Customer Reviews

The Children's Homer

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

I read this book to my Grade 4 class with some initial reservations, thinking it would be beyond them. THEY LOVED IT! A couple of brighter ones were particularly interested in Greek myths before I started, and they helped to spark the whole class, but they all were able to understand it. I checked with the class a number of times to see if they wanted me to continue, and it was always a unanimous YES! Knowing that the Odyssey and the Illiad are considered the greatest stories of all time, and such ancient, ancient stories, really hooked them in them. Padraic Colum's language is sophisticated, and the sentence structure is complex, but it is so lyrical and clean, the kids seemed caught in a spell listening to it. One of the lovely things about reading classics to children, is that they see how imbedded in our culture they are. For instance, they could recognize Homer's influence in cartoons and T.V. shows! When we finished, one of the rich discussion topics was how Homer's and the early Greeks' view of women affects our society today. A number of parents expressed gratitude and awe that I would read such sophisticated literature to young children, and were highly impressed with their children's interest in it.

The Children's Homer is a great book for older elementary children if they like adventure and are interested in learning about Greek society. It is an excellent book about the great Greek hero Odysseus and his son, Telemachus. When Telemachus is a baby his father, Odysseus, is called to go to war. When Telemachus grows older, the goddess Athene tells him to go seek his father. Telemachus obeys and great adventure begins. I personally thought that the names were hard to keep up with, but the book holds much magic and adventure. I also would have never wanted to read the book on my own, but I'm glad I got the chance in school. The book kept me interested just about all the time, and I always looked forward to reading more. My favorite character was Odysseus, because he was brave and wise. He would listen to advice given to him and was polite and thankful. I think I will always remember the story because it shows many good character traits that everyone needs.

This book is a 1965 retelling of Homer's The Iliad and The Odyssey meant for children. The language is sophisticated and old-fashioned, with complex sentence structure. The vocabulary, including names of people and places, is very difficult. The storylines are intricate and challenging to follow, especially when read intermittently. While these qualities may capture the spirit of the original story, they also make for difficult reading for children. Furthermore, the 250-page length will daunt most young readers. Scattered throughout the text are simple black and white full-page line drawings; each chapter also begins with a small, illustrated head. The illustrations are static, but recall the style of classical Greek figured vases. While classical Greek mythology can be popular subject with children, this retelling does not significantly simplify the story or the language for young readers. Even read aloud, the complicated story lines may be challenging to follow. For reading in school, the book would be greatly enhanced with a glossary, guide to pronunciation, annotations, and maps. For leisure reading, I would recommend this book only for highly motivated children and young adults.

As a homeschooled child, I read this book when I was eight and thoroughly enjoyed it; now, at fifteen, I have just finished reading the original Iliad and Odyssey for the second time. Reading them made me realize how much The Children's Homer helped me, both in exposing me to the epics and giving me a basic overview of the story. My only complaint was that it lacked the strength and beauty of the original, but that is understandable.
I would also recommend The Greek Way (Edith Hamilton) as an excellent look into ancient Greek philosophy and philosophers. I read this in the same course as The Children's Homer and it has become my favorite history book-children will enjoy it, but parents had best let them read it to themselves; it is unfair for parents to monopolize children's books.
Marion Doak, student

This is a wonderful introduction to the world of Homer and the Greek heros of the Trojan war. As previous reviewers have mentioned this is a story combining The Illiad and Odyssey. By today standards the language could be archaic, but if you are teaching in the classical method I find it necessary to learn the prose of the past in order to read the classics of the ancient world. If nothing else it promotes thought and requires the reader to thoroughly pay attention.
This book flows poetically and captivates your imagination. Your children will not be disappointed.

Padraic Colum (1881-1972) saw the need to introduce the classics to young children. In 1918 he published this book The Children's Homer which combines the retelling of both Homer's Illiad and Odyssey. It is obvious that his idea and his book has stood the test of time since this book is now in reprint for our children to learn from today. The few illustrations are by Willy Pogany and are well done. This is an excellent way to introduce our children or the younger student to the classics.
Simon & Schuster's Aladdin Paperback published this edition and on the back cover they offer a web site of www.SimonSaysKids.com for all who are interested.

I was looking for a book about the classic Greek tales to read with my son. Reading the other reviews I believed this book would due for my son and me. It has not been enjoyable because the vocabulary and sentence structure is beyond young children. My opinion is that it is a fine book and well written but is deceiving in its assertion that it is for children.

I truly enjoyed teaching this book to my eighth graders this spring and plan to teach it again next year. My students were caught up in the action and drama of this combination of stories. A great companion to this book is the made-for-television movie "The Odyssey" starring Armand Asante and Isabella Rosellini.

I read this book to my second oldest child, who is an 11 year old girl. We homeschool and are using Sonlight's 6th grade program for her this year. This book was part of her history program. While I enjoyed it myself she definitely DID NOT. Some of the language was beyond her understanding, the plot was hard for her to follow because it switches back and forth so much between the past and the present, and she says it was just plain boring. I wish so much that we had read Rosemary Sutcliff's books, "Black Ships Before Troy" and "The Wanderings of Oddyseus" instead. They are much more interesting, easier to follow, and the artwork in them is GEORGEOUS. (Not much artwork in TCH.) Those books are much more suitable for yonger children and adults alike. Unfortunately I can't stop now and read them to my daughter or we will get all off track but I hope to work them in at a later date and when my younger three children do Sonlight 6 we will replace The Children's Homer with the Sutcliff books.

I'm reading this to my homeschooled 10 year old son, and he loves it. He's very interested in mythology (Greek and Roman), and loves hearing the names of Gods and Goddesses he's been studying. My middle daughter would probably not be ready for the same story, but each child progesses differently and may enjoy hearing it in another year, especially with some fun mythological unit studies or prep work of another sort in advance.