Illustrated Stories from the Greek Myths

by Russell Punter

Usborne Young Reading titles are a thrilling and informative read. Age: 6 +
A wonderful collection of six classic Greek myths and legends, specially retold for younger readers. Includes the stories of ‘The Wooden Horse', ‘The Minotaur' and ‘The Odyssey', as well as a guide to the Greek Gods. Beautifully bound in padded hardback, and packed with information, colour and culture, this makes a thrilling read for any child. With a pronunciation guide to Greek names on the Usborne Quicklinks website.

Genres: Childrens, Mythology, Fiction, Greek Mythology, Classics, Folklore, Middle Grade

350 pages, Hardcover

First published November 1, 2011

About the author

Russell Punter was born in Bedfordshire, England. From an early age he enjoyed writing and illustrating his own stories. He trained as a graphic designer at art college in West Sussex before entering the world of publishing. He has written over one hundred books for children of all ages, ranging from original stories to adaptations of classic novels.

Reviews

[Andrea Zuvich · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant, beautifully illustrated, children-appropriate versions of these classic Greek myths. My 3 year old loved it so much, we read the whole thing in just 3 sittings. We bought 2 more books in this range as a result.

[Alyson Walton · Rating 4 out of 5]

wonderful book read with my daughter's as bed time stories.
They have loved the illustrations too when reading on their own.

[JustLivSimply · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love Shakespeare now!

[Natalie Nimmers · Rating 5 out of 5]

My kids loved this book and the stories were really engaging. The illustrations were beautiful!

[mushroomsooup · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderfully illustrated and crisp. Will I ever get tired of re-reading all these Greek myths? Nah.

[Jehian Tiley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent. My daughter loved it.
Some of the renditions better than others. Particularly the Odyssey, Perseus and Medusa and the Trojan Horse.

[Damien · Rating 5 out of 5]

it is a great mythical book i recommend it

[Leto · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a very interesting book. Even though it has a picture on every page, it took me a while to read from the beginning of the morning until noon. There are different stories like The Minotaur, Hercules, 12 Tests, The Odyssey, the Trojan Horse, and even Pegasus.

I can't tell which was my favorite story because I kinda liked all of them the same amount.

I learned that in the Minotaur story, there was a huge labyrinth that was almost impossible to pass through with a Minotaur in the middle, in which you need to slay to return back alive. It is almost impossible to find your way back.

Honestly, I don't believe any of these stories. None of them really happened like a hydra that has two new heads every time they are cut off, or a half man and half bull creature eating men. I mean, why would they eat them, wouldn't you think they'd be vegetarian? How come a lion's skin is so tough that an arrow would break off when you hit the skin. That is why I don't believe these stories.

These were quite interesting though.

[Jeff · Rating 3 out of 5]

These short retellings of some of the stories from Ancient Greece are generally quite good. I read the with my eight-year-old son and he quite enjoyed them. The illustrations are evocative, and the stories add a bit of modern humor not present in the original translations. However the writing is a bit uneven. Some of the stories simplify core elements to good effect. Like in the quick paced retelling of Heracles’ trials. In other stories the simplification causes the stories to suffer. For example, they inexplicably cut Achilles out of the retelling of the Trojan war completely, deciding instead to focus on Odysseus and Trojan horse. The drama of Achilles was the driving force of the Illiad and I’m not sure why they chose to drop it. With that said, I would recommend this to any aspiring Greek myth enthusiast in the second grade range.

[Mona · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an interesting set of stories from Ancient Greece divided into chapters. One of the stories that I really liked was The Runaway queen. This story is about a very beautiful Helen, she was the wife of Menelaus, king of Sparta. However, Helen was never happy with him nor she can tolerate that life. The queen decided to run away with another man named Paris. When Menelaus returned home to discovers his wife is gone. He demanded Paris's father and the suiters to bring her back but that didn’t work out. This resulted in the 10-year conflict between the Greeks and the Trojans known as the Trojan War.
The text is so well-planned and structured. Also, the words and language that the author used are modern and quite simple. The illustration was a masterpiece. The characters seemed alive with definitive expressions

[Bill Stutzman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quite a lot is packed into this compact anthology, covering most of the essential myths. As with all retellings, especially for children, interpretations vary, and some of these tales are altered in not major but also not insignificant ways for the sake of space and time (and child-friendliness). This has a more modern feel or younger feel for younger students or earlier readers than D'Aulaires' book, and it includes some stories (like that of the Odyssey) that aren't in that classic collection.

