Keep a Lid on It, Pandora!

Myth-O-Mania #6

by Kate McMullan, Denis Zilber (Illustrator)

The story about Pandora opening a box and releasing terrible evils into the world? Totally made up! Pandora couldn't have cared less about what was in that box. The one who was really dying to know was Zeus. Zeus gave Pandora a box alright. A box full of really nasty items. But disease? Pain? Greed? No way. Hades, King of the Underworld, reveals the true story behind the Pandora myth.

Genres: Mythology, Fantasy, Middle Grade, Childrens, Humor, Greek Mythology, Fiction

193 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 1, 2003

About the author

Kate McMullan is an American children's book author.
She is the author of the Dragon Slayers' Academy series. She is married to author and illustrator James McMullan.

She also has books published under the name: Katy Hall.

Reviews

[MH · Rating 5 out of 5]

OHMYGOD OHMYGOD OHMYFUCKINGGOD I FINALLY FOUND IT.
I'VE BEEN LOOKING FOR THESE BOOKS FOR AGES.
i had been searching for this book-and the hades centric one- to no avail. I didn't remember anything about it other than it's a retelling of Pandora's box and i loved the narrative tone it had
i read it when i was a child, i think i was 9 or 10. it was my very first introduction to Greek mythology of any kind. up until then i had only ever read about Egyptian mythology- i had this captivating encyclopedia about Egypt and it had mentioned the deities they believed in,,,, which of course lead me to obsessively read every book my mother could get her hands on. she would stop at every book kiosk that sold secondhand books to see if there were any about Egyptians Gods and Legends, and on one serendipitous instance she stumbled on this gem. my first book about greek mythology. i can't emphasize enough just how much this book means to me. i can't express the love i had for this series as a child. this book and have a hot time hades (the first book of the series) has made me fall in love with Hades AND I'VE BEEN IN LOVE W HIM SICNE THEN. EVEN NOW HE'S MY PERSONAL FAVORITE- even though objectively i now know there are other deities with far more riveting and alluring lore. but still he. is. my. favorite. my despondent dark humoured long-suffering baby (idc is he's an all powerful immortal god, he is my baby)


edit: if i remember correctly, this was my first book portraying strong women. i think. i don't remember much of the actual text, just bits and pieces of it. and the vibe. immaculate vibes. but yea.

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the "true story" of Pandora and her infamous box (or jar, as the case may be), narrated by Hades, Lord of the Underworld. Be prepared to chuckle, giggle, and even belly laugh.

Here are some editing oversights I found in the Kindle text of Keep A Lid On It, Pandora!:

Page 23, Oh, no you don't / Oh, no, you don't ; 31, Go Mammoths! / Go, Mammoths! ; 48, hold a grudge like a pitbull / hold a grudge like a pit bull (two words, unless you mean the rapper) ; 48, any angrier at you then he already is / any angrier at you THAN he already is ; 48, But I don't. / But I don't." (add end quote) ; 56, Zeus was probably wouldn't let him / Zeus probably wouldn't let him (omit "was") ; 65, I was so confused as Hephaestus / I was AS confused as Hephaestus ;

Page 68, on peaceful Mount Olympus anyway / on peaceful Mount Olympus, anyway ; 69, Will you look at that," said Hera. / "Will you look at that," said Hera. (needs opening quote) ; 78, Why Zeus? / Why, Zeus? ; 90, Who knows. / Who knows? ; 104, I don't need to tell you this Hades, but guys are mortal / I don't need to tell you this, Hades, but guys are mortal (add comma after "this") ; 104, I have to deep making more / I have to KEEP making more ; 125, tried to puzzle out they sibyl's meaning / tried to puzzle out THE sibyl's meaning ;

Page 126, Says 'thank you' too / Says 'thank you,' too (add comma) ; 132, Why does he want / "Why does he want (add opening quote) ; 133, No, I was hoping / "No, I was hoping (add opening quote) ; 138, Force and Violence snuck up on me / Force and Violence SNEAKED up on me ; 143, Hermes didn't seem to either / Hermes didn't seem to, either ; 165, I don't remember," she said. / "I don't remember," she said. (add opening quote) ;

Location 1358, A couple days later / A couple OF days later ; 1513, chaos (am-BISH-(KAY-oss) / chaos (KAY-oss) (omit "(am-BISH-") ; 1515, crude (ih-LAB-(KROOD) / crude (KROOD) (omit "(ih-LAB-") ;1518, a boat or ship that regularly (incomplete description: add "carries goods or people from one place to another") ; 1546, Hades tel ls the true story / Hades TELLS the true story ; 1555, If you liked Keep Lid On It Pandora!, you might enjoy / If you liked Keep A LID On It, Pandora!, you might enjoy (add "A" and comma) .

