Grade 6 Historical Fiction Research: Vikings

Take a close-up look at the colorful--and cruel--robbers of the sea. Learn who devised the terrifying Jolly Roger, how a surprisingly disciplined life was maintained aboard pirate ships, and what cunning ruses pirates used to lure merchants to their doom.  

This series meets National Curriculum Standards for: Science: History and Nature of Science Science and Technology Science as Inquiry Science in Personal and Social Perspectives. Social Studies: Culture People, Places, & Environments Science, Technology, & Society

Full-color photos. Viking presents an overview of this culture from music to mealtime, social hierarchy, to the more violent aspects of their explorations and expansions into new territories. Fascinating photographs of ships, weapons, and artifacts will attract reluctant readers.-- School Library Journal.

The history of the ancient world is dominated by the great civilizations of Greece, Rome, China, India, and others. Yet not far beyond the borders of these famed states lived other peoples: the barbarians. They were first given this name by the ancient Greeks, and it imitated the sounds of languages that the Greeks found incomprehensible. Soon, though, barbarians came to be thought of not just as peoples unfamiliar with the languages and customs of Greece and Rome, but as wild, uncivilized, uncultured peoples – and this stereotype has largely endured to the present day. the barbarians, however, had rich cultures of their own, as even some ancient writers realized. Barbarians! offers young people the opportunity to look beyond the borders of the familiar cultures of Greece and Rome and meet the peoples who played a compelling but often overlooked role in the history of Europe, Asia, and even Africa.

Leif Erikson was born to be an explorer. His father, Erik the Red, had established the first European settlement in present-day Greenland, and although he didn't yet know it, Leif was destined to embark on an adventure of his own. The wise and striking Viking landed in the area known as Vinland almost five centuries before Christopher Columbus even set sail! "Leif the Lucky" and the other fierce, sea-fearing pirates were accomplished navigators who raided foreign lands for resources, hunted for their food, and passed down Old Norse myths from one generation to the next. This book gives readers a detailed account of what life was like during the time of the Vikings.