Francesca Simon & Steve May Books

Meet Hack and Whack – the worst behaved Vikings in the village! They revel in creating chaos and causing carnage wherever they go with hilarious consequences – and what is more, their parents are proud of them!

This series of 3 short stories set in the frozen fjords of a Viking kingdom, the two terrible twins (along with their wolf cub Bitey-Bitey and their friends Twisty Pants and Dirty Ulf,) plunder and pillage the polite and perfect Elsa Gold Hair’s birthday party, track a troll and attempt a daring and dangerous raid of a nearby island.

As well as plenty of laughs and make believe, this book includes some more accurate historical details too; describing longhouses with smoke holes and thatched roofs, iron cauldrons and the need for foraging for rood and smoking fish to name a few. It would be a great addition to a class library during a Viking topic to use alongside non-fiction texts.

Francesca Simon is best known for the Horrid Henry series but also harbours an interest in Norse mythology after having read Old and Middle English at Oxford. These stories bring the author’s expertise in all things Vikings into the full spirit of Horrid Henry’s comic revelry. The variations in font and the comic illustrations by Steve May really add to the humour and engagement of the story for young readers. It is a fantastic early chapter book – a really accessible read for those starting out tackling longer texts. It will also engage and amuse older but more reluctant readers and would also be great fun to read aloud.