The One-Eyed Giant

Tales from the Odyssey #1

by Mary Pope Osborne, Homer, Troy Howell (Illustrator)

When Odysseus must leave his home to fight the Trojan War, he never imagines that he’ll be away from his family for so many years. Now, at long last, he is leading his men home across the seas. But many dangers await them – and none is more terrifying than Polyphemus, the one-eyed giant.

Genres: Mythology, Fantasy, Childrens, Classics, Fiction, Adventure, Chapter Books

112 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2002

About the author

Mary Pope Osborne is an American author of children's books and audiobook narrator. She is best known as the author of the Magic Tree House series, which as of 2017 sold more than 134 million copies worldwide. Both the series and Osborne have won awards, including for Osborne's charitable efforts at promoting children's literacy. One of four children, Osborne moved around in her childhood before attending the University of North Carolina. Following college, Osborne traveled before moving to New York City. She somewhat spontaneously began to write, and her first book was published in 1982. She went on to write a variety of other children's and young adult books before starting the Magic Tree House series in 1992. Osborne's sister Natalie Pope Boyce has written several compendium books to the Magic Tree House series, sometimes with Osborne's husband Will Osborne.

Reviews

[Coreena McBurnie]

Tales From The Odyssey is a series of six children's books that retell Homer's Odyssey. They are written by Mary Pope Osborne of The Magic Tree House fame and are written for a similar age group, I would say around grade 2 to 6. The names of the characters may be a bit complicated, but there is a pronunciation guide in the back. I have chosen to review the series as a whole because I tend to think of The Odyssey as a whole, that and we read them so fast that they seem like one story.

I recently read the whole series of six with my middle son who is in grade 2 and he was completely hooked by them, and even my eleven year old found himself listening in as I read - after all, these are entertaining, exciting stories that have been around for thousands of years! I picked the first book up because I am a HUGE classical mythology fan, to the point of studying it in university. I am always on the lookout for good versions of classical stories to share with my kids and I am very impressed with Mary Pope Osborne's version of The Odyssey. I would say it is quite obvious that she did her research as the story rings true to the original, but in a much shorter and more accessible kid's version.

Mary Pope Osborne focuses on the action of the original epic poem - for example, the Cyclops, Scylla and Charybdis, the Sirens, and various other monsters. There are battle scenes, blood and guts, fighting and shipwrecks. The gods interfere, Odysseus pines for home, the sea rages, and the ten years of Odysseus's travels are told with a feel of the original. She even mentions the "wine dark sea" several times, which is one of many epithets used throughout The Odyssey. Epithets are such an important part of Homer's work that I love that Mary Pope Osborne included this one in her retelling.

[Tyler]

Who would win in a fight: Mary Pope Osborne or Christopher Nolan?

[Willow]

I read this thinking it would be a watered down, fluffy version of the Odyssey but it really isn't. There is quite a lot of gore and death. The story of the Odyssey remains intact in spirit with this retelling.

[Lindsay B]

For Greek mythology it was pretty good. It was very short and abridged (which made it an easier read, since for me, Greek mythology is hard to understand). It was decent.

[Isabel]

It was a good retelling, simple and easy to understand, I know the story but it was fun to read!!!

[Angel]

I just began this series with Kaspar since we have now hit Ancient Greece in history. It’s been a long time since I’ve read any of these. In fact, I’m not sure that I actually finished the series. I may have just handed it over to Aly. It begins with the Trojan War and moves on to the tale of Odysseus and the Cyclops. A good retelling for kids. Kaspar gave it 4 stars.

[Ayacchi]

Alasan baca buku ini karena mau baca Circe. Berhubung Circe itu kisah mitologi Yunani, dan dalam Bahasa Inggris, jadi pengin tahu kisah Odisei dulu. Kebetulan menemukan buku ini yang ternyata versi singkatnya Odisei karya Homer. Membantu sekali untuk orang yang ingin tahu tentang Odisei dan dewa-dewa Yunani tanpa memakan waktu lama.

Cerita Odisei sendiri katanya merupakan kisah yang disebarkan dari mulut ke mulut, kemudian ditambahkan dengan imajinasi Homer di sana-sini.

Membaca buku ini membuat saya makin percaya bahwa sejak zaman dahulu manusia cenderung untuk menyerahkan sesuatu yang di luar nalar pada 'yang tidak terlihat'. Mungkin dari segi politik supaya orang tunduk pada aturan dan kepercayaan yang ada.

Fyi, saat baca index di Circe, saya masih kurang paham dengan nama-nama dewa, manusia, dan monster yang ada di buku itu. Tapi berkat buku ini, semuanya jadi lebih mudah dimengerti.

[Julie Suzanne]

I do so recommend this to students who are at the Magic Treehouse reading level but want a little more action. I have students who are in middle school reading Magic Treehouse, and I highly recommend this to them as the content is a little more interesting.

