What do you think?
Rate this book
Life as a Viking: An Interactive History Adventure
Viking warriors sailed their famous wooden ships throughout the world, leaving fear and destruction in their wake. Will Take part in the raid on Lindisfarne monastery? Invade England with the great Viking leader Halfdan Ragnarsson? Fight at the side of King Harald Hardrada at the Battle of Stamford Bridge?
112 pages, Paperback
Published August 1, 2010
2 people are currently reading
86 people want to read
About the author
Allison Lassieur
174 books15 followersA professional freelance author who began her career in publishing as an avid D&D player, Lassieur worked for thirteen years in the publishing industry as an editor for magazines such as Disney Adventures and Highlights for Children.
She's edited game products for TSR, West End Games, and Sierra Online. In addition, she has more than two dozen nonfiction children's books to her credit and has contributed to such magazines as National Geographic World and Scholastic News.
Lassieur lives and works in Eastern Pennsylvania.
She's edited game products for TSR, West End Games, and Sierra Online. In addition, she has more than two dozen nonfiction children's books to her credit and has contributed to such magazines as National Geographic World and Scholastic News.
Lassieur lives and works in Eastern Pennsylvania.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
April 16, 2025
Best life was when I settled down with my Anglo Saxon wife and two kids after a renowned military career!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 16, 2010
We bought several of these books for our 7th graders. We also have Life as a Ninja, Life as a Knight and others. They are a mix of historical fiction and nonfiction and they are written in the "choose your own adventure" style. The individual story lines are historical fiction, but the books have an introduction and conclusion (outside of the story lines) that are nonfiction. I think our students will love them. They are really well made and have colorful pictures and maps as well as a glossary and timeline. I tried to follow most of the paths (keeping my finger stuck in the last page in case I made a mistake). I'm not sure I learned a ton about the Vikings, but I was reading this rather quickly. I also thought it was fairly obvious based on the decision being made and the page number which decisions were good and which decisions were bad. I'm not sure if that will be so obvious to the students, however. Overall, I think these are going to be great informational texts for us to study and I'm excited to look at the other ones.
August 14, 2023
This book only left two things to be desired. 1) I wish if offered options for life still in Scandanavia. 2) I wish it had better illustrations. Otherwise, fun and my son loved picking different stories together.
July 25, 2017
It was really good and simple to read and understand. Aspects of the Viking life such as religion, explorations, war, and culture are all separated topics that can be found very easily. :D
February 12, 2018
Me and my son really enjoy reading it.
November 3, 2020
Died horribly each time. Good educational book for youngish readers.
February 4, 2021
I haven't been a huge fan in the past of the historical books in this series, but this one was actually quite good.
September 3, 2021
An interesting read.
October 24, 2012
Life as a Viking: An Interactive History Adventure
A mix of historical fiction and nonfiction these books are incredible. They teach bits and pieces with a bit of background knowledge what was going on during the time. This book has individual story lines for the Viking’s. For each Viking there is an introduction or a brief explanation of what is going on. From there you are given your first choice and you are off on your own adventure. The book has colorful pictures and maps. At the end we are given a time line for this book and some extra knowledge of what was going one. Furthermore more information is given and where you can find it.
This book would be great for kids in the fifth and sixth grade.
This book is fun and full adventure, and kids will love being able to make the choice and pick their own path.
I would use this book for individual reading time. Kids will enjoy the pictures and the maps and the adventure that takes place. This book can also be used as an independent project. (Independent project; Students will be given time to study things that interest them and give a project or report to tell the other students about a bit of fun for the students.)
Lassieur, A. (2011). Life as a Viking: an interactive history adventure. Mankato, Minn.: Capstone Press.
A mix of historical fiction and nonfiction these books are incredible. They teach bits and pieces with a bit of background knowledge what was going on during the time. This book has individual story lines for the Viking’s. For each Viking there is an introduction or a brief explanation of what is going on. From there you are given your first choice and you are off on your own adventure. The book has colorful pictures and maps. At the end we are given a time line for this book and some extra knowledge of what was going one. Furthermore more information is given and where you can find it.
This book would be great for kids in the fifth and sixth grade.
This book is fun and full adventure, and kids will love being able to make the choice and pick their own path.
I would use this book for individual reading time. Kids will enjoy the pictures and the maps and the adventure that takes place. This book can also be used as an independent project. (Independent project; Students will be given time to study things that interest them and give a project or report to tell the other students about a bit of fun for the students.)
Lassieur, A. (2011). Life as a Viking: an interactive history adventure. Mankato, Minn.: Capstone Press.
June 24, 2012
A delightful mix of non-fiction and historical fiction presented in an engaging choose-your-own-adventure format.
One of our history units in 3rd grade is the Vikings, and I used this book as a fun way to end our lessons. The students were fascinated by the vivid depictions of events and daily-life facts that we'd been studying. For that, I'd love to give this book an enthusiastic 5 stars!
I know this book is aimed at slightly older children, so perhaps taking off a star for this is unfair, but it makes me sad that I can't simply add this book to our classroom library and let the students explore and discover it on their own. The character the reader plays as they choose the adventures frequently has his story end in death. And those deaths are frequently graphic and violent. As a result, I feel obligated to only share this as a read-aloud and to edit all of those endings.
Apart from that, however, this is marvelous good fun!
One of our history units in 3rd grade is the Vikings, and I used this book as a fun way to end our lessons. The students were fascinated by the vivid depictions of events and daily-life facts that we'd been studying. For that, I'd love to give this book an enthusiastic 5 stars!
I know this book is aimed at slightly older children, so perhaps taking off a star for this is unfair, but it makes me sad that I can't simply add this book to our classroom library and let the students explore and discover it on their own. The character the reader plays as they choose the adventures frequently has his story end in death. And those deaths are frequently graphic and violent. As a result, I feel obligated to only share this as a read-aloud and to edit all of those endings.
Apart from that, however, this is marvelous good fun!
April 29, 2014
Our oldest brought this book home from her elementary school library. It's one of the books in the You Choose historical adventure series and our girls really like them.
I remember loving choose-your-own-adventure books as a child and I love that our girls are discovering these kinds of stories as well. I also like that this book has an educational component, teaching about the lives of knights throughout history.
Overall, this is an interesting and very dramatic story. It offers a broad perspective of the life of a Viking. The book includes nonfiction facts and historical notes, but the storylines are historical fiction, based on people who lived at that time in history.
We followed one path all the way to the end together and then each of us read the remaining paths on our own. I am sure that our oldest will bring more books like this home from her school library.
I remember loving choose-your-own-adventure books as a child and I love that our girls are discovering these kinds of stories as well. I also like that this book has an educational component, teaching about the lives of knights throughout history.
Overall, this is an interesting and very dramatic story. It offers a broad perspective of the life of a Viking. The book includes nonfiction facts and historical notes, but the storylines are historical fiction, based on people who lived at that time in history.
We followed one path all the way to the end together and then each of us read the remaining paths on our own. I am sure that our oldest will bring more books like this home from her school library.
May 8, 2014
My 10-year-old loved this book. It's your classic "choose your own adventure" novel, with lots of information about the life of a Viking. The book features many historical people and events, including the Viking raid on the Holy Island of Lindisfarne, Halfdan Ragnarsson's invasion of England, and Battle of Stamford Bridge.
September 11, 2022
I enjoy these choose your own adventure books but they are never the best written novels, and the stories are always a little stunted. It's not the fault of the writer, but more the format of the book. It was still an enjoyable supplement to Viking studies.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews