29CYKIJA

Leif Erikson is a biography of the famous Viking explorer who is thought to be the first sailor to reach North America in about 1000 AD. The tale is based upon old texts known as Saga of Eric the Red and the Tale of the Greenlanders. The book is written for young adults. The story reads like a piece of fiction, some fact and some interpretations. The obvious appeal is the books design to interest young readers. The book contains some of Leif’s boyhood adventures, including him having a polar bear for a pet, his transformation to Christianity, and his famous voyage to North America, which he named Vineland. The book also details how Leif became known as Leif the Lucky and how Leif met his wife.

I found it interesting that Leif’s father, Eric the Red, was banished for committing murder from both Norway and Iceland, which is why Leif’s family moved to Greenland to start a colony. Greenland would served as a jumping point for Leif to sail west to the North American continent. The novel explains that Leif’s failure to return to Vineland resulted because his wife became ill. The book does explain that Leif’s brother did try to colonize Vineland but the crew got into skirmishes among themselves as well as battles with Native Americans. One version of the tale is that Leif’s brother was killed, but this book does not indicate that.

In the classroom this book could be used as part of a social studies unit on European explorers. Certain chapters could be read aloud to the students, specifically “His Name is Leif,” “Vineland the Good,” and “Thirty Years Later.” Each of these chapters would add dept to the students’ understanding of the contribution Leif Eriksson had made to exploration of the New World. As an extension for this book I would include a lesson on the design of Viking ships and how they were uniquely designed to be fast, flexible and durable. I would then have the students draw pictures of these ships. ( )