Greek Myths

by Heather; Edwards Amery, Linda Edwards (Illustrator)

Greek myths are wonderful stories, full of brave heroes, terrifying monsters, powerful gods and goddesses, battles and great adventures

Genres: Mythology, Childrens, Fiction, Classics, Ancient History, Picture Books, Short Stories

128 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1999

Reviews

[Sophie Crane · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lovely easy reading for young children. The illustrations are well done as well. Even as a adult, I find myself captured by them.

[Louise · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars

One of very many children’s books on Greek mythology, I picked this one up mainly because it’s Usborne (I grew up on Usborne books and I have a certain amount of loyalty to them despite the fact that they keep putting out gendered shit like this) and because the pictures inside are pretty dang gorgeous. With so many of these sort of books about though it’s always worth flipping through a few in the bookshop, maybe reading a couple of the stories, and getting the one that works for you. This one, I have to say, doesn’t quite work for me. It’s very good, perfect for the purpose I got it for – which was to ensure my Greek storytelling event later this month is age appropriate – and I’ll be keeping it in my library of Greek myths, but it’s far too kiddified in places for my own personal liking. For public storytelling where I don’t know how (over)sensitive or protective children’s parents are it’s great. For my own kids/nieces/nephews (if I were ever to have any) I would want something that didn’t gloss over Theseus leaving Ariadne, or pretended that Jason and Medea didn’t murder her brother.

It’s a beautiful book though, and I think it achieves its aim of working for both children too young to read and children just learning. It’s written in a way that works very well when read out loud, while the typeface is big, bold, and easy to read for when the child wants to pick it up for themselves, and it's all accompanied by some really lovely and eyecatching illustrations. There’s also a pronounciation guide for the Greek names at the back, which is very useful. And then it’s got some really nice stylistic touches. Every page, even when it isn’t illustrated, has a patterned border running round it – spiders for Arachne, snakes for Perseus and Medusa, a variety of Greek pot patterns etc etc. but a unique pattern for every story. The longer stories (Hercules, Odysseus, Jason) are broken up into smaller sections, making them easier to digest if you’re reading ‘one a night’ with a child, and each story is written on different coloured pages, making it very easy to tell when one story ends and another begins. I don’t have a working scanner or I’d put in a few examples here but I did find one bookseller site that did have a single page sample:



For me, though, though the book itself is beautiful (the dragons and sea serpents are all particularly great) the content of the text plays it just a little too safe: Medea doesn’t kill her brother, she lives happily ever after with Jason, Ariadne doesn’t get abandoned, Theseus’s dad doesn’t commit suicide, and the battles against monsters seem a little too perfuntory, making them less compelling than they should be. And yes, it’s for kids (Usborne.com says 7+ but it’s clearly aimed at younger), but the Usborne books of mythology I was reading when I was that age didn’t shy away from that stuff – they may not have gone on to detail Medea’s infanticide, but they showed her killing her brother to help Jason escape. Lessons and videos we watched at primary school discussed Theseus leaving Ariadne. The ending of the Theseus story was always bittersweet, with the minotaur having been killed but, due to Theseus’s neglect in changing his sails, his father having given him up for dead and jumped into the sea in grief. That’s the emotional heart of the story.

I just find this book a little too codling in places and I know that, as a child, I prefered my monsters scarier and less easily dispatched and that what drew me, and continues to draw me, to Medea was her ruthlessness – she was so unlike any princess I’d ever read about before. A great book for read aloud sessions with groups of young children you don’t know because, personally, I don’t particularly want to step on someone else’s parenting. But if I was reading this aloud to kids I knew well I would be surreptitiously adding more of the ‘unsuitable’ bits in for them. Kids can deal with a lot more than people think and I think it’s the fact that Greek myths often don’t conform to the ‘happily ever after’ narrative that makes them so intriguing.

[Phil Cotnoir · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this with the kids as part of their schooling, but then kept reading after they were gone. Well told, probably very sanitized, but without losing the inherent power of these ancient archetypal stories.

[Cathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mini Greek Myths for the Young is a beautifully illustrated compilation of the Greek mythological stories that have been enjoyed by adults and children for thousands of years. The book is constructed of sixteen chapters, each featuring an action packed myth such as Pandora's Box, King Midas or Jason and the Golden Fleece. The narrative is very accessible to children, though some of the names would prove tricky to pronounce for adults and children alike. Thankfully Heather Amery includes a page giving guidance on the pronounciation of names that is most helpful.

This book would be a great resource for project work in years 5 and 6 and would be useful across the curriculum in English, History, Art, Drama and even PE (lets not forget the origins of the Olympics!). It also works well as a story book which could be read aloud to children in years 3 and 4, but may be a little frightening for some children in key stage 1. The stories are fantastic and exciting - full of gods and monsters, good and evil, war and cunning.

