- Illustrated Chapter Books
- Ages 8–11
- Comedy
Loki: A Bad God's Guide to Being Good
Book 1 of 5 in Loki: A Bad God's GuideView the full series
The trickster god Loki is banished to Earth as a weedy eleven-year-old boy and given one month to prove he can be good, recorded in a magical diary that only lets him tell the truth. A doodle-packed, laugh-out-loud diary comedy stuffed with Norse mythology.
- Best for8–11
- FormatIllustrated
The vibe
What it’s like.
Style
- Comedic
- Conversational
- Epistolary
Tone
- Funny
- Irreverent
- Silly
- Exciting
Themes
Experience meters
What’s it about?
The story.
After one prank too many, the trickster god Loki has been banished to Midgard (that's Earth) to live as an ordinary, weedy eleven-year-old boy. Odin's deal is simple: show real moral improvement within a month, or spend eternity in a pit of angry snakes. To keep score, Odin hands Loki a magical, judgemental diary that forces him to confess the truth, even when the truth is as ugly as a naked mole rat. Worse still, Loki has to survive school and put up with an equally eleven-year-old Thor tagging along and making him look good by comparison. Told entirely through Loki's grumbling diary entries, doodles and comic strips, Louie Stowell's first outing as both author and illustrator is a wry, irreverent and very funny introduction to Norse mythology. Perfect for readers who love Diary of a Wimpy Kid and Tom Gates, it cheers on the bad guy while quietly asking what being good really means.
Fit check
Right for your child?
Where it lands by age
Aimed squarely at 8-11s reading independently, with the heavily illustrated diary format carrying confident readers from about 7. The comedy and short entries make it an easy, funny read-aloud, though it's built for solo giggling rather than a calm bedtime.
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- Best fit · 8–11
- Read aloud · 7–10
- Independent · 8–11
Prose load
Light
Visual support
High
Reluctant-reader friendly
Very
Read-aloud quality
Strong
Works well for
- Reading aloud
- Reading together
- Gift-buying
- Reluctant readers
Nothing in the book is likely to concern most parents. Safe to recommend without preview.
Bedtime suitability
2 / 5 · Better outside bedtime
Sensitive-child
4 / 5 · Good fit
Graphic intensity
1 / 5 · None
Best for
- Funny diary
- Norse mythology
- Reluctant readers
- Laugh out loud comedy
Avoid if
- Wants gentle bedtime
- Prefers prose only
Particularly good for children who are…
- Reluctant reader
Why it lands
Why they love it.
Why kids love it
Loki is a genuinely bad god forced to be an ordinary schoolkid, and his outraged diary entries and rude doodles about Thor, teachers and mortals are hilarious. The magic diary that catches every lie means the jokes and the trouble never stop.
- Trickery and cleverness
- Breaking the rules safely
- Magic powers
- Being understood finally
- Proving yourself
Why parents love it
It reads like pure comedy but sneaks in real Norse mythology and a sly question about what goodness means. The diary-and-doodle format pulls in reluctant readers, and the voice is sharp enough that reading it aloud is a genuine pleasure.
- Shared humour
- Quick to read
In the series
Loki: A Bad God's Guide.
5 books · open the series →
About the author & illustrator
Louie Stowell.
If you liked this
Three ways out of this book.
If you liked this, try…
Lateral matches. Same shelf, different texture.
Where to go next…
Escalation reads — a step up in scale, silliness, or stakes.
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