From Publishers Weekly
This handsome collection consists of a dozen tales from Greek mythology, most drawn from Ovid's Metamorphoses , including the stories of Echo and Narcissus, Ceres and Proserpine, Cupid and Psyche, King Midas. Osborne's retellings are both lively and descriptive, while Howell's full-color, often iridescent illustrations set the scene and mood at the start of each tale. Taken together, they provide a solid and highly readable introduction to the major Greco-Roman gods and goddesses and the myths that have profoundly shaped Western thought and literature. Helpful back-matter includes a list of key characters, partial lexicon of modern words drawn from the myths, bibliography and index. Ages 7-11.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From School Library Journal
Grade 3-6-- Not a comprehensive collection, this book contains retellings of Apuleius' "Cupid and Psyche" and of 11 stories from Ovid's Metamorphoses. The prose is lively, the versions faithful, and each myth has a full-page, gold-warmed painting in a realistic but slightly Art Deco-archaic style. Roman names are used, with Greek equivalents given but no pronunciation key. A list of modern myth-related words classifies them as of "Greek origins," though many (e.g., cereal) are patently from Latin roots; and some obvious choices (jovial, panic, psychology) are omitted. The brief introduction repeats the dubious idea that Greek myths "explain" nature, which in any case is not a help in understanding Ovid's reworkings. Many more stories (including those of Prometheus, Pandora, Deucalion and Pyrraha, Io, Niobe, Pygmalion, Oedipus, Bellerophon, Perseus, Heracles, Jason, Theseus, Odysseus, et. al. , all missing here) and illustrations can be found in the Macmillan Book of Greek Gods and Heroes (1985) or Gods, Men and Monsters from the Greek Myths (Schocken, 1982). --Patricia Dooley, University of Washington, Seattle
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.
