Stowing Away with the Vikings

The Time Travel Guides

by Linda Bailey, Bill Slavin (Illustrator)

Twins Josh and Emma Binkerton swore they'd never return to the Good Times Travel Agency. Only now, a terrible storm has driven them and their little sister, Libby, right through its doors. Worse, Libby's opened another of Julian T. Pettigrew's guidebooks, and the Binkertons find themselves hurtling back in time --- to the Viking Age. All seems fine, at first, as the children are welcomed by the locals. But they quickly realize that Viking life is not for the faint of it involves beds made of earth, monotonous farm work and death-defying sports. And when Josh and Libby inadvertently stow away on a Viking ship headed for a raid, it suddenly turns perilous! Can the Binkertons finish the guidebook and travel back to the present before it's too late?

Part of the award-winning Time Travel Guides series from the talented Linda Bailey and Bill Slavin, this thrilling graphic novel combines fact and fiction to make learning about the past fun. It employs a fast-paced narrative that's quirky and funny, and colorful, detailed illustrations to create an engaging and accessible overview of the Viking Age. Key facts, vetted by experts, are cleverly embedded in the story through the guidebook. This title makes an excellent resource for social studies and history lessons on the period, covering politics and government, travel and trade, education, celebrations and more. The back of the book contains a short history of the Vikings, including a map, as well as a bibliography, further resources and an index.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Graphic Novels

56 pages, Paperback

Published October 2, 2018

About the author

I was born and grew up in Winnipeg —a daydreamer with her nose in a book. In my twenties, I traveled around the world, mostly by ship. Later, I moved to Vancouver, where I earned a B.A. and M.Ed. at the University of British Columbia. Among my jobs were travel agent, college teacher, instructional designer and editor.

For years, I dabbled with writing. But I didn't begin to write in earnest until I had two young daughters. My first book was published in 1992, and I have since written more than thirty others, including novels, picture books and non-fiction.

I live in Vancouver, a short walk from the sea. I write full-time and still love to travel, read and daydream.
- Source

Series:
* Stanley
* Stevie Diamond Mystery
* Good Times Travel Agency

Awards:
Arthur Ellis Award
◊ Best Juvenile (1997): How Can a Frozen Detective Stay Hot on the Trail?
◊ Best Juvenile (2000): How Can a Brilliant Detective Shine in the Dark?

Reviews

[Scarlett Readz and Runz....Through Novel Time & Distance · Rating 4 out of 5]

Welcome to the GOOD TIMES TRAVEL AGENCY! The agency that makes it happen. You want to see Ancient Egypt, travel to the Middle Ages or the Ice Age? Visit Ancient Greece or Ancient China? Then you are in the right place. Today’s adventure:

Stowing Away With the Vikings


The Binkerton siblings are not new to these adventures. They are very exciting to go on. So when little Libby, the youngest of them, leans against the travel agency door, it opens right up and Julian Pettigrew, the owner, bestows them with a Vikings travel guide. And before they know it, they are on their way…smack dab into the midst of Scandinavia and the life of the Vikings. As usual, Josh, Emma and Libby experience their stay by getting into the best and worst of troubles. How will they escape this time?

***

This series is great for Kindergartners or elementary students. It is a gentle “get to know new old places” introduction. While following theses siblings and their shenanigans it adds to the thread that keeps kids going without the burden or their realization that they are learning. Most of the pages contain an excerpt of two pages from their travel guide with factual information at the bottom. So the reader can partake in the siblings’ story as well as grab immediate info bites about the situation.

As with any of the other books in the series, the reader is informed about the place and time period traveled too, the way people lived and worked and any significant information with more specifics. In this case Viking raids, games, travel etc. At the end of the book are a few extra pages with further information and sources listed to dig into.

I have previously read two other novels in this series by Linda Bailey and I definitely like them. I have enjoyed reading them to kids and therefore did not hesitate reading STOWING AWAY WITH THE VIKINGS when I saw it on NetGalley. I certainly can warmly recommend these adventures with bits of learning to all parents, educators and kids. Enjoy :)

Find pictures of content and more here: https://scarlettreadzandrunz.com/clas...

