Odd and the Frost Giants

A runt of a boy with a weak leg goes off into the forest to visit the cabin his father left behind and for a bit of a break from his harsh stepfather; on his way through the snow of the over-long winter, he runs into an eagle, a bear and a fox, and he soon realizes that they are not exactly what they seem.
A reread for me, but the first time round for Charlie (my 10-year-old son). He watched Good Omens with us and fell in love with it, and he's been interested in reading The Sandman for a couple of years now (he can read whatever he likes as long as he agrees to talk with me about it, but in this case we chatted about the potential scariness level of a few things and he decided on his own to wait a bit longer before giving it a go), and show more was really excited when I pulled this one off the shelf as a suggestion for our next bedtime read-aloud selection. He *loved* it, as he is also a huge fan of Norse mythology, and of course Gaiman absolutely shines at playing with myth. It seems pretty clear to me that he (Gaiman, not Charlie, although it's true with the kiddo as well) just simply loves mythology of any kind, and that love and reverence comes through so beautifully in his stories. And as a classicist who also loves all kinds of myths, that makes me happy. I think it's safe to say that a new Gaiman fan has been born in Charlie, and that makes me happy, too. show less

Fleeing from his abusive stepfather, Odd, a young Norse boy with an injured leg, runs away to his father's long-abandoned cabin in the woods. Here he encounters three animals - a fox, bear and eagle - that are actually three of the Norse gods - Loki, Thor and Odin, respectively - banished to Midgard (AKA Earth) after Loki was tricked into giving Mjollnir (Thor's magical hammer) to a Frost Giant. Determined to help, Odd sets out with the animal-gods to Asgard, where he convinces the Frost Giants to return to their home in Jotunheim...

This slim novella from Neil Gaiman, celebrated for his many works of fantasy for both children and adults, was an assigned text in the class on the history of children's literature that I took when getting show more my masters. It was part of the unit that examined the use of mythology in said literature. I found it immensely engaging, enjoying it from start to finish. Naturally, given my fondness for and interest in foxes in children's literature, my favorite figure was the vulpine Loki, who at one point lead Odd into the woods, looking very much like "an animal with a plan." How appropriate, both for Loki and for the fox! Recommended to middle-grade readers who enjoy fantasy fiction, and to Neil Gaiman fans who enjoy Neil Gaiman. show less

The little Norse boy named Odd does everything with a smile on his face. Odd smiles when he's scolded, and doesn't lose the smile when he hears of his father's death. Odd smiles when he cripples his right leg and foot, and he smiles when he meets a trio of talking animals claiming to be gods. Odd even smiles when he comes face to face with a Frost Giant, and the giant threatens to crush him.

Odd and the Frost Giants is a delightful mock-epic in which Gaiman writes a crippled young boy into the world of the Norse gods. With little more than his (not so) simple understanding of human/god nature Odd conquers feats that leave the more-powerful themselves crippled, and with quiet perseverance he pursues a life more welcoming than the one in show more which he lives.

Despite Gaiman's never-ending love affair with comma splices, his young adult novel is quite charming. I would recommend it to young readers and parents alike. show less

What a lovely little book. It was specially written and published for World Book Day 2008 and tells the story of Odd, a little, lame boy who runs away from home and meets three creatures: a fox, a bear and an eagle. Together they journey to Asgard, home of the Norse Gods, to save it, and the world, from the Frost Giants.

How I wish I'd had this book as a child, I would have loved it then (to be fair, I loved it now - even though (as an adult) I don't usually read childrens books. I also wish that Neil Gaiman had been commissioned to write Ragnarok for the myth series, he would have brought it all, vividly, to life unlike the dry version that AS Byatt wrote.

A very dear friend of mine didn't much care for this book -- left him with a genuine sense of "meh" -- but I really enjoyed it. Gaiman wrote it for World Book Day UK, which means that -- like the JK Rowling "textbooks" written for similar occasions years ago -- this is a slim little volume, rather than a conglomeration of Gaiman's usual depth. In fact, those who are in love with Gaiman's usual dense prose will find this mythic tale quite sparse on both details and believability -- but that's sort of the point. Gaiman has not written a novel here -- he has written a myth, and done rather an excellent job at it. Using the figures from Norse mythology -- shades of those more elaborately characterized individuals from American Gods and show more Anansi Boys -- and a boy-hero who is a little left of ordinary, Gaiman has spun a skinny tale that might be better aloud than on the page. On the other hand, the illustrations by Brett Helquist -- illustrator of the year, apparently -- make the words on the page visually effective, so perhaps it works on both levels.

As I mentioned, I quite like it, but the only way to know for sure is to try it for yourself -- since it takes hardly an hour to read, there's nothing to lose. :) show less

I love Neil Gaiman's writing style. Even when he's writing for children, his tone and word choice are really beautiful. This story recalls the best parts of classic fairy tales, and recasts them with morals you'd actually want kids to learn.

What a delightful counterpoint to [b:Norse Mythology|30809689|Norse Mythology|Neil Gaiman|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1473862693s/30809689.jpg|51396954]!

I mean, yes, it's written for middle-grade and Thor and Loki are cute and Odin is inscrutable as always and the frost giant is funny rather than scary because, after all, EVERYONE is afraid of Freya's tongue... but it's still a real delight!

I don't care what anyone says about Gaiman. The man can write a classy tale no matter where or what he's writing about. This is, after all, only a retelling of an old story, but it's a very particular and beautiful Odd viewpoint.

I'll definitely be reading this to my girl when she gets a little older. :) Heck. It might even be time now. :)