Due to a sudden, unexpected passing in the family a few years ago and another more recently and my subsequent (mental) health issues stemming from that, I was unable to download this book in time to review it before it was archived as I did not visit this site for several years after the bereavements. This meant I didn't read or venture onto netgalley for years as not only did it remind me of that person as they shared my passion for reading, but I also struggled to maintain interest in anything due to overwhelming depression. I was therefore unable to download this title in time and so I couldn't give a review as it wasn't successfully acquired before it was archived. The second issue that has happened with some of my other books is that I had them downloaded to one particular device and said device is now defunct, so I have no access to those books anymore, sadly.

This means I can't leave an accurate reflection of my feelings towards the book as I am unable to read it now and so I am leaving a message of explanation instead. I am now back to reading and reviewing full time as once considerable time had passed I have found that books have been helping me significantly in terms of my mindset and mental health - this was after having no interest in anything for quite a number of years after the passings. Anything requested and approved will be read and a review written and posted to Amazon (where I am a Hall of Famer & Top Reviewer), Goodreads (where I have several thousand friends and the same amount who follow my reviews) and Waterstones (or Barnes & Noble if the publisher is American based). Thank you for the opportunity and apologies for the inconvenience.

This is a beautiful elementary history book about the Vikings. I enjoyed it, and I think that younger students will, too!

Out of all books in this amazing collection (Oceans, the weather, Ancient Rome) this was the topic I knew the least about. My first Fact File: Vikings is an excellent introduction into mythology, society structure, clothing, free time activities and other aspects of daily life of these fascinating people.
The book is informative and written in accessible, clear language, coupled with fun illustrations and engaging projects to do.
Definitely recommended for both school and home libraries.
Thank you to NetGalley and Ivy Kids for the review copy provided in exchange for an honest opinion.

What I enjoyed the most about this fact file was that it didn't censor the violence that came with the Vikings nor did it feel sugar-coated but that doesn't mean it was described vividly, I mean this is still a children's book. What I'm trying to say is that they didn't color the Vikings as nice people ((I guess I'm mentioning this because of how they are portrayed in How to train your dragon)). Anyways, it was good to know about them and have this book as a cursor on where to start researching indepthly.

Out all the fact files, this one had the most activities. The quick facts provided interesting info too and I enjoyed the art in this one the most.

I've read each of these fact files before posting the reviews and since they're technically almost the same books, though just with different topics, my reviews may be similar to each other.

What I liked about these fact files was that they were short and to the point. The art is simple but childishly cute and it was nice that they covered the whole page. There are tips and also activities mentioned in some pages.

Thank you Netgalley for providing me with the digital copy for an honest review.

"My First Fact File The Vikings" by Philip Steele was a fun and informative read for kids to learn about the vikings. Each new topic discussed from language to farming to social structure would go through the way the vikings lived and had a fun activity or exercise for kids to apply what they learned.

The book was a like a fun history lesson with lots of interesting concepts to learn about.

I received this eBook free of charge from Quarto Publishing Group – Ivy Kids via NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review. I did not receive any fiscal compensation from either company for this review and the opinions expressed herein are entirely my own.

Another great book from the "My First Fact File" series! Tons of information and engaging pictures on everything from who the Vikings were, their clothes, what they ate, how they had fun, and everything in between!

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

As part of my curriculum, my class study the Vikings. It is often hard to find engaging books which are accessible to all but also contain a good depth of information. This book easily tick all those boxes.

It is clearly organised, very engaging to look at and has an excellent balance of text to illustrations. The text is broken up and laid out in an easy to follow way. The information does not feel too wordy (which often leads to students becoming disinterested) and the use of 'Quick Facts' boxes makes it easy to find snippets of information. I liked the inclusion of 'Crack the Code' to introduce the Viking alphabet and crafts such as making a Viking vane.

My First Fact File The Vikings is part of a series of short fact and exercise books aimed at younger children (K-2+). Released 23rd July 2019 by Quarto on their Ivy Kids imprint, it's 48 pages and available in paperback format.

This is a well written book, historically accurate and accessible for all ages, and an interesting and worthwhile series. Facts are presented with color paintings on each double page. Relevant supporting information is presented in sidebars. The included activities are also presented in sidebars at the bottom of the pages.

Chapters are short and cover who (and when) the Vikings were, their society and codes of conduct, their technology and artisanship, music, food, festivals, religious beliefs and more. The art style is unpretentious and appealing (see cover).

This would make a great weekend activity, classroom or library read for young readers, and the series would be great as a part of a homeschool library. There's a short alphabetical glossary included at the end.

Four stars.

‘Everything you need to know’ says the cover. It’s right. While, it certainly doesn’t go into the detail I, as an adult, could handle it certainly covers all the bases for someone significantly younger than myself.
This is a perfect historical and anthropological fact file for young ones that perhaps study vikings in school or have a general interest in history. I hope this is just the start of the historical editions of this series.

This is the second, My First Fact File entry that I have read. I am certain that it will not be my last. I look forward to reading every title in this engaging, well illustrated and informative series.

This entry is about the Vikings. Imagine that you lived somewhere that was on the path of the Vikings explorations and conquests. It is easy to understand how these sailing explorers and conquerors would have caused much fear.

Young readers will learn about all aspects of the Vikings lives from their long ships, to their communities, gods, celebrations, children's lives and more. There are activities to further enhance the reader's experience, as for example, to make a Viking coin or snack.

This is a book that makes non-fiction fun. I wish that the series had been around when I was young. It can really open children's eyes to all of the amazing things that there are to learn.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this read in exchange for an honest review.