[Sylvana DeSantis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Greek Myths For Young Children retold by Heather Amery and illustrated by Linda Edwards is a collection of the best known Greek Myths. It is 128 pages of Greek Myths including: The Gift of Fire,Pandora's Box, Persephone and the Seasons, The Story of Arachne, The Many Tasks of Heracles, Echo and Narcissus, Daedalus and Icarus, Bellerophon and the Flying Horse, Jason and the Golden Fleece, King Midas, The Adventures of Perseus, The Chariot of the Sun; The Adventures of Odysseus, Theseus and the Minotaur, Pygmalion and his Wife, and Eros and Psyche.

The first myth is The GIft of Fire, a story about Zeus, the ruler of the gods that shot thunderbolts from his fingers. He was married to the goddess Hera and had many children with her. The gods and goddess ruled over the world. Epimetheus had created animals to roam the world, but Zeus wanted Prometheus, Epimetheus’ brother, to create humans and so he did. Prometheus later felt sorry for the humans because they were in the dark and cold, so he stole a lump of burning charcoal from Zeus’ palace and teaches the humans how to use it. Zeus cannot believe that Prometheus disobeys him and decides to punish him.

Another myth, Pygmalion and his Wife, is about a lonely sculptor named Pygmalion. Pygmalion carves a statue of a beautiful woman and prays to Aphrodite, the goddess of love, begging her to bring the statue to life. The next morning he finds that his wish came true and the beautiful woman he carved has come to life. He names her Galatea and she becomes his wife. I enjoyed this story, but pictures would have made it so much better, especially for children. This was a very text heavy story, although relatively short compared to others.

This book is meant for children, but it is very text heavy, some of the stories more than others. All of the stories have a different border around the page that is quite nice; It changes depending on the myth, which helps separate the different stories. Each of the myths is also titled to indicate the start of a new story. Some of the stories have sub headings, which are a little difficult to distinguish from the titles, the only difference is the size of the text. Although I wish there were more for some of the stories, the illustrations are beautiful. The colorful images really bring the story to life, providing a great visual for children. This book could benefit from the addition of more pictures.

Overall, I would recommend this book for children ages 5-7. There is a lot of text, therefore I would not recommend this book for younger children unless it is being read to them. I also believe that younger children may get lost in the story and not understand the overall lesson or moral. If the child already has an interest in Greek Mythology or enjoys reading stories about monsters, heroes, and gods, this book is perfect

[Esmé · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a classic - I loved this book as a kid and I think it's a great primer on various famous Greek Myths for little ones, and then they can know so much about references to Greek Myths later in life. I've been using this in tutoring with my Grade 7 student since he didn't know much Greek mythology yet and he likes stories of revenge and violence and betrayal and all those crazy things that happen in these myths, but he isn't as much into romance, and a lot of these do have more Happy-ified Endings with couples living happily ever after than I think other tellings of the myths do, so I tried to tell him those more Unhappy Endings too. I think these are especially good for like Grades 2-5 and then can be added to with the longer and more complex/tragic/sexual versions of the myths later on. I think I probably read this in Grade 3 originally and then read like other versions of The Odyssey for slightly older kids that had more of the stories and details. Would love to have a copy of this handy in any classroom!

[R.L. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this over and over as a kid and am finally coming back to it as an adult! So this was a nostalgic read. And now having read the primary sources for a lot of these myths, this is a pretty solid distillation in my humble opinion. Obviously a lot of the nuances (and the adult content) are missing, and many of them are adapted in more of a fable or fairy-tale style where good triumphs and fooling around means the characters find out—rather than the dark, tragic tone of the originals. But it's a great kid-friendly introduction to the basics; it sparked my lifelong love of this mythology, that's for sure.

[Zosia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Przypomniałam sobie o tej książce niedawno. Będąc w podstawówce wchłonęłam ją, czytając z zafascynowaniem każdą historię od deski do deski. Mitologia grecka okazała się niezwykle ciekawa dla 12 letniej mnie. Pamiętam, że książka była napisana naprawdę przystępnym (jak dla dziecka) językiem, a jej największym plusem były cudowne ilustracje i przepięknie ilustrowane strony. Co ciekawe, mity zawarte w książce, mimo że przeznaczone dla dzieci, nie zostały przesadnie "zmiękczone" i mimo wszystko posiadały gdzieś w tle ten krwawy i tragiczny element tak charakterystyczny dla mitologii greckiej. Z perspektywy czasu uważam, że to duży plus. Z jednej story żaden mit (nawet ten o Hadesie) nie stramumatyzował mnie w żaden sposób, a z drugiej już jako dziecko miałam okazję poznać tę "prawdziwą", nieco brutalną stronę mitologii greckiej.

[Forrest · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hmm, some of these myths aren't particularly appropriate for young children. Y'all heard of this girl Persephone that god kidnapped by Hades??

[Stephanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Greek Myths

In ancient times, Greeks made up wonderful and exciting stories
about gods and goddesses, monsters, and brave heros. The Greeks
believed that the gods lived everywhere such as in forests, in the
sea, underground, and in great palaces among the towering peaks of
mount Olypus. Occasionally, the greeks saw the gods
and goddesses, but other times they were invisible.I f a god or
goddesses liked a person, he or she would be kind and helpful but if a
god didn't like a person, he or she could be mean or play nasty
tricks.