[Alicia · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've been trying to see what's out there in relation to mythology (that hopefully included some easy to read humor) and found this older series in Sora and am reading through a few.

The humor is entertaining and having Hades as the narrator helps ground the stories in a first-person narrative. Clearly I dove in and borrowed which ones looked interesting since Pandora is number six in the series, but it was an easy read, one that was filled with lively characters and true to myth whether it's in dispelling misunderstandings about the stories or the creatures or both. McMullan also provides atmosphere but also the foundation of mythology that I think I might purchase the series.

Too many of the freshman coming up are all about Percy Jackson so I wanted to find some readalikes in the same vein while also realizing there are plenty of non-myth readalikes as well.

[Randelina · Rating 4 out of 5]

This story was fun. I enjoy the reinterpretation of the classic myth. It seemed to be more about Prometheus than Pandora but was a better read than the previous book. It was nice to see Pandora and Epi's story. However, I want to know what happened to Prometheus.

[Manouka · Rating 3 out of 5]

These books are fun but very easy (I'm probably not the target audience though) so I like reading them more as a light beach read like I did with the one about medusa. Other than that my opinions are basically the same in my "Say Cheese, Medusa!" review :)

[Alexandria · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall, pretty good. I really enjoyed the plot of how guys and girls were created. Furthermore, how these titles transitioned into classes for school. The ending was a little sad, although it makes sense, just sad that it has to be the way it was.

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is as funny a Myth-O-Mania book as ever, but Pandora was a weak character. The book was more about Prometheus and Epimetheus. I do, however, like the description of early humanity, both before and after Pandora was created.

[Kristen DeBoy Caminiti · Rating 5 out of 5]

So good!

I love how it is hades telling the story. It was awesome so good so Good so so so good!

[Historic Hummingbird · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lol I loved it! SO funny!

[Brice Culhane · Rating 3 out of 5]

Honestly I feel like this is one of the weaker ones in the series- just not a whole lot of plot. But still it is a solid retelling.

[Kamons · Rating 3 out of 5]

แพนโดราฉบับเทพเพี้ยน ตัวเอกอย่างแพนโดราไม่เด่นเลย บทค่อนข้างน้อย จริง ๆ เราก็รู้จักแค่ว่าแพนโดราเปิดกล่องแค่นั้นเอง แต่เป็นเล่มที่ไททันและเทพตนอื่นมีบทเยอะ รวมตำนานโพธีมีอุทสร้างผู้ชายกับขโมยไฟมาด้วย

[Deana · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was the second of two books in this series that my niece borrowed from the library when she visited. I didn't like this one as much as the Medusa book -- this one had a lot of the same annoying gimmicky feel with the made up words and the "oh brother" relationship between Hades, Zeus and Po, but the plot didn't do enough to make up for it. The main storyline in this book is Zeus giving Pandora the box and betting that she'll open it, and when she doesn't he does everything he can think of over the course of many years to trick her into opening it. The "tricks" are kind of lame, and there is no climactic ending because it's just so predictable when it does happen. I did like the parts with Prometheus though, and how they dealt with his punishment and tricked Zeus... but not enough to up the stars on the rest of the book.

[Hao huang · Rating 5 out of 5]

Keep A Lid On It, Pandora! Is the sixth of the series Myth-O-Mania by Kate McMullan. It is about how hard Zeus has tracked Pandora to open an evil box that will unleash the most evil things on the Earth. So Hades tried to protect Pandora from Zeus’ track.

