BEFORE COLUMBUS

Updating Janeway’s The Vikings (1951), this volume in the revived Landmark Books series draws not only on the old sagas, but also from more recent research, including archaeological discoveries in the 1960s, to reconstruct Leif Eriksson’s life and exploratory voyage to this continent. To enliven her simply written account, Kimmel invents details (“Leif allowed his mother to hug and kiss him, and he gave her a confident smile”), though at least not dialogue, and closes with notes on sources, the Native Americans encountered by Eriksson’s successors, and the explorer’s place in history. Illustrated with a stingy assortment of photos, this is more a quick once-over than a systematic study, but like its plethora of series companions, it’s well designed to stimulate an early interest in its subject. (author’s note, index, photo credits, bibliography, not seen) (Fictionalized nonfiction. 8-10)