In this book, you will learn about Zeus, the leader of the gods and
his son Heracles. You will learn about Demeter and her daughter
Persephone.You will also learn about Pluto the god of the underworld
and many more!

This is a book full of adventure - Stephanie N

[Anna [Floanne] · Rating 4 out of 5]

Questo libro appartiene a mia figlia Irene. Irene che, non a caso, porta un bellissimo nome greco e che a pane e miti è stata svezzata, lo avrà letto almeno cento volte. E io con lei. Eco e Narciso, Dedalo e Icaro, gli Argonauti alla ricerca del vello d'oro, Teseo che affronta e sconfigge il Minotauro (mancano solo Orfeo ed Euridice per la quinta stella!): sono tutte storie che, se pur vecchie di millenni, sanno ancora affascinare ed educare grandi e piccini.
Complice uno stile narrativo semplice e delle belle illustrazioni, questo libretto tascabile offre un'ottima infarinatura di mitologia classica greca e mi auguro che sia, per Irene, un buon incentivo per approfondire l'argomento nei suoi studi futuri.

[Mariel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read for introducing these characters and stories to young children. My boys (8&5) really liked it and begged for just one more story each night. The myths are simplified and definitely cleaned up for young readers, but the overall theme is still there. When we circle back to Greek mythology at later grades, there will already be a seed planted.

[Annalisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Because we are reading Percy Jackson, I've been getting mythology books for my daughter to read that will introduce her to the stories. This was a great overview with abbreviated stories and good illustrations.

[Lauren Jamie]

I like Greek myths a lot so this book is probably made for me

[Nick · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lovely retelling of classic stories. Beautiful illustrations.

[Paul Foote · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a really enjoyable collection of Greek myths, covering all of the big tales. They were bite size and accessible chunks which anyone wanting to learn about the subject could pick up really quickly! The myths themselves are incredible and mindblowing! The lessons were fascinating and the fairness and wrath of the Gods, especially Zeus, was quite shocking! This is a must read for anyone looking for a beginner's introduction to Greek Myths!

[Madeline Taylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Greek myths put simply in a summary for kids. This book summarized Greek myths in an entertaining way with pictures for children.

I can’t speak on how accurate the myths are to their origin however based on my knowledge they seemed accurate.

I was able to finish this in about four, 20 minute reading sessions. It was pretty enjoyable however many events seemed to be skipped considering a few myths seemed to have skipped around.

Overall it was a decent book considering it was for children.

[Jamey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although I wasn’t spellbound by this book, it is useful in that it simply outlines the Greek myths in a child-friendly way. Adults can enjoy it, too, if they are looking for a quick overview of the more well-known collection of myths. It contains stories of the Minotaur, Odysseus, Hercules, Narcissus, Eros and Psyche (my favorite), and many more.
A quick and entertaining read.

[Sandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

My kids (were enamored by this book. They kept asking for another story. There is something special about folklore and fairy tales that captivate the minds of young children and this is a great introduction to Greek Mythology. The only critique I had with some of the stories is that they seemed a little too simplistic.

[Pauline · Rating 5 out of 5]

you're never too old for a bedtime story! I love how this book is broken into short stories, perfect length to read before falling asleep. Being able to read a story start to finish helps me fall asleep easier because of the resolve, I'm not lying awake wanting to know what happens next. If you need help unwinding & turning off your brain i suggest picking up books like this to read at night.

[Jessica Kirsch · Rating 2 out of 5]

Second time reading this, and second time hating it. 😅 I love Greek Myths, but these are so bland and poorly written. However, my kids loved them. They're excellent as short, watered-down, child-friendly version of these iconic stories. The pictures are bright and fun too. But, gah. They're rough to read aloud.

[Natasha · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sebagai penggemar dongeng dan pengagum mitos-mitos Yunani, saya menikmati membaca buku ini. Memang ini buku untuk anak-anak, tapi saya sangat terhibur membacanya. Ringan, tapi penuh fantasi! Menyenangkan!

[spooky Σοφί · Rating 4 out of 5]

3,5
Interesting and nicely told. However I disliked the way it potrayed some gods as villains just like Hades or Hera, or Persephone as a powerless victim (fun fact: did you knew Persephone means "the one who brings death"?)

[Sang · Rating 2 out of 5]

The illustrations are generally nice but the changes to the story to "Disnify" them are not necessary or desirable in my mind. Also, the mix of Greek and Roman names is confusing and inappropriate for a Greek myths book and a poor choice if choice it was.

[Alexandra Staller · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this years ago throughout elementary school and it was one of my favorite books ever! I loved the illustration and the storytelling, they have stuck with me for years. This book was so fundamental to my childhood

[Alex Popov · Rating 1 out of 5]

so bad there is nothing more bad then this book so no ratings for this bad book that i can't read so bye bye see you when you are fired

[Kerry Kirkpatrick · Rating 2 out of 5]

A school read

[Fitria Mayrani · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good for kids and their parents.

[James Tetley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun introduction to Greek myths. Good overview of how the Greeks saw the world through myth and story. Read to my son. He enjoyed the stories of Perseus and Odysseus best!!

[Mashed Potato · Rating 5 out of 5]

Who's doing it like her?