Stowing Away with the Vikings
written by Linda Bailey
illustrated by Bill Slavin
Author Linda Bailey takes us back in time to the Age of the Vikings in her graphic novel Stowing Away with the Vikings. The Binkerton children have been avoiding the Good Times Travel Agency ever since their surprise trip to Ancient Egypt, but a hailstorm leads young Libby to shelter near the shop door, owner Julian T. Pettigrew offers a guidebook to the Vikings, and the rest, as they say, is history. Stowing Away with the Vikings is a delightful way to learn things about the Vikings that Hollywood will never tell you. Part fiction (the Binkerton storyline) and part nonfiction (clearly delineated explanations accompanying the storyline), this graphic novel is all fun and fascination. Bill Slavin’s pictures in comic style are perfect for entertaining, moving the story along, and illustrating the facts.
This book will delight children as they immerse themselves in history. Just as children reread comic books until the covers fall off, kids will want to reread this book absorbing the information about a culture that no longer exists but has affected our own. Although the author honestly discusses the violence of the Viking way of life, there is no depiction of murder. The Binkerton storyline contains a lot of humor that children and adults will appreciate. I learned a lot from this graphic novel and had a great time reading it. I recommend it for homes, classrooms, and libraries.
I would like to extend my thanks to netgalley.com and to Kids Can Press for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.
Rating: 5/5
Category: Children’s Fiction, Comic & Graphic Novel
Notes: Grade level—3-7
Age Range—8-12 years
The Time Travel Guides as a series is being republished by a new publisher. Upcoming books to be released are: On the Run in Ancient China and Game on in Ancient Greece
Publication: October 2, 2018—Kids Can Press
Memorable Lines:
Does it seem a bit smoky in here? Hazy? Dark? Look around. There are no windows—just a hole in the thatched roof to let out the smoke. The only light comes from oil lamps. P.S. I hope you like fishy smells. The oil in those lamps comes from fish or whales.
Viking laws aren’t written down, so somebody has to remember them. That’s why they have the law-speaker, a man who memorizes all the laws and shouts them out loud for everyone to hear.
The word “berserk” means bearskin. Berserkers are the most feared of all Viking warriors. Before going into battle, they get into a fighting rage. They howl like wolves. They leap like dogs. They grind their teeth and bite the edges of their shields…Have you ever heard the expression “going berserk”? Where do you think it came from?
education pathways 
A good review and teaching tool. It reminds of the twin stories I read a child and were later blackmailed as it was believed to spread the communist theory.
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Would that have been during the McCarthy era?
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yes it was during the McCarthy are. It should have blackmailed that taught the communist theory. I read all the children library had a d all thought how neat to learn about others. They were my favorite books. I especially like the Cave Twins. The twins were a boy and girl who live at the time. I remember the Pioneer twins. There was the Scottish Twins. I think there was a Plymouth Twins.
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They were probably banned before I got a chance to read them. It sounds like a good series.
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I now have a Twitter account under the name BettyLouise85. I have no idea how it works but NetGalley want to send my reviews. They wouldn’t accept the reviews today until I touch Twitter.
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Really strange!
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A law-speaker has an interesting job!! Thanks for reviewing, Linda. My middle-school Spanish teacher taught us Spanish using a graphic novel (or it might have been a comic book 🤔). Nevertheless, I thought she was nuts! Until I learned the most Spanish that year. 😊
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That is a very interesting approach to learning Spanish. Kudos to your teacher for innovation. A few years ago I bought a children’s Bible devotional, a monthly magazine, with some comics in it as well as lessons. I found that I was having to work so hard on translating the words that I was missing the Bible lesson.
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To this day I’m not sure how the comic book method worked to teach us Spanish, but it did.
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This sounds perfect for my son, “the little professor”, who loves nonfiction and is drawn to graphic novels. A series is even better! I’ll be looking to see if our library has these.
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I bet he would love it. Your library might even have the ones that were originally published, but have not been republished yet.
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Great review Linda. I also thought this was a great book for children. Just enough humour to make it fun, but some good information as well.
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