'Terrible True Tales: Vikings' repackages some of Terry Deary's short stories(previously available as single stories) into one volume. Well researched and based on true events and daily life, these work well as early free readers, or as historical background for groups or classes studying the vikings, as they bring that time period to life. Great for years 3 and 4, would also suit advanced readers in year 2, Thank you to Netgalley for my ARC, this has not affected my review.

I’ve always enjoyed the Horrible Histories books, shows and theatre productions and this book was another winner. That love has been passed down to my children who particularly enjoy the icky parts!

This book has four stories told about true events in Viking history from the viewpoint of fictional children involved. This perspective helps young children to relate to the tales. With activities that complement the stories and great illustrations this book and any from the range make a great gift for children (and their history loving parents will enjoy them too).

I really enjoyed this one. The Vikings come alive through all the crazy and sometimes pretty gross stories, which made history way more interesting than I expected. It’s packed with cool facts about their raids, weird customs, and battles, but told in a way that’s really easy to follow and fun to read.

It doesn’t feel like a textbook at all and feels more like a collection of wild stories that you want to share. Great for kids but also entertaining for anyone curious about Vikings without the boring stuff. I would definitely recommend it for a light, funny history fix.

Terry Deary does it again! Terrible True Tales: Vikings is a fun, fast-paced collection of real-life Viking stories told through the eyes of children. My 6-year-old was hooked—laughing, gasping, and asking for “just one more chapter!”

Packed with humour, action, and brilliant illustrations, this book brings history to life in the best possible way. A perfect pick for young readers who love adventure—or who don’t yet know they love history!

This is another great compilation from Terry Deary. I loved the four stories and the fact that they cover different angles of Viking history, particularly the story based in North America. It’s not widely known in the UK that they settled in other countries, and it was interesting to see this from the perspective of a young girl.
Teachers will love this book, as will young readers. The humour is well toned, as always, and it would be a great step across to fiction for a reluctant reader who loves history.

Terry Deary is a national treasure.

The ability to distill down some quite gruesome history, and making it entertaining and fun enough to read to children and help them learn is such a rare skill, and he has it in abundance.

Perfect for the history adverse!

I loved this, it's fictional stories but based on true events

If you're a fan of HH, or your kid is, you'll be a fan of this series. Nice simple language with lovely illustrations

I only wish there were more stories!

I received an advance copy for free from NetGalley, on the expectation that I would provide an honest review.

Fantastic book which will ignite children’s love of history. The book has some fantastic short stories within and the little breaks with facts is a great book.

The mixture of fiction and historical facts are fantastic

Will I ever not like Terry Deary??

I’m not in the unique position to say that I’ve loved Terry Deary since I was a kid, and that Horrible Histories was and is a big love at mine. Even in my twenties!

This was a really good book on the Vikings. I loved how each story told a different part of the culture, for both the Vikings, the Anglo Saxons and the Native Americans. The stories were gripping.

I loved the little activities in between, as a child I would’ve LOVED doing them and would have found them really engaging. My one criticism though, as someone who works in a school, is let’s not encourage kids to plot their way out!

As entertaining as ever, Terry Deary is a true king himself at bringing history to young viewers and readers. Expanding from Horrible Histories, these fantastic little stories blend fiction and non fiction whilst focusing on an era of history and nothing could be more exciting to young readers than the Vikings!

Viking raids, Monks, sword fights, trickery - you name it.

The interactive segments at the end of each story are great too - from planning your own monastery to a Viking style recipe to try, design tasks and writing.

As with others in this series, the text is accompanied by some wonderful illustrations and there’s plenty of other books, eras and time periods to get stuck into. They’re well worth a read if you want to introduce your children to history, want to feed an interest or even read them yourself. I’m (certainly) no longer under the ‘child’ bracket (except at heart) and I still love these books. Enjoyable for all!