[Colin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just finished reading this one with my little kids (ages 6 and 8) - a well-illustrated, fairly age-appropriate retelling of some central Greek myths (including the Trojan War and Odyssey) with very few deviations from the generally accepted forms of the stories (often in mythology books, I find something has been "tweaked" a little to make it easier for kids - there is some of that here, but not an inordinate amount, I think).

[Elsa · Rating 4 out of 5]

These are very well done children's versions of some of the classic myths, along with the Trojan Horse bit of the Iliad and a just-the-good-parts retelling of the Odyssey. Loved having a different author and illustrator for each story; the varied tones and voices added interest for the grown-up (me). The audience (ages 3 and 6) stayed engaged and liked having a picture on every page.

[Noelani · Rating 5 out of 5]

My 7 year old cannot put this down. She is reading the stories through for a second time having just received the book this week. Beautifully illustrated as well. I haven’t read all the stories myself, but I will need to as I don’t remember many of the Greek myths and would like to have a lively discussion with my daughter.

[TheMadHatter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful little illustrated book with stories on the fall of Troy, Minotaur, Pegasus, Hercules, Perseus and of course the Odyssey. I found this when I was cleaning out the bookcase (a remnant from when my kids were younger) and given I am currently reading a re-telling of the Odyssey, I couldn't resist reading and finished in the space of an hour.

One for all ages it seems :-)

[Rachael Willis · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read these children's versions of Greek myths to my kids. My youngest has enjoyed them since age 4 and my oldest, age 9, still loves them. They will sit and listen to me read for over an hour and have gained some familiarity with ancient literature.

[Patricia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Isn’t written the best but the illustrations are great. My child loved it though and it’s a great introduction to Greek mythology, so that’s all that matters. There is still some violence in this, so be careful about reading it to really young children.

[Chesca · Rating 4 out of 5]

July 2025. Read this with my boys (6 & 8) and we enjoyed it very much as an easy intro to Greek myths.

Okay, we skipped the story of Perseus and the Gorgon because my boys can be sensitive to scary images and the depiction of the three hags was too nightmarish.

[Bethany · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book has lots of well illustrated pictures and the story is told clearly.

[Alwine Steeman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ik vindt het een goed boek omdat het goed en snel en klein verhaaltjes zijn

[sara · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was such a great read for my son and me. He is 6 and was fully engaged with these stories. This is my first exposure to Greek Mythology and my interest has been caught!

[Gary · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very nicely illustrated, and reasonably well told.

Liked it.

[Tom Grutchfield · Rating 5 out of 5]

wowzers! includes the best stories in history. should have included the Gordian knot.

[Ginny Burt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thoroughly enjoyed sitting for a couple of hours with this. Brilliantly written for children. Not read these stories since school! Great fun!

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really great adaptation of some of the main Greek myths for younger kids. Loved reading it with my 4 and 6 year old.

[Katie Kaste · Rating 4 out of 5]

These are classic Greek stories retold. I did enjoy the art. I love Greek stories and reading different versions.

[Katie Williams · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this aloud to my kids. A perfect introduction to many of the memorable Greek myths in much more kid-friendly ways.

[Tracy Reed · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was of interest to my boys after we had studied Ancient Greece, so we did it as a read-aloud. They enjoyed it greatly and my 7YO has since read it on his own multiple times as well.

[Erin · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fantastic introduction to Greek Myths for children with colorful illustrations throughout!

[Hester · Rating 4 out of 5]

S and Z finally starting to learn the names of people and God's then recognise them and whay they stand for.