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Stolen Thunder: A Norse Myth
Retells with drama and humor the Norse myth about the God of Thunder and how he recovers his magic hammer, Mjolnir, from the Frost Giant, Thrym. "This book is a gem, guaranteed to spark interest in mythology. Use as a read-aloud and as a resource for mythology units and recommend it for pleasure reading." --Booklist
32 pages, Hardcover
First published December 31, 1994
56 people want to read
About the author
Shirley Climo
25 books38 followersShirley Climo was born in Cleveland, Ohio in 1928. She attended DePauw University until her mother died unexpectedly in 1949. She dropped out of college and took up her mother's work writing scripts for the weekly WGAR-Radio children's program Fairytale Theatre. During her lifetime, she wrote 24 books including The Korean Cinderella; Magic and Mischief: Tales from Cornwall; A Treasury of Princesses: Princess Tales from Around the World; A Treasury of Mermaids: Mermaid Tales from Around the World; and Someone Saw a Spider: Spider Facts and Folktales. She died on August 25, 2012 at the age of 83.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
June 20, 2019
Author Shirley Climo and illustrator Alexander Koshkin - who also collaborated on a picture-book retelling of the classical Greek myth of
Atalanta's Race
- here join forces to tell the story of the theft of Mjolnir, the mighty hammer belonging to Thor, the Norse god of thunder. Aided by the trickster god Loki - originally a suspect himself - Thor determines that his magical weapon has been stolen by Thrym, the king of the Frost Giants of Jotunheim. Thrym's demand, that he be given the hand of Freya - goddess of beauty and love - in marriage, in exchange for the return of Mjolnir, outrages the fiery Thor. But it is Loki, of course, who knows a way around this demand - a way that involves Thor dressing up as a bride...
This humorous tale, in which the most powerful fighter in the Norse pantheon becomes involved in a cross-dressing adventure, has always been one of my favorite myths from the Norse tradition. Climo's retelling is engaging, instantly involving the reader in the story - "Long ago, in the morning of time..." - while Koshkin's artwork, done in watercolor, tempera and gouache, manages to be both amusing and rather dark, all at once. I did feel, from time to time, that the style was slightly "off," when it comes to what I expect from an illustrated Norse myth, but then, there are so few picture-book retellings of the Norse myths, as compared to their Greek counterparts, that perhaps I'm just not used to diverse styles being used with the same tales. In any case, this is a minor point (and it's difficult to pin down a specific criticism) - overall, I enjoyed Stolen Thunder, and recommend it to young Norse mythology lovers.
This humorous tale, in which the most powerful fighter in the Norse pantheon becomes involved in a cross-dressing adventure, has always been one of my favorite myths from the Norse tradition. Climo's retelling is engaging, instantly involving the reader in the story - "Long ago, in the morning of time..." - while Koshkin's artwork, done in watercolor, tempera and gouache, manages to be both amusing and rather dark, all at once. I did feel, from time to time, that the style was slightly "off," when it comes to what I expect from an illustrated Norse myth, but then, there are so few picture-book retellings of the Norse myths, as compared to their Greek counterparts, that perhaps I'm just not used to diverse styles being used with the same tales. In any case, this is a minor point (and it's difficult to pin down a specific criticism) - overall, I enjoyed Stolen Thunder, and recommend it to young Norse mythology lovers.
February 20, 2019
32 pages. This is an older book but still a great story with beautiful illustrations. The introduction will give a reader lots of background in the Viking world and ancient mythology. I believe students will enjoy this one. Highly recommended for Grades 4-5.
October 1, 2015
Children's books are the best for myth retellings. This one had me sniggering all the way through at the snarky dialogue and gorgeous illustrations.
November 28, 2017
Reading Level: 5.4
Book Level/ Guided Reading Level: V
This miraculously illustrated version of Stolen Thunder: A Norse Myth, tells the classic Nordic tale of how Thor, god of thunder, devises a cunning plan to get his stolen all-powerful hammer back from the frost giants with the help of the trickster god Loki, making it just one of many renditions of this piece of Traditional Literature.
