How To Raise A Viking
The Secrets of Parenting the World’s Happiest Children
Helen Russell
‘There’s some good learnings here for parents to be inspired by in this fun book on how to make your little ones more happily independent.’
Lorraine Candy, Sunday Times bestselling author and journalist
‘A brilliant antidote to the helicopter and micromanaging parenting books. This is an utterly fascinating and joyous look behind the curtains of Nordic parenting. We all need to be more Viking!’
Helen Thorn, comedian, Sunday Times Bestselling Author, one half of Scummy Mummies
PUBLICATION DATE: 15 FEBRUARY 2024 | 4TH ESTATE | HARDBACK | £16.99
Internationally acclaimed author of The Year of Living Danishly, Helen Russell, returns to show us How to Raise a Viking in her deep dive into the parenting culture of Denmark and other Nordic nations.
After a decade of living in Denmark and raising a family there, Helen Russell noticed that Nordic children are different. They eat differently. They learn differently. They run, jump and climb out in nature for hours a day, even though the weather is terrible and it’s dark October to March. And then they grow up to be some of the happiest adults on the planet. Her question was: how?
In How to Raise a Viking, Russell provides a fascinating peek behind the cultural curtain, allowing readers a glimpse of another world where babies sleep outside in their prams up to -20°C and preschoolers wield axes. Refreshingly funny and unfailingly optimistic about the new generation of humans growing up in the world right now, this is a heart-warming love letter to Russell’s adopted homeland and proof that we could all use a bit more Viking in our lives.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Helen Russell is a bestselling author, journalist, speaker and host. Formerly editor of marieclaire.co.uk turned Scandinavia correspondent for The Guardian, her first book, The Year of Living Danishly, became an international bestseller, optioned for television. She’s the author of five critically acclaimed books, translated into 21 languages.
Helen writes for magazines and newspapers globally, including The Times and The Sunday Times, The Telegraph, The Independent, National Geographic, Wall Street Journal, The Observer, Metro, Grazia, Stylist and Stella. She’s spent the last ten years studying cultural approaches to emotions and now speaks about her work.
You can follow her on Twitter/X and her website.
PRAISE FOR HOW TO RAISE A VIKING:
‘Helen has done it again. This book will help any parent - also to laugh out lout. Witty and informative.’
Meik Wiking, Little Book of Hygge and CEO of Happiness Research Institute
‘Ditch all the other parenting books. This is the one - funny, helpful, doable and not guilt-inducing. Makes me want to have kids all over again and try it this way... well, almost.’
Matt Rudd, author and Sunday Times columnist
‘My DNA is Viking so this is the book my parents needed. Too late for them, not too late for you.’
Simon Mayo
‘Helen’s brilliant writing is having a dangerously powerful impact on me which is leading me to an inevitable emigration to Scandinavia.’
Rob Beckett, comedian and co-host of Parenting Hell podcast
PRAISE FOR THE YEAR OF LIVING DANISHLY
‘A hugely enjoyable romp through the pleasures and pitfalls of setting up home in a foreign.’
The Guardian
‘Russell is possessed of a razor-sharp wit and a winning self-deprecation - two of the things that make this book such a delight.’
The Independent
‘A lovely mix of English sensibility and Danish pragmatism. Helen seems to have understood more about the Danish character than I have! My only worry is that it will make everyone want to have a go and my holiday home area will get overcrowded.’
Sandi Toksvig
‘A wryly amusing account of a new life in a strange land.’
Choice Magazine
‘If you can’t up sticks and move to Denmark... don’t despair: here are a few tips and tricks I’ve picked up for getting a slice of the Danish work-life balance wherever you are.’
Metro
‘A hugely enjoyable autobiographical account of upping sticks... to the sticks.’
National Geographic Traveller