Treasury of Greek Mythology: Classic Stories of Gods, Goddesses, Heroes & Monsters Author: Visit Amazon's Donna Jo Napoli Page | Language: English | ISBN:
1426308442 | Format: EPUB
Treasury of Greek Mythology: Classic Stories of Gods, Goddesses, Heroes & Monsters Description
Review
"This is the kind of rich but accessible reference work school librarians love. It’s also likely to stimulate fact-obsessed Percy Jackson fans as well as children who have been ordered to research their school papers offline....
This is a book meant to dazzle its readers — and it does." New York Times online
Kirkus Starred Review
School Library Journal Starred Review
About the Author
Donna Jo Napoli is both a linguist and a writer of children's fiction. She received her BA in mathematics in 1970 and her Ph.D. in Romance Languages and Literatures in 1973, both from Harvard University, then did a postdoctoral year in Linguistics at MIT. She is an award-winning author of poetry, novels, and short stories for children. A few of her award-winning children's books include
Stones in Water (winner of the Golden Kite Award and the Sydney Taylor Award),
Alligator Bayou (a Parents' Choice Gold book for historical fiction),
Daughter of Venice (Nevada Young Readers' Award),
Albert (Kentucky Bluegrass Award), and
Mama Miti (Anne Izard's Storytellers' Choice Award and the Bock Book Award). Donna Jo lives outside of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Christina Balit has illustrated a number of children's books, including
Atlantis and
Escape from Pompeii. Before becoming a prize-winning illustrator, Ms. Balit studied at the Chelsea School of Art and the Royal College of Art in London. She lives in Kent, England.
- Age Range: 8 - 12 years
- Grade Level: 3 - 7
- Lexile Measure: 860L (What's this?)
- Hardcover: 192 pages
- Publisher: National Geographic Children's Books (October 11, 2011)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 1426308442
- ISBN-13: 978-1426308444
- Product Dimensions: 11.8 x 9.2 x 0.8 inches
- Shipping Weight: 2.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
The illustrations are stunning; obviously influenced by ancient Minoan and Mycenaean paintings, but with a twist of modern originality. My children (ages 7 and 9) have been fascinated by the artwork, intrigued by the hidden details (the planet symbols corresponding to the gods are cleverly included in many of the paintings) and interested in the information about the constellations (in an additional section at the back of the book). However, due to some of the sensual, derogatory and violent language, I've decided this book needs to be shelved until my children are older - if I don't remove the book all together. And I fully realize that the gods in Greek mythology are frequently immoral, selfish and vicious, and it's difficult to write with a sensitivity appropriate for children; however, Treasury of Greek Mythology treats these godly attributes with a little too much detail for my taste.
Here are a few examples:
"Life really started for Hera when she put on her gold sandals and strutted before that brother of hers, Zeus. and, oh glorious moment, he looked at her in that way of his."
"His [Ares] lips were full and peaked, and the thought of what they were capable of made goddesses tremble."
"The pompous nitwit [Zeus]." "This devilish god was worse than a billy goat ..."
"The robber Procrustes, who had two iron beds that he made his victims fit, putting short ones on the long bed and stretching them and putting tall ones on the short bed and cutting off parts .. "
"There she was again: Semele. Zeus' mouth watered. But Semele was human. He followed, intoxicated by her beauty."
"She [Aphrodite] could touch a god like a cool welcome spray on a hot afternoon or slam him like a tsunami that threatened to never let him up for air.
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