This fascinating collection presents twelve stories of the zodiac, featuring a variety of Greek gods and goddesses, as well as heroes and heroines who battle ferocious monsters. Children will enjoy the exciting stories of Jason and the Argonauts, Demeter and Persephone, and Theseus and the hideous Minotaur. Other stories feature Zeus, Hermes, and Aphrodite, making this a wonderful Introduction to Greek mythology. The book also provides an easy-to-understand explanation of how stars move throughout the sky, along with descriptions of the personality traits modern horoscopes attribute to each sign.
Pretty pictures and prettified versions of Greek myths make for a nice mid-level children's book, but the use of the zodiac to organize the myths makes them confusing, as does the author's tendency to drop in characters without much context as to who they are outside of the principals in any given story. Thus, I found myself wondering if, were I someone with no previous knowledge of Greek mythology, would I be able to follow along the nuances of these stories the way they are being told. That said, many other readers probably wouldn't be phased by this, and as a jumping off point for myth study, using the zodiac, with its more pervasive pop culture cache, probably isn't a bad idea.