Tales From The Odyssey, Volume 1: The One-Eyed Giant / The Land of the Dead

Tales from the Odyssey #1-2

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

Mary Pope Osborne retells thrilling stories from Homer's Odyssey , one of the greatest epics of all time. Volume One Book The One-Eyed Giant When Odysseus must leave his home to fight in 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 across the seas. But many dangers await them -- and none is more terrifying than Polyphemus, the one-eyed giant. Book The Land of the Dead Odysseus and his men have defeated the one-eyed giant, but its curse plagues them at every turn. Cast out to the open seas by the wind god, Odysseus and his men face giant cannibals and outwit a beautiful witch, who reveals Odysseus's next challenge -- a journey to the mysterious and feared land of the dead. Performed by James Simmons.

Genres: Adventure, Audiobook, Classics, Childrens, Fiction

Audio Cassette

First published February 1, 2005

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

[Claire Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Car audiobook. My kids are really into myths/odyssey/etc so they were all into it. I haven’t actually read the odyssey so I have no idea if good ole Mary pope Osborne took liberties with the text or not. She doesn’t narrate the book but she does do a short introduction and hearing her voice transported me to circa 2014 when my oldest was in a SERIOUS magic tree house phase and I got tired of reading them aloud (because they are TERRIBLE to read aloud as most early reader chapter books are) so we borrowed the audiobook CD’s from the library and played them in the house and the van like all the time. I feel like I can still smell those plastic library cd cases. Eventually I got a new van and it didn’t come with a cd player. You never know when it will be the last time you play a magic tree house audiobook cd. You just never know.

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

An adaptation of The Odyssey that is geared toward children. It is scrubbed in all of the right places but doesn’t shy away from everything. Particularly compelling is Odysseus’ first person perspective. It helps younger readers connect with this larger-than-life figure.

[Karina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Listened to it with the kids. They seemed to be attentive. I like that it makes a difficult and very influential classic accessible for children and brings out the morals of the stories clearly. Even my 5 year old was making comments about what the characters should and shouldn't have done.

[Jennifer]

This was a great introduction to one of the greatest tales ever told. James Simmons does a great job narrating, and it was nice to hear the author's voice as well, even if it was only in the introduction. I highly recommend this audiobook.

[Haaley · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is definitely a simplified version of the Odyssey but it is a refreshing retelling/ translation.

[Derek · Rating 5 out of 5]

!

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great adaptation of the odyssey for kids.
Written by the author of the magic tree house series. Warning- Does have graphic content of people being eaten & killed.

[Ondalynn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading this along with my ten year old who loves Greek mythology.

[Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

An accessible and enjoyable retelling of The Odyssey to hook the elementary crowd and encourage them to read the real thing in a few years...

[Allison · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fantastic translation of this wonderful, exciting story. Cole(7) and Elijah(10) did not want me to put it down. All kids should know The Odyssey!

[Assortedtrashprincess · Rating 3 out of 5]

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

[Nicole · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read aloud with the 4 year old. This was one of her most favorite read-alouds so far

[Jules · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ha! Here is the CD version! It's great!