Snake Hair: The Story of Medusa (All Aboard Reading) [Paperback]

Stephanie Spinner (Author), Susan Swan (Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 6 and up | Grade Level: 1 and up

Cursed by the gods for her vanity, Medusa becomes a monster with snakes for hair--and the ability to turn all whose gaze upon her to stone. Full color.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 6 and up
  
• Paperback: 48 pages
• Publisher: Grosset & Dunlap (July 19, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0448419815
• ISBN-13: 978-0448419817
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.7 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #642,642 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Myth, Great illustrations, August 15, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Snake Hair: The Story of Medusa (All Aboard Reading) (Paperback)

I bought this book sight unseen and was extremely pleased. This is a early reader for 1-3 grades but my 3.5 year-old son loves it. It tells the story of Medusa and and how Perseus slayed her and killed the sea serpent to save Andromeda. The Greek names have instructions on how they are pronounced. The illustrations are particularly appealling - photographed paper collages that give them a 3-dimensional look. Medusa's hair is made of multi-colored, multi-patterned paper snakes! This is good little book!

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Ancient story in a new, bold rendition!!, May 22, 2001

By 

Chess Heart "paxbear" (Canton, OH) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Snake Hair: The Story of Medusa (All Aboard Reading) (Paperback)

Medusa was a very beautiful Greek woman who was proud of her hair. She combed it lovingly each day and thought it her most beautiful feature. However, being foolish as well as beautiful, she one day made the mistake of saying that her hair was even more beautiful than Athena. "That," reads the story, "was a big mistake."

The rest is, as they say, history. Athena, in a fit of rage, turns Medusa's hair into a nest of writhing, wriggling snakes. Medusa's skin turns green and scaly. She is so horrifying, that as she flees into the forest, animals turn to stone.

Years pass and young Perseus decides to go forth and kill Medusa. The king is pleased with Perseus, not because Medusa will no longer be a threat, but because the king secretly does not like Perseus-- "he wanted Perseus to fail. He hoped Perseus would die."

Outfitted with a shiny shield and flying sandals by other gods, Perseus seeks out and does manage to kill Medusa. On his way home, he finds the beautiful Andromeda chained to a rock as a giant sea monster approaches. Perseus rescues the young, beautiful woman, and returns home to the king.

The story of Medusa is as old as civilization itself. Ms. Spinner has made the story very accessible to young readers in grade 1-3, and the illustrations by Ms. Swan are detailed and astonishing. Each picture is a photograph of 3-dimensional cut paper collages which are sometimes very complicated, like the tangled mess of snakes on Medusa's head. The collages clearly must have taken hours to cut and assemble, making this a beautiful work of art as well as a good story for beginning readers.

The text by Ms. Spinner is short but not choppy. It flows well from beginning to end without being confusing, which will help children who are just learning to read. The subject is a good one-- a hideous creature turning people to stone just by looking at them! It certainly will hold a child's interest! Ms. Spinner has also included pronunciation guides to the Greek names, which will not only aid in decoding, but will help reinforce breaking words into syllables.

Though short and intended for beginning readers, this is a wonderful book and clearly the author and illustrator took their time and intended it to be a story that will be read over and over again. As a teacher, I would recommend this story to be including in a beginning basal reader, or multiple copies used for group reading. Art teachers could easily use this book as well to discuss 3-D rendering and collages for all grade levels.

Masterfully executed, a highly recommended book!!

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The story of Perseus and Medesa told with cut paper pictures, February 19, 2002

By 

Lawrance M. Bernabo (The Zenith City, Duluth, Minnesota) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Snake Hair: The Story of Medusa (All Aboard Reading) (Paperback)

The cut paper illustrations by Susan Swan are the chief charm of this All Aboard Reading Level 2 (Grades 1-3) book written by Stephanie Spinner. "Snake Hair" is, as the sub-title indicates, "The Story of Medusa," who in this version is a vain young girl who makes the terrible mistake of saying that her hair is more beautiful than that of Athena. The angry goddess change's Medusa's hair to snakes and makes her so ugly her look will turn any living thing that looks at her to stone. What follows is the story of the hero Perseus, who is aided by the gods to fulfill his destiny. The illustrations here by Swan are absolutely exquisite and I find it incredible that these were actually cut by hand and are not computer generated (look at the chains on Andromeda, for example). Teachers who use this book in class should be prepared for young students wanting to try their hand at this particular art form (I could never, ever do this).

One of the interesting things about classical mythology are the different variations that exist on the story of Medusa, Perseus and many others...Other myths tell of Medusa as being one of the three Gorgons, who were dragonlike creatures with wings whose look turned men to stone. In some myths it is said that Pegasus, the winged stallion, was born of the Gorgon's blood after Perseus slew Medusa (the one Gorgon who was not immortal apparently). As for Medusa's head, it supposedly becomes part of the aegis, the shield of Zeus carried by Athena. Consequently, having been introduced to the wonderful world of mythology, young readers will have many more fascinating tales to read and learn about in the years to come.