My son was tired of Magic Treehouse books being so tame, and this one described the cyclops tearing limbs off of his friends and eating them whole, once vomiting, drunk, chunks of human flesh, blood, and brains. My son was officially hooked on this series after that, and Magic Treehouse is behind him forever; he couldn't believe he kept reading these books about pirates and ninjas with absolutely no battles!

The Greeks in these stories of course are completely flawed characters, giving my son fuel for reaction, which is another feature that the Treehouse books don't have; Treehouse characters are the flattest you'll find. He's both disgusted by Odysseus's greed and bad manners as well as impressed by his cunning. I think this 9-year-old boy will be devouring this series.

[Corinne Edwards]

What a FIND! This series of books is a retelling of that age old tale, The Odyssey. The text is swiftly paced but with a lot of detail and Osborne assumes that kids who will read it can handle it's...harshness? Yes, soldiers get eaten by the Cyclops. Yes, they gouge the Cyclop's eye out with a stake. My 7 year old adored this chapter book - the chapters are just the right length (I read aloud 2-3 chapters per evening) and although I would've thought it would be illustrated, it isn't. But it was okay, it's descriptive and explanatory and I really appreciated the pronunciation guide in the back. I also appreciate that she's written something so accessable for kids, to give them in introduction to this famous story.

I'll definitely be reading the rest of these, even for myself, since the Cyclops and the Sirens are about all I remember from my high school English class.

[JoAnna]

I read the series aloud to my kids and they hung on my every word. They begged for me to read it to them throughout the day. We had a hard time putting it down and finished the series of 6 books in a few short weeks.
Mary Pope Osborne did an excellent job simplifying The Odyssey for children (and adults). I am grateful that my children have this great foundation of Homer's famous poem to help them in their future studies.

[teresa]

We have been reading Greek Myths lately and I discovered this series by Mary Pope Osborne. They are written for grade 2-5 but I am reading them aloud to my 5 year olds. I think Osborne does a great job of taking the story and making it interesting and understandable for younger kids. We will be reading the rest of the series.

[Tyler Foley]

She spent to much time detailing the test and not enough to move the plot along.

[Oulan]

A childrens version, but since I mentor Mythology, I wanted to check rhem out. Short and sweet, from one who has read the Illiad and the Odessey more then once and are still among my favorite, these short tales give a quaint and easy to follow glimpse into the many magical stories found within these two classics. If you can't seem to dwelve into the fantastic but emmensly involved books, these are good alternatives and may just wet your curiosity enough to give a couple of the two greatest classics of all time a try.

[Lucas McElroy]

I felt that this book was very good. It was intense in a way and kept you wanting to read more. The book is about Odysseus and his crew sailing to troy and fighting the Trojans. They win the fight and start to come back, but sailing back across the sea is dangerous. They headed for a island, but on the island lived a one eyed giant. Odysseus and his crew fought the giant and blinded him, but after they set sail for home something bad happens and they are not able to get home.

[Rachel]

I didn’t read much Greek mythology growing up, so after reading Circe by Madeline Miller recently in a book club, I was left, at times, slightly confused. Finding these shortened stories from the Odyssey has helped me fill in the blanks now to things said in Circe pertaining to Odysseus. I found this to be a fun fantasy read anyways.

[Elizabeth Tyree]

Read this one to my 4 year old as well. I love The Odyssey and this abridged middle grade version was a nice compromise to allow me to share one of my literary favorites with my Monkey.

[Annie]

These books are a great introduction to Homer, although they can be a bit intense sometimes (you can always “edit as you read”).

[Michael Lent]

Very engaging for young readers.

[Lis]

A very interesting read and a good book for people who want a book to sit down with. The book is an easy read and definitely recommended if you have an issue reading the original Odyssey book.

[Assortedtrashprincess]

Not my favorite retelling Mary Pope Osborne is a better children's author.

[Ostap Bender]

Fantastic introduction for kids to Homer's Odyssey - my son loved these books.

[Riley]

Nice and fun retelling.

[Ellie]

Good intro to the Odyssey.

[Joanne O'Sullivan]

Good palette cleanser from intense big books

[Rachel Hally]

I probably read this version of the odyssey at least 10 times as a child, so rereading it is so nostalgic. Reading these made me fall in love with greek mythology

[LifeAmongPages]

4.5/5

[Alexa Bennett]

✔️ A pre-read for the biggest

[Ray]

It's much gorier than I expected. A really fun retelling of the Odyssey, great to introduce school-age children to the classic.

[Ciera Legue]

This version of the oddessy is easy to digest and i like that this story focuses on one leg of his journey. I like the mythology in this as its quite easy to understand

[Kara]

Great intro to ancient Greek mythology. It reads easily while holding true to Osborns story telling writing style.