Brain Snacks: Tasty Tidbits of Knowledge
In real life, Midvinterblot is six feet high and fourteen feet long. Massive. Just like it's subject matter. (Source.)
Because Carl Larsson's painting is über famous in Sweden, there's actually a Swedish beer called Midvinterblot. It's apparently "a very potent assault" of flavors… with a whole lot less blood. (Source.)
Midwinterblood actually uses (big word alert!) an ekphrastic device. That's when one work of art (in this case a novel) describes or comments on another (in this case, a huge, super famous Swedish painting). Thanks for expanding our minds and our vocabularies, Midwinterblood. (Source.)
The Michael L. Printz Award for Excellence in Young Adult Literature has only been awarded by the American Library Association since 2000, making Midwinterblood the fourteenth book to win the honor. Previous winners include Shmooptastic favorites like: Monster, A Step from Heaven, Postcards from No Man's Land, Looking for Alaska, American Born Chinese, Ship Breaker, and Where Things Come Back. (Source.)