Actually Pandora did not open the box by herself, she was trying to help the old man. (And that old man was the sneaky Zeus) The story starts when Prometheus first made the Guy, (the old mortal) they need food, warmth. So Prometheus stole the fire from the place where the god lives to give Guy fire. That makes Zeus very angry, he thought the fire is for immortal only, so he asked his son to make a woman, after his son made Pandora Zeus gave a box as a gift to her and said don’t open it. When Pandora arrived Earth Zeus immediately tried to track her to open the box, but Pandora has a clear mind, she didn’t fall on the track of Zeus. Then Hades taught her to never try to open that box, he said he has a bad feeling about the box. Every year Zeus tried to track Pandora to open that box and every time she refuse to open the box. Can Pandora keep refusing Zeus from opening that box? Well, you have to read it yourself.

This book has used a new style in all the Myth-O-Mania series. The main character showed up on chapter 8, but I was expect Pandora shows up straight away.

[Dolly · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the sixth book in the Myth-O-Mania series by Kate McMullan. These books are fun to read and have a youthful and humorous perspective that makes it simple for people to remember the various characters and their stories.

We are balancing these fun tales off with more classic fare, like The Wanderings of Odysseus: The Story of the Odyssey by Rosemary Sutcliff, so our girls can hear the original tales, too.

This book offers a humorous take on the story of Pandora - we really enjoyed the wit and wry sarcasm. The tale was rendered with enough fidelity to recognize the story, but it was still a very different version. It's an entertaining and quick read.

[Owen]

This book is about the story of pandora but its from hadies's point of view. It is about how promithius makes people and gives them fire, then zuse makes pandora and gives her the box to punish the people. Zuse disgiuses him self to try to get her to open the box though.

I can make a text to world connection to this book. In this book Zuse dressed up like many things. This reminds me of spys. They are always going under cover and everything. It also could be a text to text connection to a movie.

I would reccomend this book to people of all ages. The way the book is writen is very good. iT keeps you interested. you wont be able to put the book down. I would give this book 4 1/2 stars.

[Helen · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this at school during silent reading times with the kids since they seem to love this series. I really didn't like it much, though. I almost quit reading it since the beginning assumes the reader knows quite a bit of mythology, which I don't. But I kept going and it definitely got better. There's a lot of weak humor, but because I don't know much mythology, I think I missed some of the jokes, and wasn't sure what was accurate and what wasn't. It just wasn't my cup of tea.

[Lyra · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fun read. The main events in the original myth remained, but the way it happened was much lighter, that it could be read and be enjoyed by children.

And I like Hades, here. I mean, I always love Hades, ever since I began studying the Greek Myth, but I like his personality here. Not too dark, and not to jolly either.

Anyways, I like it, and I'm hoping to stumble to another book from this series. :D

[Raymond]

you think you know the story of pandora and the magical box. well you got it all wrong. Pandora was created and given the curiosity by Zues. And then he give a box that was not suppose to open. He then betted on hades that she will open it and he tricks her into open it. This is what hades the ruler of the under world say really happen.

[Ashley W · Rating 4 out of 5]

Page Count:192
Book 6
Recommended to: Fans of Greek mythology; ages 11-14

The best part of this story, for me, was the creation of humans. The "guys" were so spot on, my husband could have been a character.
I love that Pandora didn't REALLY open the box herself. She was tricked. Finally, the woman isn't blamed for all the evil in the world.

[Miss Clark · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another highly enjoyable installment in the Myth - o- Maniac series, this time retelling the myth of Pandora. There were some great sections here, esp. with the guys and their stereotypical behavior.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'd say the same thing that I said in my review for the whole series (under Have a Hot Time, Hades!), with the addition that I was greatly relieved that Prometheus's punishment got spared a bit in this one :) I was dreading that part...

[Judi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ana says the best part of the book was when Zeus tried to trick Pandora into opening the box of evils. Ana says this is a great book for Greek mythology lovers.

[NatalieO7 · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was okay but think I liked Go for the gold, Atlanta , better

[Barefoot Danger · Rating 1 out of 5]

I used to enjoy Greek mythology - until I was forced to read these books.

[Hajra · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was a funny way to mix up the famous greek myth, kept me wanting to read more and more...

[Abi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Still some annoying words.

[Tana Lovegood of Dumbledore's Army✞~ Rogers/America · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was realy good! But Pandora was not what i imagined and her version of the myths is a bit weird!