A very good primer for all things Varangian, that will serve pretty well in a primary school library. Pleasant double-page spreads attest to the strong design, while the text is basically an introductory paragraph, and other bit-bots, with the artwork's captions conveying many factoids. As opposed to this series' more scientific volumes the homework is almost too artistic – design coinage, design pennants, ships' figureheads, and so much more. Topics covered are perfectly sensible, and while avoiding the history of the Vikings you can get from similar books do suitably diverge from the just hack and slash reputation. Thus you get their mythology, their clothing, their cuisine, games, and many reminders that a lot of them were just farmers. You never get as far as berzerkers, and it never actively states the horned helmets were a Hollywood lie. What also made this book the best of the three I've tried (following on from 'Oceans' and 'Weather') is that the 'quick facts' box-outs actually contained new details, as opposed to just repeating the information from elsewhere on the page. Definitely worth consideration.

My First Fact Files
I am always on the search for kid-friendly nonfiction series. Kids love them, and a great series is harder to find than it may seem.

When looking for a great nonfiction series, one needs to find a collection that is engaging with both its topics and illustrations. In addition, there should be tons of nonfiction text features to help support the Common Core Standards of teaching nonfiction. Finally, the readability needs to support learning, so the text must be written utilizing scientific or historical language that students should be learning as they read along with these nonfiction texts.

My First Fact Files is a new nonfiction series that I have come across, and I love it. This series is fantastic!
It checks every one of my boxes for a great nonfiction series. The topics are engaging, the illustrations are stunning, the books are packed with text features, and scientific/historical language is utilized on every page of these texts.

So far, I have had the opportunity to read three texts from this series: My First Fact Files: Weather, My First Fact Files: Oceans, and My First Fact Files: The Vikings. Each one of these books was great on its own. But as a collection, they are a total wow!

What surprised me the most about this series is that every one of these books was written by a different author. However, the cohesion between the structure and design of these books are flawless. Anyone will clearly be able to tell that they belong together in a series, and I highly doubt most readers will even notice that all the books were written by different authors.

The readability of this series is deeper than what I would have predicted based on the cover designs of the story. Before I dug into reading these books, my guess was that this series was designed for younger elementary students.

When I opened the texts up, I was surprised to see that there was a ton of text and nonfiction depth on every page. I would recommend this series for middle to upper elementary readers. I teach 4th grade, and this book would be a great fit for many of my readers.

I received a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. Thank you NetGalley!
awesome kids book.
we loved the illustrations.
the story was unique & easy to read!

I received an electronic ARC from Quarto Publishing Group through NetGalley.
One in a series of non-fiction texts for younger readers. Steele presents facts and information in an easy to follow format. He also includes activities for readers to try and connect to traditions and information about the Vikings.
The illustrations are realistic and provide support for the text styles.
Looking forward to reading more in the series.

Written nicely by Philip Steele with consultation from Ragnhild Ljosland, and illustrated gloriously by Stef Murphy, this book does for the Vikings what the book on Rome in this series ('My First Fact File') did for the Romans.

It starts off with who the Vikings were, what kind of society they lived in, the Viking longship, sailing (read: lots of rowing!), trading, raiding and settling, the warriors and their armor, clothes, farming, living accommodations, feasting, how children lived, arts and crafts, and customs, festivals, and religious beliefs.

Once again in the series, there are small inexpensive projects for children to get their hands on, such as building your own full-size Viking longship - no, I'm kidding, although wouldn't that be awesome? No, the projects are much more modest than that, but nonetheless fun for youngsters to try their hands at. They include cracking a Viking rune code, designing a longship prow ornament (on a small scale!), making a wind vane, and making your own Viking money!

I enjoyed every one of the books in this series that I've read so far, and each had its own way of bringing out the facts without being dry or boring. They're a great way to learn about nature, or in the case of this one, about the history of some remarkable people from a dim and distant past, and I commend this fully as a worthy read.

My first taste and dip into this exciting series.
I have always loved the Vikings as a marauding force that scourged the then lands of the British Isles.
The Vikings got a bad name when I was learning my History. Mostly it was negative aspects of these fearsome warriors, perhaps a bit about their Gods and of course place names.
My First Fact File is aimed at young children and the boast of ‘Everything you need to know.’ Is not an empty one.
Of course the passage of time, the many years since I was a child further discoveries and modern museums have opened showing visitors how people used to live based on knowledge and archeological evidence.

So we need this type of study aid.
Apart from a quote from a Spanish music critic there is little 3rd party history quoted. However, it is teeming with information and is factually based.

I enjoyed the simple presentation and workbook style; it covers areas of study that brings an academic slant on the book. So it reads as a school project rather than a scrapbook.
I thought the practical tasks and activities were very appropriate, re-enforced the subject matter and were fun things to do related to this topic.
It has detailed illustrations which fill the pages without overwhelming the presentation. Adding to this, its clear text, a careful balance, so the story is told well in words and colourful drawings.

What I feel it lacks is a brief summary beyond the glossary - a further information bit, websites to follow up and exhibitions and centres where more can be seen and experienced.

This is the only reason I withheld a full set of stars.

I was most impressed by the use off a consultant, a Viking expert I guess, a great idea as the author can not know everything.

If this is an fair example of the standard in this series then along with this one; I warmly recommend them all to your kids and the children we seek to educate.

This book is so informative. It’s fun and interactive. I loved the pictures and all of the different sections. The information is so interesting, and simple to understand.

This is one of the coolest books for kids I’ve seen when it comes to a learning book.

A really cute book introducing the Vikings for kids who are interested! The book has a lot of information but it's presented in an engaging way without overwhelming young learners. I liked that in addition to information there were fun activities to complete (cracking a code using the Viking alphabet, designing wood carvings, etc).