There’s a Viking in My Bed is the hilarious story of Sigurd the Viking, who finds himself transported to a modern day seaside town in England. Will he be able to adapt to modern ways? This is a witty, light-hearted text to use to help draw out the differences between Viking and modern times and is a popular choice in lower KS2.

Alfie is like any other nearly teenage boy – except he’s a thousand years old and can remember the last Viking invasion of England. When Alfie finds himself alone in the world following the death of his mother, he has to learn to trust newly found friends if he is going to succeed on his quest to grow old naturally.

Older primary children will enjoy this compelling and thoughtful race against time. With moments of laugh-out-loud humour, heartbreaking grief and high-octane action, this is a touching, truly unforgettable story of finding friendship and acceptance.

In the ‘Defenders’ series, best-selling author Tom Palmer brings together his passions for football and history in haunting stories that are ‘super-readable’ due to their accessible layout including a dyslexia-friendly font and tinted paper. In this story, football-lover Seth discovers that dark and supernatural forces are at play when he witnesses a horrifying Viking massacre in his local football stadium. Together with his friend Nadiya, it is up to Seth to put an end to the violence and save the town.

She Wolf is a Viking adventure story set in the cold harsh winter of Northumbria, AD 866. Ylva (pronounced eel-va) witnesses her mother’s tragic death, which instigates her hunger for revenge – after all, that is the Viking way. Her target: the three-fingered man. Ylva has been taught to survive; no crying will do and with the Norse Gods on her side, she knows she doesn’t need anyone else to help.

Yet, things change when she comes across Cathryn and Bron, two strangers who seem just as preoccupied as she is. Trust doesn’t come easy for Ylva and the twists and turns along the way, make this is an edge-of-your-seat kind of story through which the reader learns just as much as Ylva does.

The descriptions in the book put you right there in the thick of it with the characters, and when a story involves survival against wolves, bears and brutal hunters, it very quickly becomes a book where you have to keep turning the pages to lap up the action. While I felt this may be more suitable for mature KS2 readers, there is no doubt that this is a master class in Viking culture, drama and suspense. Sheer brilliance from Dan Smith who is now a firm favourite of mine!

Set in the Viking era, The Chessmen Thief is an intriguing tale of 12-year-old Kylan’s quest to return to his mother having been captured by Norsemen when he was just 7 years old. However, with everything the Almighty keeps throwing his way, will he be able to make it?

Kylan – a thrall, a slave for a harsh and unforgiving craftsman – thinks all hope is lost and he will never get the opportunity to return to his home, the Southern Isles, to find his mother. His memory of her is beginning to fade, except her fiery red hair and an important message she gave him as she was whisked away… ‘The Isle of Lewis. It’s your home Kylan. Never forget it.’ When an opportunity presents itself, Kylan knows he has to summon all of his courage to ensure it doesn’t slip through his fingers. The Lewis Chessmen – which his master reluctantly let him help carve – are his only hope. However, great craftsmanship gains attention, including that of Sven Asleifsson, a cruel and barbaric Viking known throughout the realm.

Based on the real-life Lewis Chessmen (a group of distinctive 12th-century chess pieces discovered in 1831 on the Isle of Lewis), The Chessmen Thief is a great addition to existing Vikings-themed booklists – it does not shy away from subject-specific vocabulary, however, is an easy read and therefore may be a suitable choice for lower year groups within Key Stage 2. Barbara Henderson has carefully crafted the plot around the chess motif and the story is not overwhelmed with action and gore, as can often be the case with books written about this era. The narrative includes enough action to keep the reader engaged, however provides enough space for readers to wonder how the story will progress.

The book would particularly complement history topics for those teaching in Scotland, providing opportunities to find out about the Viking era closer to home.

If you are studying the Vikings, the Viking gods and the myths and legends that surround them, then this is certainly an adventure story that will entertain and inform.

There is a handy guide to the nine worlds and to the different gods at the start of chapter two, cleverly woven in as part of Lotta’s revision before her first test as a Valkyrie – travelling to Midgard. The story weaves in the fictional names of the book characters with the real names found in Viking mythology and you need to have your wits about you to know which is which! This story will please those who like a good quest, an adventure story with plenty of nasty characters to love to hate and unlikely heroes to cheer on. It will particularly engage those readers who enjoy anything to do with the Vikings!

A hoard of information about the Vikings including aspects of their history, culture, mythology and legacy. Author Jack Tite digs deep into the topic to find the most interesting snippets of information, presented alongside stylised graphic illustrations and fold-out pages that give the pages an extra wow-factor, enabling an impressive tree of life diagram on one page, a lengthy longboat diagram on another and a detailed timeline on another still. Highly recommended.

Published in collaboration with The British Museum, this children’s information book offers a humorous and informative introduction to daily life in Viking times and has a high appeal to readers in KS2.

Through words and pictures, the book compares modern-day life for children to different aspects of daily life for the Vikings, including clothes and hairstyles, education, family life, animals, food and hobbies. The book sets itself apart from the myriad of other non-fiction texts about the Viking world, as each topic is viewed through the eyes of a child. Did you know, for example, that Viking children had to share a bedroom with farm animals?

This is part of Nosy Crow’s popular ‘So You Think You’ve Got it Bad’ series, with the other titles focusing on Ancient Egypt and Ancient Greece. This is the kind of series that helps young readers to move beyond hard facts and begin to reflect on what life might have felt like for those living during other points in history.