Snake Hair: The Story of Medusa

by Stephanie Spinner, Susan Swan (Illustrator)

Provides the tale of the once beautiful woman who was cursed by the gods for being vain and lived the rest of her life as a monstrous and feared creature who could turn others to stone from just one look at her face. Simultaneous.

Genres: Picture Books, Mythology

48 pages, Paperback

First published July 19, 1999

About the author

I was born in Davenport, Iowa, and grew up in Rockaway Beach, New York. I read straight through my childhood, with breaks for food, sleep, and the bathroom. I went to college in Bennington, Vermont, moved to New York City, and took a job in publishing so I could get paid for reading. I read so much bad fiction that I needed a break, so I moved to London, and from there I traveled to Morocco, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan India, Nepal, and Ceylon. I came back to America, wandered around some more -- to Mexico, Guatemala, and Belize -- and on returning to New York decided to study Tibetan Buddhist painting (called thangka painting) in Boulder, Colorado.

I painted thangkas for many years. Each one took anywhere from several weeks to a few months to complete, and at long last I understood that this was not the ideal way for me to make a living. Only a few hundred Americans collected thangkas, and they wanted old ones, painted by Tibetan monks. It was time to make a change.

So I took another publishing job, this time in children’s books. I found that I liked children’s books a lot, and before long, I became an editor.

Years passed. I was encouraged to write. I scoffed at the idea that I had anything to write about. I edited some wonderfully talented authors -- Virginia Hamilton, Philip Isaacson, Clyde Robert Bulla, Gloria Whelan, Robin McKinley, Joan Vinge, Garth Nix, and Chris Lynch, among others -- with great enjoyment. Writing seemed like torture by comparison.

Then, to my amazement, I found myself writing a book and having a good time -- simultaneously! The book was ALIENS FOR BREAKFAST, and I enjoyed writing it because my co-author was Jonathan Etra. Jon (who died of heart disease in 1990) was a close friend with a wild sense of humor, and collaborating with him changed my opinion of writing forever. After ALIENS FOR BREAKFAST, and ALIENS FOR LUNCH, which we also co-wrote, I began to think that writing could be interesting fun.

And now that I’ve been doing it full-time for more than ten years, I can tell you why I like it better than a job. First, I can work in my bathrobe. (To the FedEx man and the UPS man, I am "the woman in the plaid flannel robe.") Second, I can eat when I’m hungry, choose when to take phone calls, and walk my dogs any time. Third, the only meetings I have -- and they’re short -- are with the dry cleaner and the post office ladies. Fourth, I can read whatever I please. I may tell people I’m doing research when I read about horse-trekking, or hunting in ancient Greece, or 16 ways to better compost, but the truth is, I’m not doing research, I’m having a good time. Which I think is still allowed.

Reviews

[☼Bookish in Virginia☼ · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had the chance to read this book to a small group of girls (sorry no boys in my group today) in my daughter's first grade class and they were absolutely agog over it. Normally they chat and talk and fidget, like six y.o.'s will do, while they take turns doing their book reports. But when I was showing them the pictures and reading the story there was dead silence and open mouths. They simply loved it, and I don't know of a better testimonial.

Now lest you think this is kiddy 'chic lit', my four y.o. son likes it as well. And one of the reasons for this is that the book is just as much about Perseus as it is Medusa. [Medusa obviously had a better press agent and, of course, makes for an intriguing cover.] In fact though, we leave the unfortunate former-beauty on page 11 and don't take up with her until some pages later.

Instead, we become involved with our hero, Perseus, who we find in the company of a very naughty king who wants him gone and done away with. To accomplish this, the king asks Perseus to kill Medusa. [Note to moms, dads, and other caregivers: murder is a frequent theme in this book.] Being clueless as to the king's real intent, Perseus agrees. But not being a knucklehead, Perseus goes and asks the gods for help. [Another note to adults: young children may ask what this multiple god business is all about, so you might want to have an explanation ready.] Hermes (Mercury for you Romanists) gives him a nifty pair of winged sandals, and Athena gives him a shield which is shiny like a mirror. (Athena really had it out for Medusa, didn't she?!)

There is actual drama in this little book. And it is fun to read. I stopped and asked my children what they thought Perseus would do. How would he use the shield? How would he slay the sea monster? (If you don't remember, he ran across Andromeda who was about to be eaten.)

Five Stars. Great Read-aloud. Great artwork. Good introduction to ancient literature for young folk. Both my children enjoyed it: The book has fairly simple text, if you ignore the names of the characters, but there is a lot of it. 48 pages. Non-graphic violence. Medusa looses her head, and some people and creatures are turned to stone.

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is great to read aloud to kids or as a book for them to read on their own. Very exciting from start to finish, nice illustrations and informative without being boring. I highly recommend this!

[David Kiersh · Rating 5 out of 5]

The illustrations are amazing.

[Amber · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very simple retelling of a great story. The children where very interested in the story.

[Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

a story of an epic journy