This book would comprehensibly be an idyllic read aloud for students in approximately first or second grades, as they frequently cover a unit on myths and folklore in English Language Arts. Together, teachers and students can explore the themes typical of myths found in this book. In higher elementary grade levels, students can explore the way myths served the purpose of explaining the natural world in ancient times in a Social Studies type context. Moreover, the sophisticated, illustration style in this particular version of Stolen Thunder would appeal more to older children and thus make it a good guided reading selection for older elementary students. Additionally, the complex nature of the story provides ample opportunities for application of comprehension techniques during guided reading. Students in many elementary grade levels will be excited to read this tale because they can relate it to the Marvel comic version of Thor that they are familiar with. Classes could even engage in discussions comparing the two iterations.
Furthermore, this novel could be used as a mentor text to demonstrate the writing traits of sentence fluency, word choice, voice, ideas, and organization during writing workshop mini lessons. The ideas and organization of this story would also make it a fun one to use in a lesson on sequencing! In addition, this book contains massive amounts of dialogue, thus it could also serve as an example for students on creating dialogue and the conventions that accompany it as a writing lesson.
Book Level/ Guided Reading Level: V
This miraculously illustrated version of Stolen Thunder: A Norse Myth, tells the classic Nordic tale of how Thor, god of thunder, devises a cunning plan to get his stolen all-powerful hammer back from the frost giants with the help of the trickster god Loki, making it just one of many renditions of this piece of Traditional Literature.
This book would comprehensibly be an idyllic read aloud for students in approximately first or second grades, as they frequently cover a unit on myths and folklore in English Language Arts. Together, teachers and students can explore the themes typical of myths found in this book. In higher elementary grade levels, students can explore the way myths served the purpose of explaining the natural world in ancient times in a Social Studies type context. Moreover, the sophisticated, illustration style in this particular version of Stolen Thunder would appeal more to older children and thus make it a good guided reading selection for older elementary students. Additionally, the complex nature of the story provides ample opportunities for application of comprehension techniques during guided reading. Students in many elementary grade levels will be excited to read this tale because they can relate it to the Marvel comic version of Thor that they are familiar with. Classes could even engage in discussions comparing the two iterations.
Furthermore, this novel could be used as a mentor text to demonstrate the writing traits of sentence fluency, word choice, voice, ideas, and organization during writing workshop mini lessons. The ideas and organization of this story would also make it a fun one to use in a lesson on sequencing! In addition, this book contains massive amounts of dialogue, thus it could also serve as an example for students on creating dialogue and the conventions that accompany it as a writing lesson.
July 26, 2016
I really enjoyed this book and the way it shows the difference of Loki and Thor's personalities. Loki's trickster personality and Thor's brawn is demonstrated in Loki's plan to retrieve Thor's stolen hammer. The sass that Loki has throughout the story is incomparable. In fact, that's what made me love the story so much! The illustrations are great in adding to the storytelling. It's easy to identify each character even without the text. Loki has a cunning look with an average body, while Thor just looks angry with a lot of muscles. The text is fairly simple and easy to read all the way through without losing interest. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys mythology or just a good, quick read.
May 28, 2014
I loved it! Here is a summary from the book. Mjolnir, Thor's hammer, was missing. Thor yelled at Loki that he took it. Loki found out that the Frost King had Mjolnir. Loki was in a falcon cloak. Thyrm would only give Thor the hammer if Freya be his bride. Thor dressed up as Freya and took the hammer. IT'S A GREAT BOOK! READ IT!
September 17, 2011
A great example of Loki as trickster. Good pictures. Long text but appropriate for grades 4 - 6.
I'm reading a bunch of mythology for some collection development. I can't say that I'm enjoying it too much.
I'm reading a bunch of mythology for some collection development. I can't say that I'm enjoying it too much.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews