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Icefall
By Matthew J. Kirby
For Ages 8-12
Genre: Fantasy
Princess Solveig and an army of restless berserker warriors are trapped between towering mountains and a frozen fjord. Use these discussion questions, snacks, and activities during your next book club for an epic good time. Icefall is a great choice for tween and homeschool book clubs or when introducing Norse Mythology.
Discussion Questions
In addition to the general book club book questions for fiction found here, below are my favorite questions to get groups talking about Icefall.
Did you notice anything going on with Per and Asa before Solveig did?
What do you think Solveig means when she says that she and her siblings are trapped by their birth order? Do you think this is true?
Alric teaches Solveig that stories make people feel certain ways. Can you remember any of the stories they told? Do you think the stories changed their moods?
Solveig is finally proud of herself for her storytelling abilities. What things make you proud of yourself?
Who did you think the traitor was?
Do you think Asa and Per understand the ramifications of their actions? Do you think Solveig will ever forgive her sister?
Why doesn’t Solveig tell anyone except for Alric about her dream? What do you think would have happened if she told everyone?
Do you think anything could have made the story better? What about a map or illustrations?
Did you know much about Norse mythology before reading this book?
If you could have any animal be YOUR Muninn, what would it be?
Snack
Skyr (pronounced “skeer”): Some grocery stores carry skyr, but if yours doesn't, a plain or vanilla yogurt will do just fine. Add some berries and brown sugar to make it even tastier. My book club attendees had never tried brown sugar on yogurt before and enjoyed it.
When milk runs out and food gets scarce in the steading, Solveig dreams about eating skyr. It’s a sour, creamy concoction similar to yogurt popular in Iceland and for Vikings dating back to the 9th century. It’s even mentioned in the sagas, the ancient tales of the Viking age. It's thicker than yogurt, more like the consistency of cream cheese.
ACTIVITIES
Smart Animals Matching Game
Crows are considered the smartest birds on the planet and also one of the smartest creatures. They can be taught to speak, like a parrot, count, use tools (use wire to hook grubs out of trees and the ground) and some have even been known to throw clams and nuts onto roads so that passing cars can break them open.
This Smart Animals Matching Game worksheet created by the National Homeschool Book Award website will test your animal knowledge to see if you can guess which clever animal the clue is describing.
Videos
Watch a few of the smartest animals on Earth in action with videos from Ranker's Animal Facts.
Viking Ship Craft
Challenge attendees to create this Crayola Viking Ship. Print it on cardstock, color, cut, and assemble! The instructions suggest gluing the cutouts to cardboard, but we printed them on cardstock to avoid that step. For older kids, try this Viking Longship PDF. It’s more complex, and the instructions are in French, but it includes a mast, making it a fun challenge!
Read-Alikes
If your readers loved Icefall, they'll also enjoy:
