Tales of Pan

by Mordicai Gerstein

A collection of tales about the Greek god Pan and his relatives and some of the grand and silly things they did.

Genres: Childrens, Picture Books

64 pages, Hardcover

Published January 1, 1986

About the author

Mordicai Gerstein was an American artist, writer, and film director, best known for illustrating and writing children's books. He illustrated the comic mystery fiction series Something Queer is Going On.

Reviews

[Stuart · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best children's books ever, it presents a more whimsical and charming side to Greek mythology, and is probably an ideal entree into the world of Greek mythology for children not quite old enough yet to handle the darker, more complex tales. The drawings are equally as adorable as the subject matter and narrative, and Gerstein weaves enough of the narrative into a whole, combining many elements of the Pan myth, to create an arc for his title character and fun cameos from such mainstream mythical figures as Athena, Hermes, Hera, Hercules, Zeus and Apollo.

[Kimberly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very cute book. Good for moral lessons, culture of Ancient Greece, or just quiet read aloud.

[W.B. · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was thrift store serendipity that put this children's book by prolific author Mordicai Gerstein (born 1935) in my unchildlike hands. In fact, looking at those hands right now on the keyboard, I think they rather resemble Pan's hands. Maybe that's why I feel an affinity for this demigod/trickster spirit. I hadn't read any books by Gerstein before, but this was a good introduction to the Cadldecott winner (awarded for a book written in response to 9-11). Gerstein retells some familiar mythological stories featuring Pan, and fudges the details only a little in most cases, and always to good effect. Then he invents some new myths featuring Pan, which is fine by me. Why be a purist about such a mythological lout? Gerstein humorously gossips about and psychoanalyzes the Greek gods, but in a child-friendly manner. This book will probably appeal most to kids ten and under, but it will likely keep the parental unit or in loco parentis unit who is reading it to the littles amused as well. Gerstein illustrates his own books, and his style has its merits; his mythological watercolors here show the influence of artists like Picasso, Aubrey Beardsley and even William Blake, with a soupcon of psychedelic sixties posters thrown in. The tales which occup the sixty-three pages of this book fly by. Gerstein is also a film director, accoring to Wiki. If you want to read more about him, eyeball this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mordicai...

[Michael Fitzgerald · Rating 3 out of 5]

Too modern and too silly.