Pandora's Box: A Greek Myth About the Constellations

by Jean Marzollo

* A classic story retold and illustrated for a new generation of readers

Genres: Mythology, Picture Books

32 pages, Hardcover

First published September 6, 2006

About the author

Jean Marzollo was an American children's author and illustrator best known for the I Spy series, a best-selling and award-winning collection written entirely in rhythm and rhyme and illustrated by Walter Wick. Over her career, she wrote more than 100 books for children, parents, and educators, including Help Me Learn Numbers 0-20, The Little Plant Doctor, and Happy Birthday, Martin Luther King. Born and raised in Connecticut, she graduated from the University of Connecticut and earned a master’s degree from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. She taught high school English and later worked in educational publishing, serving for 20 years as editor of Scholastic’s Let’s Find Out Magazine. Later in life, she began illustrating her own books.

Reviews

[Anna Virginia]

This book is a good retelling of the ancient myth for grades 2-3rd. There are a lot of speech bubbles that the characters say that distract a bit from the story, so I think it would be a better 'read by yourself' book than a 'read aloud'.

This book tells the classic tale of Pandora opening the box given to her by the gods even though she was warned not to. When she opens it all the bad things are let loose upon the world except for one thing; hope.

It's a great introduction to Greek myths, and the art work and illustration all sort of match that ancient Greek style. It also expands a bit on the myth, noting more on Pandora's remorse but how they all still had hope to keep them happy. It has a good message of even if you mess something up, people will still forgive you and can even help you to fix your mistake.

[Mikaela Robbins · Rating 3 out of 5]

Does the art go with the cultural focus?
Some of the art included art from the time of the Greek’s, including popular patterns found on their pottery using the colors black and red, that were also traditionally used during that time.

What is the theme?
Out of curiosity, Pandora opens her wedding gift box. By doing that, it allows things like stubbornness and destruction to escape the box. The last thing that attempts to leave the box is hope, and before it does Pandora closes the box. This represents holding on to hope through tougher situations, like stubbornness, to distract us.

Does it enhance the tale?
Yes, because while it is retelling the story of Pandora, it gives a lesson that children can take away from reading it.

[Taylor]

Title: Pandora's box
Author: Jean Marzollo
Published: 2006
Age Appropriateness: 1st-4th
Summary: This book features greek gods, and the opening of a forbidden box!
Review: This book was good, and I liked that it explained the myth I didn't know much about! This would be a fun read when talking about Greek culture or Mythology.

[Liaken · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is a terrible retelling of the Pandora myth. (Does the author know who Prometheus is?)

[Marissa Sansone]

Title: Pandora’s Box
Author: Jean Marzollo
Illustrator:
Genre: Myth
Theme(s): Gods, Goddesses, Curiosity, Hope
Opening line/sentence:
Only the Greek gods had fire.
Brief Book Summary: Prometheus thinks it is unfair that only Greek gods had fire, so he decides to steal some fire from them. Zeus, king of the gods, realizes this and gets mad at Prometheus. He creates Pandora to trick Zeus and gives them a wedding present, a box. She ends up opening the box, bugs fly out all representing troubles down on earth, and she regrets it. At the bottom of the box, she seems the box is Hope and saves it.
Professional Recommendation/Review #1: (Horn Books)
32 pp. Little 2006. ISBN 0-316-74133-7
(3) K-3 Marzollo uses playful language and a Greek chorus of owls (in Pegasus) and little birds (in Pandora) to draw in young readers. Alternating fonts and predictable text placement help differentiate between what is narration and what is (child-friendly) dialogue. Marzollo's bold, simple, digitally assembled watercolor and ink collages capture the ancient setting, but with a modern feel. Review covers these titles: Let's Go, Pegasus! and Pandora's Box.
Professional Recommendation/Review #2: (CLCD)
Midwest Book Review (Children’s Bookwatch, October 2006)
It’s unusual to see Greek myths in picturebook format, but Jean Marzollo’s retelling of PANDORA’S BOX works surprisingly well. Perhaps because it has more of a moral message and less scary figures than say Medusa would have. What’s in side the box? Wouldn’t anyone want to know? Parental assistance for the picturebook beginner is required; grades 2-3 will find it involving on their own.
Response to Two Professional Reviews: Both of these reviews talk about how the formatting of the book is effective. The story brings about curiosity in the reader, which makes them stay interested throughout the book. Both of these reviews are pretty positive.
Evaluation of Literary Elements: The pictures in this book are accurately capture the time period it is set it. The names in this book are sometimes hard to read because they are so long, so that might confuse young readers if they are trying to read out loud. As a whole, the book is very colorful and will grab the attention of children and parents alike.
Consideration of Instructional Application: This book is a creation story in a sense, so it could be used when we are explaining other cultures to our students. They could learn about the different ways that different cultures explain how to world was made. Also, the kids could be taught not to take things from others, like Prometheus did with the fire, because the consequences are not always going to be good.

[Sophia Lawrence · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is appropriate for ages 6-9 as it has great illustrations and can be really good for explaining a well-known myth but it is not that difficult to read in general. I could possibly use this in my classroom library but not as a read aloud as it doesn't pertain to that much I would teach about.
Does the art go with the cultural focus? Yes, it does it is done by the same person so it pairs very well. The art is simple and bright and colorful and beautiful.
What is the theme? The theme is to explain common life struggles using Greek mythology. It explains why people are worried, mean, show-off, greedy, two-faced, loudmouth, and so on. The theme proves that we should not “steal from the gods” otherwise we will be punished just like Prometheus was.
Does it enhance the tale? Yes, it does. I know it isn't real because of the God that I believe in but for kids, this could be a fun story with some bright art.

[Sharlene Spencer · Rating 3 out of 5]

A children's version of Pandora's box. All the troubles that came out of the box were in the form of bugs. For example, the "worry bug". Students can use these bugs as prompts to write about feelings.

[Padmashree Rajagopalan · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was a good child story. It would teach them some morals about how to live, and maybe some beliefs about the gods! I have readan other version of this story in my class. Read it to your child or for yourself to learn about it!

[Andy Li · Rating 4 out of 5]

its good because it tells us about how Prometheus stole fire and how king zeus punished people.