I am really pleasantly surprised by this book! I learned about this You Wouldn't Want to series today (thank you, Chandra), so I eagerly ran to the library to examine some titles in this series. When I pulled this book off the shelf, I became a little uncertain, because there are a lot of words here, and I'm never sure if my niece, and especially my four year old nephew, will stay tuned into books with lots of words. The pictures in this book, though, were wonderful. They were bright, action-packed, and funny, and they just seemed completely dialed in to what kids like. Still, I checked the book out, fully expecting that we'd not get through it, despite the illustrations.To my surprise and delight, the kids hung on to every word of this book from beginning to end! They are of Scandinavian descent, and they know this, so I think that this book in particular struck a chord with them. They learned a lot about Vikings, and they were rolling some of those Scandinavian names and words off of their tongues like they were speaking their native language. The Viking on the cover caught my nephew's eye immediately, which I found entertaining, because that Viking strongly resembles my nephew when he sword fights with his uncle, even down to the Viking's exclamation! We all had a great time comparing and contrasting the boy and this character! :-)
This was a very nicely done book--it held the kids' attention, and it educated and entertained all of us. What a great way to expose kids to history! We'll be getting some more of these, and my niece has already requested You Wouldn't Want to Be a Roman Gladiator, which she saw in her school library!