Leif the Lucky, sturdy, adventurous son of Erik the Red steps out of the past in this picture book as a vivid hero—first the little boy who sailed with his father to a new home in Greenland and who "later sailed still further west and found there the continent of America"—a thousand years ago.

Boys and girls will love the glowing pictures from the time they first sail out into uncharted seas with the Viking boy and will share his joyous sense of discovery at the first sight of land, his hurry to take the dragon's head off the prow so as not to anger the spirits of the land, the excitement of meeting the first Indians known to white men and his many adventures in his new home.

For this, their most beautiful book, the d'Aulaire's have done a great deal of research both in Norway and this country. So it is accurate in every detail and will be greeted enthusiastically as the first book to give to American children, a real picture of the far-famed Viking and a story of the first discovery of America. It is written in the spirit of the ancient sagas an pictured with many lithographs that give the feeling of the northern countries with a combined sense of imaginative humor and loving understanding of the children's world.

LEIF THE LUCKY takes its place beside the authors' distinguished Caldecott Medal winner, ABRAHAM LINCOLN, and the great favorite OLA.

From the dust jacket