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A Guide to The Last Viking
Story
Young Josh is very brave.
He’s not afraid of anyone or anything – except maybe the dark and the sound of ghosts whistling in the trees at night.
Pirates worry him a bit, of course, and so do boy-eating dinosaurs, and monsters under the bed. He’s also just a little afraid of dragons and vampires.
But other than those few things, Josh is as brave as a lion.
Sort of.
When Josh comes face-to-face with real-life trouble, he begins to find out how brave he really is…
Time to go a-Viking!
Children’s Book Council Picture Book of the Year winner, Norman Jorgensen, teams up with illustrator James Foley on this fun picture book about a boy who outwits local bullies by channeling his inner Viking.
Themes
Bullying
The Last Viking is most obviously a story about bullying. Josh is picked on for his unusual Viking dress sense, and needs to learn assertiveness in order to stand up to the bullies. Most kids will relate to this situation.
Courage
The need for courage in the face of adversity.
In the words of Nelson Mandela- “The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear”.
Imagination
The power of imagination to pull us out of the everyday and change our lives for the better.
In the words of Orison Swett Marden (1850 – 1924), an American writer and philosopher: “All men [and women] who have achieved great things have been great dreamers.”
The Hero’s Journey
Our young hero, Josh, must go on a journey to discover and recover his courage and sense of power.
Josh’s story follows the ‘Hero’s Journey‘, an archetypal story pattern found in many ancient myths and legends (as well as contemporary stories such as The Matrix, Star Wars and Spiderman).
Curriculum Areas
The Last Viking relates to several areas of the curriculum.
History/Geography (Viking life, trade routes, exploration, Viking influence on Western culture)
English (Norse mythology, picture book writing)
Health (self-esteem, bullying)
Art (model longships, swords, shields, helmets, costumes, picture book illustration)
How to use this Blog
Categories
The easiest way to navigate the blog is via categories. Look at the right-hand side of the blog, and you’ll find several categories listed: click one to find all the posts that relate to that category.
Alternatively, use the Search function- it’s on the right hand side, below the book cover.
Illustration process
These sets of posts look at the design process for a particular scene, character, or aspect of the book.
Bullies scene:
How text and pictures interact (and sometimes don’t)
Character designs:
The Norse gods- Odin, Thor and others
Cover design:
Part 2- refining the design with Cate
Interaction between text and pictures:
Conflict between text and illustrations
How text and pictures interact (and sometimes don’t)
Josh/Knut character design:
Longship design:
Building a longship part 1- cardboard engineering
Building a longship part 2- spray painting
Building a longship part 3- final construction
Opening scene:
The all important opening scene, Part 1
The all important opening scene, Part 2
The all important opening scene, Part 3
The all important opening scene, Part 4
Ravens:
a murder of ravens up for retrial
Set design:
