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The Book of Goddesses
The Book of Goddesses is a celebration of the Divine Feminine, drawing inspiration from the many goddesses honoured through history and over the globe. This fully illustrated, greatly expanded edition of Kris Waldherr's best-selling classic includes 100 goddesses (74 more than the original edition) along with their stories, symbolic significance and cultural roles applicable to life today. While the original book was structured alphabetically - one goddess for every letter of the alphabet - this new edition is structured around the feminine rites of passage: Beginnings, Love, Motherhood, Creativity, Strength and Transformations. Lavishly designed, this visually stunning book is testament to the power, passion, wisdom and beauty of women of all ages, all stages in life, everywhere.
167 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1996
129 people are currently reading
765 people want to read
About the author
Kris Waldherr
49 books379 followersKris Waldherr is an award-winning author and illustrator whose books for adults and children include Bad Princess, Doomed Queens, and The Book of Goddesses. The New Yorker praised Doomed Queens as “utterly satisfying” and “deliciously perverse.” The Book of Goddesses was a One Spirit/Book-of-the-Month Club’s Top Ten Most Popular Book. Her picture book Persephone and the Pomegranate was noted by the New York Times Book Review for its “quality of myth and magic.” Waldherr is also the creator of the Goddess Tarot, which has a quarter of a million copies in print. Her Kirkus-starred debut novel The Lost History of Dreams was named a CrimeReads Best Book of the Year and her Unnatural Creatures: A Novel of the Frankenstein Women was an Editor's Choice at the Historical Novels Review.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews
January 13, 2023
I found this book on a whim at my local bookstore and read it last night as my "bedtime story". Which was quite nice since I rather nasty stomachache, but I digress. The illustrations in this picture book were breathtaking in my eyes and brought to life these many goddesses. I also LOVED that the author did seem to take the time to learn about all sorts of different cultures around the world. I was even really impressed to see an Aboriginal goddess talked about in this book which made me curious to learn more about Native Australians.
If you want a nice little intro into mythology that is easy to digest, with beautiful illustrations, and actually takes the time to show you every continent (minus Antarctica for obvious reasons), this would be a fantastic option for you!
I also think this would be a great story for children to read as well more specifically kids whose reading level would be third grade or higher. And if your child enjoyed this book I think they would really love the "Percy Jackson" books or "The Magic Tree House series" since it has a ton of variety.
Lovely book and it will remain on my shelves forever now. :)
If you want a nice little intro into mythology that is easy to digest, with beautiful illustrations, and actually takes the time to show you every continent (minus Antarctica for obvious reasons), this would be a fantastic option for you!
I also think this would be a great story for children to read as well more specifically kids whose reading level would be third grade or higher. And if your child enjoyed this book I think they would really love the "Percy Jackson" books or "The Magic Tree House series" since it has a ton of variety.
Lovely book and it will remain on my shelves forever now. :)
January 3, 2019
I really wanted to love this, I just wasn't impressed with the copy.
This book features 26 goddesses from all over the world. Each goddess has 1 beautiful, full page illustration and 1 page of copy. My only beef was that the copy really needed another round of editing. Some goddesses had a page full of facts, others featured a story, some featured both -the information was just all over the place and not organized well. Which was really disappointing because the layout and illustrations are gorgeous. Overall I still really enjoyed this as a picture book, but as a source... not so much.
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Picture Books About Goddesses & Mythology:
(these books feature myths from all over the world and include sources)
Changing Woman and Her Sisters: Stories of Goddesses from Around the World
★★★★☆
Features 10 goddesses - each has 1 full page illustration and 3-5 pages of copy (includes a short intro blurb and story).
Book of Goddesses
★★★☆☆
Features 26 goddesses - each has 1 full page illustration and 1 full page of copy.
Legendary Ladies: 50 Goddesses to Empower and Inspire You
☆☆☆☆☆
Features 50 goddesses - each has 1 full page illustration and 1 full page of copy.
Goddesses: A World of Myth and Magic
★★★★☆
Features 100+ goddesses - organized in alphabetical order, each goddess has a very short blurb, with full and half page illustrations sprinkled throughout.
The Lady of Ten Thousand Names
☆☆☆☆☆
Features 8 goddesses - each has 1 full page illustration and a few pages of copy.
This book features 26 goddesses from all over the world. Each goddess has 1 beautiful, full page illustration and 1 page of copy. My only beef was that the copy really needed another round of editing. Some goddesses had a page full of facts, others featured a story, some featured both -the information was just all over the place and not organized well. Which was really disappointing because the layout and illustrations are gorgeous. Overall I still really enjoyed this as a picture book, but as a source... not so much.
-------------
Picture Books About Goddesses & Mythology:
(these books feature myths from all over the world and include sources)
Changing Woman and Her Sisters: Stories of Goddesses from Around the World
★★★★☆
Features 10 goddesses - each has 1 full page illustration and 3-5 pages of copy (includes a short intro blurb and story).
Book of Goddesses
★★★☆☆
Features 26 goddesses - each has 1 full page illustration and 1 full page of copy.
Legendary Ladies: 50 Goddesses to Empower and Inspire You
☆☆☆☆☆
Features 50 goddesses - each has 1 full page illustration and 1 full page of copy.
Goddesses: A World of Myth and Magic
★★★★☆
Features 100+ goddesses - organized in alphabetical order, each goddess has a very short blurb, with full and half page illustrations sprinkled throughout.
The Lady of Ten Thousand Names
☆☆☆☆☆
Features 8 goddesses - each has 1 full page illustration and a few pages of copy.
May 6, 2024
It only took me three decades to realize that the 26 goddesses in this book are in alphabetical order.
8yo loved it. Never get rid of anything.
8yo loved it. Never get rid of anything.
November 7, 2025
It was pretty- the watercolors were for sure the standout. I appreciate always the idea of the book: to make goddesses approachable to larger society and show little girls they can have cool goddesses too. However, approachability is no excuse for bad information. I am only an expert at classical mythology, so I can really only strongly comment on the validity of the 5 Greco-Roman goddesses (Athena, Juno, Diana, Maia, Venus) though I feel I know enough about the Egyptian, Norse, and Arthurian figures to have somewhat of an informed opinion. Which is that this book is massively oversimplifying things in a way that I hope is not intentionally misleading, but certainly results as such. I can only assume that the gods of the cultures I do not know about are also not represented faithfully, which is sad for me because then I feel like I can’t trust any of my new learning about them past very basic facts.
I won’t go into every single way the classical goddesses are misrepresented, but here’s an example. Waldherr chose to depict Maia, which is already a strange pick when the other four choices are all olympians. So right off the bat, I’m not quite sure why we’re going with her as there’s so many other more interesting and important goddesses, even minor ones if we wanted a more unique pick. But regardless, Maia is depicted as the goddess of spring, which is not particularly a great description of her. She’s said to be a Pleiades and the mother of Hermes, which is true, and while she certainly has an association with spring, it’s obviously crazy to act like Persephone was not the goddess worshipped as the goddess of spring. It would’ve been more accurate to say that Maia is associated with springtime and left it at that. But it gets worse! When talking about her son Hermes, the author claims that Hermes, in becoming a guide of souls to the underworld, has become the god of death, and that this serves to juxtapose his mother as the bringer of life and springtime. ??? Again, an insane oversimplification and misrepresentation of these figures. Hermes IS associated with death because he guides souls to the underworld and I’ll even allow him to be grouped in loosely with underworld deities, but to act like HE is the god of death is actually bonkers. It’s especially bonkers to highlight the juxtaposition of spring and death with Hermes and Maia when hades and Persephone are right there. Anyways, Maia was a crazy choice, she was not represented in good faith, and the other goddesses I know were represented in similar levels of misinformation. Thus: I believe most of the goddesses I don’t know about are represented similarly poorly. This was not a well written book.
I won’t go into every single way the classical goddesses are misrepresented, but here’s an example. Waldherr chose to depict Maia, which is already a strange pick when the other four choices are all olympians. So right off the bat, I’m not quite sure why we’re going with her as there’s so many other more interesting and important goddesses, even minor ones if we wanted a more unique pick. But regardless, Maia is depicted as the goddess of spring, which is not particularly a great description of her. She’s said to be a Pleiades and the mother of Hermes, which is true, and while she certainly has an association with spring, it’s obviously crazy to act like Persephone was not the goddess worshipped as the goddess of spring. It would’ve been more accurate to say that Maia is associated with springtime and left it at that. But it gets worse! When talking about her son Hermes, the author claims that Hermes, in becoming a guide of souls to the underworld, has become the god of death, and that this serves to juxtapose his mother as the bringer of life and springtime. ??? Again, an insane oversimplification and misrepresentation of these figures. Hermes IS associated with death because he guides souls to the underworld and I’ll even allow him to be grouped in loosely with underworld deities, but to act like HE is the god of death is actually bonkers. It’s especially bonkers to highlight the juxtaposition of spring and death with Hermes and Maia when hades and Persephone are right there. Anyways, Maia was a crazy choice, she was not represented in good faith, and the other goddesses I know were represented in similar levels of misinformation. Thus: I believe most of the goddesses I don’t know about are represented similarly poorly. This was not a well written book.
April 20, 2019
This book has a solid overview of goddesses of different types and from different places. The illustrations are wonderful. For me, the only drawback was that the stories for a few of the goddesses focused more on the male characters in their lives (often consorts and husbands) than the goddesses themselves. But that was only in a few cases. Overall, a solid resource that was an enjoyable read for this adult and which would be accessible for the younger audience it is intended for.
OK, perhaps it is unfair, but the day after my original rating and review, I knocked my rating down from four to three stars. Today (Apr. 20, 2019), I started reading a different, more-recently-published book on goddesses Legendary Ladies: 50 Goddesses to Empower and Inspire You by Ann Shen). There is some overlap between the goddesses included in these two book. However, in Shen's book the emphasis seems to be on the goddesses' attributes. In Waldherr's book the emphasis seems to be on the relationships of the goddesses with others, largely their husbands and consorts but also sometimes with their children, other deities, and humanity. Yes, these relationships are important, but in reading Shen's book, I am realizing how much Waldherr missed about the goddesses themselves. Really, if it is a book on goddesses should it not be about them? Do we really always need to fall into gender stereotypes of 'female = relationships' even in a book of goddesses? Yes, the two books are partial reflections of their times (Shen's book being published about a decade after Waldherr's), but still it is a book of goddesses, could female not be Self even in a book of goddesses?
OK, perhaps it is unfair, but the day after my original rating and review, I knocked my rating down from four to three stars. Today (Apr. 20, 2019), I started reading a different, more-recently-published book on goddesses Legendary Ladies: 50 Goddesses to Empower and Inspire You by Ann Shen). There is some overlap between the goddesses included in these two book. However, in Shen's book the emphasis seems to be on the goddesses' attributes. In Waldherr's book the emphasis seems to be on the relationships of the goddesses with others, largely their husbands and consorts but also sometimes with their children, other deities, and humanity. Yes, these relationships are important, but in reading Shen's book, I am realizing how much Waldherr missed about the goddesses themselves. Really, if it is a book on goddesses should it not be about them? Do we really always need to fall into gender stereotypes of 'female = relationships' even in a book of goddesses? Yes, the two books are partial reflections of their times (Shen's book being published about a decade after Waldherr's), but still it is a book of goddesses, could female not be Self even in a book of goddesses?
August 29, 2020
Good Primer
In general, I really enjoyed this book. It gives a good foundation for a lot of the major goddesses.
The one suggestion or request that I might have, is that for the related goddesses, the author tired more into the overarching chapter theme.
In general, I really enjoyed this book. It gives a good foundation for a lot of the major goddesses.
The one suggestion or request that I might have, is that for the related goddesses, the author tired more into the overarching chapter theme.
July 26, 2018
Have owned this book for decades, love it
August 19, 2020
Not impressed
This book started out well. It has promise to give the reader a good overview of many different Goddesses.
The first glaring problem is that the last paragraph of the Goddess Hathor section is a copy of the last paragraph of the section for the Goddess Erda, referencing the Norse beliefs when the Goddess Hathor is Egyptian. Another concern is of the way the author switches the Greek and Roman Goddesses and Gods into a strange mess. Yes, Venus is the Roman counterpart of Aphrodite. However, there are no stories of Venus and Adonis, despite what this author seems to think. The author interchanges the names irresponsibly in this way. It's seen again while discussing the Goddess Persephone and the God Hades. The author changes between the God Hades and the God Pluto, again the Roman counterpart.
I didn't finish this book. I was let down too much by this author. Her lack of proofreading and respect for the correct lore led me to believe the rest of the book would be much more of the same.
This book started out well. It has promise to give the reader a good overview of many different Goddesses.
The first glaring problem is that the last paragraph of the Goddess Hathor section is a copy of the last paragraph of the section for the Goddess Erda, referencing the Norse beliefs when the Goddess Hathor is Egyptian. Another concern is of the way the author switches the Greek and Roman Goddesses and Gods into a strange mess. Yes, Venus is the Roman counterpart of Aphrodite. However, there are no stories of Venus and Adonis, despite what this author seems to think. The author interchanges the names irresponsibly in this way. It's seen again while discussing the Goddess Persephone and the God Hades. The author changes between the God Hades and the God Pluto, again the Roman counterpart.
I didn't finish this book. I was let down too much by this author. Her lack of proofreading and respect for the correct lore led me to believe the rest of the book would be much more of the same.
October 2, 2013
I had high hopes for this book as I always get inspired tapping into my feminine mystique and spirituality. However, the artist's renditions of the goddesses such as Kuan Yin and Sumeria were not as ethereal as I would have liked. I was distracted by such artistic blunders as the hands being out of proportion to the bodies and the ridiculous cartoony animals. I have seen more beautiful paintings and drawings in an art class. So, as much as I was hoping for inspiration from this book, I just couldn't get it here.
March 29, 2015
This book is most useful for getting a rough sketch of the feminine divine in many different countries throughout the world. I only wish it had gone more in depth on each goddess but it does provide a jumping off place for deeper research elsewhere.
May 10, 2015
Informational
So happy I read this book. It has given me such a different perspective on the world and being a woman.
So happy I read this book. It has given me such a different perspective on the world and being a woman.
August 2, 2021
The author has done a lot of research to uncover well-known as well as obscure goddesses. However, I was disappointed that so much focus was put on the Greco-Roman goddesses, rather than the ones most people are probably not as familiar with. Although it claims to feature 100 goddesses, more than half of those listed appear in the "Related Goddesses" section, some with no more than 2 sentences describing them. It's a good book if you want to learn the names and a little about goddesses around the world, but not the best source if you want to have a more in-depth study of them.
February 14, 2025
This is a beautifully illustrated and inspiring book, especially for girls and women needing sources of inspiration for accessing the varied qualities of what is inherent in being female. Although not a comprehensive exploration of Goddess archetypes throughout the world, it is a great place to start or deepen one's exposure to Goddess archetype. Especially at a time when connecting to Mother earth, Gaia, is at a critical time, this book is a beautiful source of inspiration.
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August 22, 2020
Nice selection of Goddesses from different cultures
Fun read for anyone interested in feminine mythos. The synopsis for each Goddess is pretty short, which makes this easy to browse through. I enjoyed learning about some cultures I am less familiar with.
Fun read for anyone interested in feminine mythos. The synopsis for each Goddess is pretty short, which makes this easy to browse through. I enjoyed learning about some cultures I am less familiar with.
May 12, 2021
A beautiful collection of goddesses from all around the globe, telling their stories with gorgeous illustrations, making it clear that a reader from anywhere can find a strong, powerful, divine, beautiful woman to look up to who looks like her.
May 6, 2023
Beautifully Illustrated Book with Invaluable Information
Years ago I purchased the original picture book. I am happy to have this in an amplified format that I will be able to refer to anytime.
Years ago I purchased the original picture book. I am happy to have this in an amplified format that I will be able to refer to anytime.
March 8, 2021
Good Information. Well written covering the myths and origins of those myths.
January 5, 2022
I enjoyed it. I wished there were more African Goddesses included though.
June 9, 2024
A beautiful book, with nice stories. It suffers because it focuses on Goddesses that we pretty much know, i.e., the main Greek-Roman-etc. Goddesses. There are thousands of wonderful stories about thousands of lesser known Goddess. I wish she had included more of those.
November 7, 2022
These books are definitely fantastic
February 11, 2014
Ich liebe dieses Buch. Es ist wunderschön illustriert und schön aufgemacht.
Es gibt 6 Kapitel.
Im ersten Kapitel geht es um die Anfänge, also die Erschafferinnen.
Die Göttinnen die dazu aufgeführt werden und beschrieben sind:
Gaia, Spider Woman, Tara, Aditi, Erda, Chang O, Hathor.
Dann folgen noch paar weitere Göttinnen in ganz kurzer Abhandlungen, die ebenfalls dieser Theamtik zugeordnet werden.
Im zweiten Kapitel geht es um die Liebe.
Folgende Göttinnen werden detaillierter beschrieben:
Venus, Rati, Persephone, Oshun, Psyche, Benzai-ten, Hera, Xochiquetzal.
Und dann folgen wieder wie oben weitere in kurzen Abhandlungen. (das wiederholt sich bei jedem Kapitel, nur mit den jeweils passenden Göttinnen)
Im dritten geht es um die Mutterschaft.
Und Yemanja, Juno, Haumea, Renenet, The Wawalak, Demeter, Maia werden hier aufgeführt.
Viertes Kapitel hat als Thema die Kreativität.
Und die dazu passenden Göttinnen sind:
Brigit, Sophia, Athene, Freyja, die Musen, Vesta, Lakshmi, Sarasvati, Rhiannon
Im fünften Kapitel dreht es sich um das Thema Stärke.
Die Göttinnen sind da:
Oya, Kuan Yin, Isis, Artemis, Pele, The Zorya, Nyai Loro Kidul, Gwenhywfar
Das letzte Kapitel hat als Inhalt die Transformation.
Die Göttinnen die hier genannt werden sind:
Hekate, Maman Brigitte, Arianrhod, Inanna, Ukemochi, Iduna, Hsi Wang Mu, Changing Woman
Fazit: Ein schönes Nachschlagewerk, indem ich auch einfach nur rein sehe manchmal wegen der Bilder. Und es wäre schön wenn es sowas auch zum Thema Götter gebe von der Autorin.
Es gibt 6 Kapitel.
Im ersten Kapitel geht es um die Anfänge, also die Erschafferinnen.
Die Göttinnen die dazu aufgeführt werden und beschrieben sind:
Gaia, Spider Woman, Tara, Aditi, Erda, Chang O, Hathor.
Dann folgen noch paar weitere Göttinnen in ganz kurzer Abhandlungen, die ebenfalls dieser Theamtik zugeordnet werden.
Im zweiten Kapitel geht es um die Liebe.
Folgende Göttinnen werden detaillierter beschrieben:
Venus, Rati, Persephone, Oshun, Psyche, Benzai-ten, Hera, Xochiquetzal.
Und dann folgen wieder wie oben weitere in kurzen Abhandlungen. (das wiederholt sich bei jedem Kapitel, nur mit den jeweils passenden Göttinnen)
Im dritten geht es um die Mutterschaft.
Und Yemanja, Juno, Haumea, Renenet, The Wawalak, Demeter, Maia werden hier aufgeführt.
Viertes Kapitel hat als Thema die Kreativität.
Und die dazu passenden Göttinnen sind:
Brigit, Sophia, Athene, Freyja, die Musen, Vesta, Lakshmi, Sarasvati, Rhiannon
Im fünften Kapitel dreht es sich um das Thema Stärke.
Die Göttinnen sind da:
Oya, Kuan Yin, Isis, Artemis, Pele, The Zorya, Nyai Loro Kidul, Gwenhywfar
Das letzte Kapitel hat als Inhalt die Transformation.
Die Göttinnen die hier genannt werden sind:
Hekate, Maman Brigitte, Arianrhod, Inanna, Ukemochi, Iduna, Hsi Wang Mu, Changing Woman
Fazit: Ein schönes Nachschlagewerk, indem ich auch einfach nur rein sehe manchmal wegen der Bilder. Und es wäre schön wenn es sowas auch zum Thema Götter gebe von der Autorin.
June 14, 2025
Second read-through. This one will always be a treasure to me.
My one new discovery is that this book was actually intended for adult Goddess-worshippers and children alike (what????). The messaging is subtle enough for it to end up in very traditionalist places, though (like the folklore section of a Catholic school library). It's much more Pagan than I remembered, and I suppose my sudden pining to believe in Goddesses was exactly what the author intended. I was surprised and delighted to find that Starhawk and a bunch of the Big Name Pagans of the time reviewed it.
Off to request Waldherr's "Persephone and the Pomegranate" picture book from my local public library.
_______
My first goddesses book. I'm still looking for a copy. I was seven years old... I remember curling up with this gorgeously illustrated collection in the library in Catholic school. The goddesses seemed so beautiful and powerful that I couldn't believe they were "just stories." It didn't make sense to me that Mary and the saints were real but not that these ancient deities.
Nine years later, I'm a polytheist Pagan.
UPDATE:
Oh those illustrations! Still as lovely as I remember.
I wish I could tell my childhood self that all her goddess dreams came true.
THANK YOU SUZ!
My one new discovery is that this book was actually intended for adult Goddess-worshippers and children alike (what????). The messaging is subtle enough for it to end up in very traditionalist places, though (like the folklore section of a Catholic school library). It's much more Pagan than I remembered, and I suppose my sudden pining to believe in Goddesses was exactly what the author intended. I was surprised and delighted to find that Starhawk and a bunch of the Big Name Pagans of the time reviewed it.
Off to request Waldherr's "Persephone and the Pomegranate" picture book from my local public library.
_______
My first goddesses book. I'm still looking for a copy. I was seven years old... I remember curling up with this gorgeously illustrated collection in the library in Catholic school. The goddesses seemed so beautiful and powerful that I couldn't believe they were "just stories." It didn't make sense to me that Mary and the saints were real but not that these ancient deities.
Nine years later, I'm a polytheist Pagan.
UPDATE:
Oh those illustrations! Still as lovely as I remember.
I wish I could tell my childhood self that all her goddess dreams came true.
THANK YOU SUZ!
August 24, 2014
Gorgeous book and beautifully illustrated. Unlike the Goddess Tarot book by the same author, this book focuses more on introducing the reader to the different divinites from different cultures, all over the world. Awesome book, really fun to read and empowering, makes one believe in one's inner Goddess.
September 27, 2007
This books has short- to medium-length summaries of Goddess stories from many cultures. It includes gorgeous full-color illustrations by the author. Although the intended audience is probably juvenile, it is one of my favorite Goddess books.
September 19, 2008
This book has THE MOST beautiful illustrations. My Dad brought it home from one of his many business trips to Europe when I was a young girl. It helped me learn more about different cultures around the world. And is one of my most prized books since it is now out of print.
April 20, 2011
Check out my review on http://onthebroomstick.blogspot.com/
May 15, 2014
loved it had so many interesting goddess. I always wanted to read some Norse or Japanese mythology, this book gave me the opportunity
June 30, 2015
ang ganda. the art was sublime, and the intersectionality was commendable.
June 18, 2016
The artwork in this book is beautiful and the descriptions of each Goddess is as well.
August 21, 2023
This had a pretty good account of goddesses from different regions and I found it had a few from pantheons I follow as well as some from those I don’t which meant new learning for me. Pretty solid.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews