Treasury of Norse Mythology: Stories of Intrigue, Trickery, Love, and Revenge Hardcover – Illustrated, 22 Sept. 2015

Beautiful quality, highly informative and engaging - absolutely love it

The book is a present for my grandson's birthday, he is really interested in Norse Mythology it's a great book

Still have to read this weighty Tome but a good coffee table book too

Perfect!

Very simple, ideal for children.

This is a beautiful book with exquisite illustrations, but I am afraid the authors disdain for the subject really let's it down. This isn't to say it is a terrible book. It does include most of the main myths, and will leave the reader with a very basic knowledge of the characters and events. It does so in rather lifeless manner, and my biggest fear would be that a child who hasn't been exposed to mythology before might find it rather dull and boring as a result. This reads like a text book, or something one might read for a school project, but not for pleasure. The characters lack depth and personality and the author seems only to be able to see in terms of black and white, good or evil, with nothing in between. The Norse culture was far richer and more varied than that. In addition, the author clearly holds the Norse culture in disdain and her attempts to impose political correctness and smug moral judgements definitely take away from the story.The books saving grace however are the illustrations. They don't look particularly Norse, and they aren't even perfect in some cases, by they are in most cases beautiful. In fact I enjoyed them so much I would have purchased the Greek and Egyptian myths in the series if only they had a different author. I can't even place what I like so much about the illustrations, except that they seem to have a bit of the magic the stories lack. So if you happen to know every one of the myths by heart, as I do, and even my child does, it is quite simple to simply use the pictures and tell your own stories to accompany them. I have found this to be the most beautifully illustrated book of Norse mythology in our collection, which is fairly extensive.While the illustrations make this book, I can not recommend it for any reader who has not already fallen in love with the stories. I would in fact prefer this book with simply blank spaces instead of text where I could write my own stories in.I F you are looking for a first book of Norse Mythology for a child, or even an adult who doesn't mind an illustrated book, there is only one choice. D'Auleraires Nook of Norse Myths is far and away the best children's book of Norse Myths ever. As a well known Biking blog puts it, D'Auleries book comes first and there is no second place as no other book compares. We found the Usborne Book of Norse Myths quite good as well. For an older reader I would suggest Viking Spirit, Norse Myths by Kevin Crosslet Holland and Davidson's Gods and Myths of Northern Europe. My eight year old child is currently working his way through Davidson's book, which is hard going for an 8 year old but he does love Norse Mythology. The fact that he lost interest in the National Geographic book because the stories were boring is quite an indictment. He is enjoying the illustrations now with my own stories, but I am very thankful this was not his first foray into Mythology, as it almost certainly would have been his last as well.

It is a bit scary for an under five.

Very nice book, but more appropriate for older children.