I received an e-book of this book from NegGalley in exchange for an honest honest review. All opinions are my own. Thank you.

[Kris (My Novelesque Life) · Rating 4 out of 5]

RATING: 4 STARS
2018; Kids Can Press/Hachette Book Group
(Review Not on Blog)

Heads up this is the second book in the series of Time Travel Guides. I did not know until I was set to review this book. It is a great book for kids (and adults). A fun story mixed in with facts. I have enjoyed Bailey's writing and Slavin's illustrations in the past and together they have a winner. I will not be reading the others in the series anytime soon.

***I received an eARC from EDELWEISS***

[Lghiggins · Rating 5 out of 5]

Author Linda Bailey takes us back in time to the Age of the Vikings in her graphic novel Stowing Away with the Vikings. The Binkerton children have been avoiding the Good Times Travel Agency ever since their surprise trip to Ancient Egypt, but a hailstorm leads young Libby to shelter near the shop door, owner Julian T. Pettigrew offers a guidebook to the Vikings, and the rest, as they say, is history. Stowing Away with the Vikings is a delightful way to learn things about the Vikings that Hollywood will never tell you. Part fiction (the Binkerton storyline) and part nonfiction (clearly delineated explanations accompanying the storyline), this graphic novel is all fun and fascination. Bill Slavin’s pictures in comic style are perfect for entertaining, moving the story along, and illustrating the facts.

This book will delight children as they immerse themselves in history. Just as children reread comic books until the covers fall off, kids will want to reread this book absorbing the information about a culture that no longer exists but has affected our own. Although the author honestly discusses the violence of the Viking way of life, there is no depiction of murder. The Binkerton storyline contains a lot of humor that children and adults will appreciate. I learned a lot from this graphic novel and had a great time reading it. I recommend it for homes, classrooms, and libraries.

I would like to extend my thanks to netgalley.com and to Kids Can Press for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

[Melanie Dulaney · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bailey’s Time Travel Guides are a hybrid of graphic novel and informational non-fiction text. Three siblings travel back to interesting eras via travel guide books on display at a bizarre travel agency. This installment drops the children into the age of Vikings and as they live, eat, work, and play in a Viking community, guidebook pages provide plenty of factual information about all that being a Viking would mean. The cartoon-style illustrations are excellent and will draw the attention of the graphic novel crowd, but very little dialogue means very little story is told. There is, however, a great deal of non-fiction text. I’m not sure that the readers of graphic novels will stick with this series and lovers of non-fiction may not pick it up because it doesn’t look like a factual text. Recommended only if there is extra money ear-marked for non-fiction in grades 4-6.

[Museofnyxmares · Rating 5 out of 5]

*I was provided with an ARC of this book through Netgalley, in exchange for my honest opinion.

I thoroughly enjoyed this story! I loved the Binkertons, especially little Libby, who might actually have been fiercer than some of the Vikings. The humour in this book was excellent and I laughed my way through each and every second, it really was great fun. Despite being so funny, this was a very informative read and I learnt so many amazing things about the Vikings, that I hadn't before. Some of my favourite things that I learnt were the set ups in the Vikings homes and all the different ways that they dealt with quarrels in their communities. The story itself was brilliant and I'm very impressed with how the author and illustrator managed to combine fact and fiction in such a clear and visually pleasing way. I had such a blast with this book and I think that anyone, especially children, would have a great time reading it, it's accessible, but factual and most importantly entertaining.

[Mrs. Melaugh · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this educational, funny update of Adventure with the Vikings published in 2001, twins Josh and Emma, along with their little sister, Libby, enter the sketchy Good Times Travel agency again, and this time the guidebook sweeps them back to the time of the Vikings. As the guidebook provides the siblings with paragraphs of information about Viking homes, food, raids, ships and clothing, the children are shown in comic book-style illustrations with talk bubbles experiencing these things themselves. The end result is a surprisingly thorough presentation of facts about the Vikings kept light by humorous comments by the children. Violent aspects of Viking life are included, such as that their games could result in death, their food included horsemeat, and raids included killing and enslaving the people they encountered. Recommended to boys and girls in grades 3-5 that are fans of adventures, as well as those who like to learn something from their reading.

[Theediscerning · Rating 4 out of 5]

A decent, succinct look at Viking life for the young, with a proper story as well. Three children know their local travel agent has the habit of sending children through time and space to different historical periods, but still get caught and end up living with Vikings. The conceit that keeps them staying will only appeal to the very young, but the rest is fine – they hang around long enough, using the information in their magic guide book, allowing us to see that Viking life was not all raping, robbing and pillaging. The graphic novel elements, with cheesy and almost pointless bits of dialogue, don't work that well, but the edutainment from the bulk of the text is fine. Add in decent illustrations, many double-paged, and I can easily call this a success.

[Stephanie Bange · Rating 4 out of 5]

The second in the series of Time Travel Guides. This time, the Binkerton Twins and their little sister find themselves hurled back to the time of the Vikings. Bailey does a fine job of blending the fantasy elements with reality. Full color cartoon artwork by Bill Slavin helps keep the story grounded. The format is very much like an original Magic Schoolhouse book -- with a big two-page spread illustration showing the big picture story and smaller text boxes with supplementary information for the older reader. This accounts for the reading and interest age being so wide.

Recommended for grades 4-6, this would be useful in a social studies class or as a browser.

[Amanda Sanders · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is part of the Time Travel Guides series--similar to "Magic School Bus". I like both books I read from the series. This one had a better ending. Some of the Viking facts were graphic and might be scary to young readers--although most will enjoy the gruesomeness. The horse fighting was my least favorite description, I was interested to learn about it nonetheless. It was a very engaging nonfiction book.

[Meagan Mayne · Rating 5 out of 5]

All of these are absolutely great. We read the one on Ancient Greece last year, the Vikings this year, and plan to do the China book for our World History course next year. Great teaching tools.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

This second book in this series sees the siblings thrown into another adventure, simply by picking up a book at the Good Times Travel Agency. The problem with this, is that if you read the book, you get sucked into the time period being read about, and you must finish the book to get back to your own time.

This is a very cool way of showing all the things about the time period that the kids are in. In this case, it is the time of the Viking raids.

The pictures are detailed, and often have funny jokes thrown in. The information is solid and informative, and the story itself is rather good, as well. Unlike the first adventure, to Ancient Egypt, I did not feel as though I was being taken by the hand, to understand. This second adventure, was more straightforward, and fun.

Pictures of the Viking boats as well as a raid.





Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.

[Breanne Gibson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you for the free review book, Kids Can Press.

This is the 2nd book in the Time Travel Guides Series. Kids who like The Magic Tree will appreciate this book. I love books that use storytelling to help kids learn something new. This book is sort of a hybrid. It's a fictional story, but it includes plenty of historical facts. I appreciate that Bailey differentiates between the fact and fiction in the book and gives further facts at the end. The format of the illustrations also offers a helpful clue for kids to separate fact from fiction. I thought this was an excellent overview of Viking lore and history.

[Beth · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've been eyeballing these books as potential titles for the nonfiction section of the bookstore I work in, so I was excited to see an edition of this one available to read in advance. Having read through it, I'm excited about the possibility of carrying these - the graphic novel format is so popular right now and the artwork is eye-catching. The story is interesting without being too much in the way of facts (for the average kid), and overall I think it's pretty well done.

[Andrea Johnston · Rating 5 out of 5]

I know I've said this in one of my other reviews before but it bears saying again. Stowing Away with the Vikings is a brilliant work that checks all of my boxes as a Children's Librarian: great illustrations? Check. Lovable characters? Check. Engaging story that immerses readers AND teaches them something at the same time? Check and check! This is a fantastic tale that brilliantly weaves fact and fiction together to create an amazing overall work.

A series to stock up on! Don't miss this title or any of the Good Times Travel Agency books!