The storytelling is focused and tight, and the climactic scene between Odd and the giant offers plenty for kids - and adults - to think about. The reviewer also praised Helquist's illustrations, saying they 'deftly evoke Gaiman's wintry Norse world.This satisfying, compact adventure invites kids to wrestle with some morally ambiguous material, and is a good introduction to the many shades of gray in mythology. A review published on The Horn Book Magazine called Gaiman's writing 'impeccable', and noted the humor present throughout the story. Ian Chipman, for The Booklist, praised Gaiman's 'deft humor, lively prose, and agile imagination' and noted the book would have special appeal to children interested in Norse mythology. Publishers Weekly wrote the story would be enjoyed by children, but called it simple and 'less original' than some of Gaiman's previous works Coraline and The Wolves in the Walls. Martin's The Ice Dragon, saying the book functions both as a children's book and as a collectible for adults. In their review, they compare the book to George R.R. Kirkus Reviews gave Odd and the Frost Giants a starred review and called it a 'sweet, wistful, slyly funny novella'.

He returns to Midgard, somewhat bigger than when he left due to drinking from Mimir's Well, and as the winter ends he reunites with his mother. In return, the goddess Freya heals his leg, though she cannot mend it completely, and Odin gives him a staff. He eventually speaks with the Giant, who reveals his brother built the walls of Asgard but was tricked out of payment and killed by Thor. There, Thor leads him to Mimir's Well, and he receives wisdom and a vision of his parents in their youth. But he realises that the gods had nowhere to go and couldn't feed themselves.ĭeciding to help the stranded gods, Odd travels with them to Asgard. But wherether they were gods or not, Odd couldn't continue to feed them. The gods have been transformed and cast out of Asgard by a Frost Giant who tricked Loki into giving him Thor's hammer by taking the form of a woman, granting him rule over Asgard and causing the endless winter. But as time passed by, he learns that these are not normal animals, but the gods Loki, Odin and Thor. The bear accepted and was actually hungry. Odd aids the bear, and tries to feed him. There he meets a fox, an eagle and a bear, the latter with its paw trapped in a tree. Soon after he accidentally crushes his leg and his Scottish mother marries a fat widower who neglects him in favor of his own children, and when soon after the winter drags on unnaturally long, Odd leaves his village for the forest. Odd is a young Norseman whose father, a woodcutter, drowned during a Viking raid. It draws on Norse mythology and also the historical Vikings.

Odd and the Frost Giants ( 2008) is a World Book Day book by Neil Gaiman.

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