Beorn the Proud (Living History Library)

What a fantastic discovery! This is an older historical fiction novel, written for upper elementary and middle grades. I had never heard of it before I saw it recommended in Susan Wise Bauer’s The Story of the World. I was impressed with the plotting and the relatability of the characters. I enjoyed reading it, and so did my eight-year-old daughter!

We really liked this book up until the last chapter, when the plot turns suddenly unrealistic and (in my daughter's words) "the rainbow unicorns come flying out." No, the book contains no unicorns, but the suddenly picture-perfect ending seems out of step with the fairly harsh realities of the rest of the book. It would actually be a more effective novel if the final chapter were left off. Having said that, it is a worthwhile read. The action of the book takes place briefly in Ireland and primarily on a Viking longship and in Denmark. It gives a glimpse into the home life and society of the Danish Vikings. It is a bit more slanted toward proving Christianity superior to the Norse religion than I would have made it had I been writing the book. Beorn has to learn a lesson because he is too prideful, and he does come out the better for it in the end. This book had some memorable scenes and we (my 8 and 10 year old daughters and I) enjoyed it, though it is not the best Viking book we read. Rolf and the Viking Bow by Allen French is much better.

This book gives you a good feel for what it was like to live back when! It helped us understand how Vikings might have thought. It also helped us understand how their religion was. We used this to go along with our homeschooling of Medieval Times. We really enjoyed the book. My DD (10) and DS (8) begged for one more chapter each time we read. We didn't want to put it down.

My daughter was required to read this book for her 3rd grade literature course. It is a good book and she learned a lot of history about the Vikings through this historical fiction book.

Excellent book with a Christian theme. My nine year-old and I read it together, so we could discuss the themes. It was by far my favorite book this year (homeschool fourth grade) and he loved it just as much.

My son really enjoyed the book. He actually enjoyed writing the book report on this.

The book arrived with someone's name written on it and crossed off on several pages. It is not new and therefore not the quality I expected.

I read this book to my 4 boys (ages 12, 10, 8, &5) as part of our homeschool. The book is perfectly fine, but not incredibly interesting. I would instead recommend Raiders from the Sea by Lois Walfrid Johnson (first book of the Viking Quest series). Beorn the Proud and Raiders from the Sea have very similar plots - an Irish girl captured and taken captive by a proud, obnoxious Viking boy. However, Raiders from the Sea is much more exciting!