Tales From the Odyssey CD Collection

Tales from the Odyssey #1-6

by Mary Pope Osborne, James Simmons (Reader)

In this acclaimed series based on episodes from Homer's Odyssey, bestselling author Mary Pope Osborne brings one of the greatest adventures of all time to a dramatic life. When Odysseus must leave his home to fight in the Trojan War, he never imagines that he will be away from his family for so many years. Now, at long last, he is leading his men home across the seas. Many dangers await them–including Polyphemus, the one–eyed giant, Circe, the beautiful witch, sirens, and the Land of the Dead. But the greatest danger awaits Odysseus at home in Ithaca, where a gang of men have moved into his home and plagued his wife and son.

Genres: Classics, Audiobook, Juvenile, Childrens, Ancient History, Fiction

Audio CD

First published October 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

[Lorri · Rating 5 out of 5]

My kids loved listening to this. Mary Pope Osbourne did a great job abridging the story and making it appropriate for younger readers.

[Jenny · Rating 4 out of 5]

After we finished our history audiobook for the year (about 6 months early... whoops?) I went searching through our library catalog for other history audiobooks available on CD we could listen to in the car.

There wasn't much. But Osborne's Tales from the Odyssey popped up in my search, and I reluctantly put it on hold. I'm not a fan of her Magic Tree House books and didn't expect much from this one. But it was excellently done--age appropriate while still hitting the highlights of The Odyssey (and the narrator was fabulous). The girls were completely enthralled. You know it's a good audiobook when they beg to be allowed to sit in the car and keep listening long after you've reached your destination.

Elements of The Odyssey have been taking over their pretend play, and E added The Children's Homer and Tales of Greek Heroes to her book basket. It's always a win when books lead to more books.

[Catherine Lowe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great introduction to Homer by Mary Pope Osborne, writer of the Magic Treehouse books! The author makes this epic story accessible as she has done with other books including "Favorite Greek Myths" and "Favorite Medieval Tales." She tells the Odyssey in a series of six short books. Repetition of story sequence and extra information about Greek gods is very useful.

[Sara Vandenbos · Rating 4 out of 5]

The kids and I read all 6 of these stories. They loved the stories. The writing is easier to understand for young listeners vs the original stories.

[Anna Kling · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good audiobook telling of the Odyssey, really excited to give my kids the hardcopy series.

[Ami · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a wonderful introduction to Homer; the kids love it. We listened to it the first time a few years ago as a family (my oldest son was about 8) and enjoyed it. My now 8 yo daughter listened to segments again because she's just a diehard fan of Mary Pope Osborne and had no interest in Homer but now she's hooked. It's along the lines of watching classic Loony Tunes and getting a good intro to the greats in classical music at the same time without even realizing it. My now 11 yo son has also come back around to this. He has some challenges that make it difficult to read a book with much enjoyment. However, he flies through audio books often "reading" books high above his reading level but not his comprehension (if that makes sense). He got it because of the cover artwork and because I told him it was full of great adventure and mythical beasts since he only vaguely remembered it from berfore. He enjoyed our discussions about it and he's actually interested in delving further into Homer, which is what I had hoped when I encouraged him to choose this one over Darth Paper (no, not a typo; apparently someone conceived of an origami Star Wars universe) for the month. Not that the series is bad. It's actually quite cute and got him into origami which he went nuts with. :) He's also started digging into Greek myth, which is no bad thing.

[Trace · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a FANTASTIC introduction to Homer!! My son was hooked from the very first chapter. Mary Pope Osborne's rendition of this age-old tale is jam packed full of excitement but she handles the more graphic scenes in a very age-appropriate way. The storyteller James Simmons was fabulous...
LOVED it!

Just as a side note.... I had no idea that my son had already a bit of knowledge about The Odyssey... apparently there is an Arthur episode where the Odyssey story is told?? In any case, I was impressed that he remembered most of the framework of the story.... there is a reason that classics are classics.... :)

[Kelvin Reed · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a former elementary teacher, I still enjoy children’s literature from time to time, especially stories about Greek mythology. I found the audio collection of Mary Pope Osborne’s six "Tales of the Odyssey" stories (HarperFestival, 2007) to be very entertaining. It chronicled the perilous and fantastic adventures of Greek hero Odysseus as he journeys home to Ithaca after the Trojan wars. There are gods and monsters aplenty in these tales, but the violence is a bit too gruesome for young children. Highly recommended for readers age ten and up.

[Lesley · Rating 5 out of 5]

I downloaded this on Audible for my 10 year old--she finished listening to it in a matter of days. I had to physically remove my iPod so she would go to sleep.. My only regret is that this was not available when my older daughter was 10--what a great introduction to the Odyssey. The 10 year old wants to listen to it again! Great job.

[Shannon · Rating 5 out of 5]

04/09: So much fun! We have this series in hard-copy and on CD. We used it in homeschooling when the boys were quite young. Had them listen to the stories on CD as they read along. Excellent introduction to the Odyssey. I enjoyed it as much as they did. But, I appreciated the audio with headphones to give me a break.

[Jennie · Rating 5 out of 5]

We listened to these CDs and followed along in the books. My children LOVED them. Each day they couldn't wait to start reading again. It was a great introduction to mythology and I enjoyed re-hearing all the stories. Now my boys sees illusions to the odyssey every where. It is great.

[Martha · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fresh, clear telling of the famous road trip. Osborne keeps the excitement and action, lightens up on the gore to come up with a "G" / PG-13 rated set of stories, perfect for a long family drive.

Listen / read with the "Lightening Thief" series, also for 5th / 7th graders.

[Renee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fabulous audio books. We all enjoyed this re-telling immensely.

[Jen · Rating 5 out of 5]

We listened to this on our drive to Disneyland and back -- kept us all entranced. The narrator has a soothing voice, but the story kept us awake. Great adaptation for kids.

[K · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic! Had my children and I enthralled from start to finish !

[Jules · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well done! We enjoyed listening to this as a family.