake the perilous journey to settle in Iceland…

And so begins an adventure that dates back over 1100 years when much of the northern world was dominated by seafaring warriors from the countries we now call Scandinavia as they established trade routes and settlements, particularly in Iceland and Greenland.

Presented in predominantly graphic novel format using a 24 hour timeline of snapshots interspersed with prolific tidbits of information. it provides an insight into the daily life of a Norse society that takes the reader beyond the usual depiction of violence and mayhem, on a perilous adventure to the new land.  Would they have the courage to leave their families and set out for an unknown country alone?

A peek inside…

In New South Wales from 2027, the Human Society and its Environment K−6 Syllabus (2024) requires students in Stage 1 (years 1 and 2) to understand that “People use stories, images, objects and sites to understand the ancient past” while those in Years 3 and 4 investigate the ancient civilisations of Mesoamerica, and so many students  may well have an interests in these long-ago cultures, their lives and legends making this an ideal extension of what they have already learned, especially if they also have access to the Usborne Quicklinks which accompany it or any of the other books by this publisher that focus on this period. 

Even an investigation into the origins of the names of the days of the week, particularly Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, could lead them to wanting to know more and this book fills the brief perfectly, broadening reading horizons and intercultural understanding.