The Littlest Viking

by Alexandra Penfold, Isabel Roxas (Illustrator)

Overview

A hilarious story about what happens to the littlest and loudest Viking when an even littler and louder Viking arrives, perfect for fans of The Princess and the Pony and I Don't Want to Be a Frog.

Sven might be the littlest Viking, but he has no trouble making himself known. He has the loudest warrior cry and the fiercest set of teeth. He loves to pillage and plunder. But there's a new kid in town--a warrior princess, who is smaller than Sven and even louder. What's a little Viking to do?



"Penfold folds in fun ancient analogues to tried-and-true methods of appeasing cranky little ones, and Roxas's liberal use of a color perhaps best described as neon snot brings a punk edge to her scenes of Viking family life. Irreverent yet tender."--Publishers Weekly, Starred review

"A warm tale of family togetherness."--Kirkus

"A spirited tale about stopping a tantrum with a story, perfect for storytime or one-on-one sharing."--SLJ

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780399554315
Publisher:	Random House Children's Books
Publication date:	01/02/2018
Sold by:	Random House
Format:	eBook
Pages:	40
File size:	85 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Alexandra Penfold is the author of Eat, Sleep, Poop, We Are Brothers, and New York A la Cart: Recipes and Stories from the Big Apple's Best Food Trucks. She lives with her husband and three children in Brooklyn, where she is a literary agent at Upstart Crow. Learn more about her on Twitter @AgentPenfold.

Isabel Roxas is the littlest of her tribe. She is an artist with a taste for the odd and uncommon and for tales that go awry. She has illustrated several books including Let Me Finish! with author Minh Lê and A Day in the Market with May Tobias-Papa. When Isabel is not crafting pictures and stories, she is making little creatures out of clay. Learn more about Isabel online at studioroxas.com or on Instagram at @studioroxas.

Editorial Reviews

★ 11/13/2017
A young Viking with a knack for storytelling steps into new roles when he gains a baby sister. “What’s this? A fair maiden?” asks Penfold (We Are Brothers, We Are Friends). “No, a warrior princess!” Roxas (Let Me Finish!) shows the scruffy infant glaring cockeyed from underneath a blanket—before she lets loose with a giant wail. (Scrawled in spiky, capitalized letters, the baby’s cries of “WAAAH!” scream across the pages, evoking both Scandinavian runes and sonic daggers.) When nothing else works, older brother Sven seizes on his love of stories to lull the baby to sleep with a tale of “fantastic voyages and epic feasts and all the adventures they would have.” Penfold folds in fun ancient analogues to tried-and-true methods of appeasing cranky little ones (“She was not amused by shiny plunder. A ride on the great ship did not soothe her”), and Roxas’s liberal use of a color perhaps best described as neon snot brings a punk edge to her scenes of Viking family life. Irreverent yet tender. Ages 4–8. Author’s agent: Susan Ginsburg, Writers House. Illustrator’s agent: Elena Giovinazzo, Pippin Properties. (Jan.)

Publishers Weekly

"Irreverent yet tender."—Publishers Weekly, starred review

From the Publisher

02/01/2018
PreS-Gr 2—Sven is the littlest, loudest Viking, until he's usurped by a warrior princess. Young Sven screams and bites and terrorizes, steals food, and boldly takes whatever he wants from the burliest Viking. But best of all, he likes to tell stories of battles and voyages. Enter the littlest warrior princess, who can outscream him. Now no one wants to hear Sven's stories. Adults are at their wits' end; how can they get the princess to stop her ear-piercing cries? Young readers will revel in watching the children run rings around the adults. With images that harken to Norse mythology, Roxas creates muted, soft gouache and colored pencil illustrations with a Scandinavian feel. Penfold's storytelling is full of surprises; when staring down at the baby, villagers ask, "What's this? A fair maiden?" Page turn reveals, "No, a warrior princess!" The "Waaah!!" full-page scream that repeats throughout the tale is both anticipated and raucous. Read aloud with preschoolers if you dare—think David Shannon's No, David! The use of loaded words such as plunder and pillage strike a discordant note that may make some adults wince. But the narrative draws a fine balance between Viking life and the universality of a child's world; even the littlest warrior likes to play dress-up. VERDICT A spirited tale about stopping a tantrum with a story, perfect for storytime or one-on-one sharing.—Sarah Webb, City and Country School Library, NY

School Library Journal

2017-11-22
The smallest member of a Viking family rules the roost—until a new little warrior princess comes along.Little Sven may be, but in this sparely related episode he has the loudest cries, the fiercest bite, and if he feels like pillaging his massive dad's dinner plate…well, no one will stand against him. He also loves telling stories so much that everyone stops to listen. This last comes in handy after his place in the clan is usurped by a scowling, redheaded, even smaller new arrival with an even louder cry—and when no one else can make the "warrior princess" settle down, it's his tales of two small rovers setting out on epic adventures that bring peace to the flummoxed Nordic household. Looking diminutive indeed among the towering, haystack-shaped adults in Roxas' green and gold scenes, Sven and the princess go on to develop so firm an alliance that at the end he's proudly outfitting her with a helmet and shield of her own, showing nary a trace of sibling rivalry or jealousy. Children will enjoy such details as Sven's dog, who demonstrates its distress in parallel with Sven's white family.Martial aspects notwithstanding, a warm tale of family togetherness. (Picture book. 5-7)

Kirkus Reviews