The Story of Orion: A Roman Constellation Myth

Night Sky Stories

by Thomas Kingsley Troupe, Gérald Guerlais (Illustrator)

The great hunter Orion and Diana are in love. But Diana's brother, Apollo, is not happy about it. Will Apollo's evil plot to get rid of Orion work, or will Diana be able to save her beloved hunter?

Genres: Mythology, Picture Books

24 pages, Library Binding

First published August 1, 2012

Reviews

[Sandy]

My child is currently obsessed with mythology. She enjoyed this book. While the simplified story did leave her with several questions (which we answered with some help from Google), the story did serve as an entertaining introduction to Orion.

[Melissa Nelson]

If you are looking for a quick overview of Orion's story this book is a good choice, though it has a bit of a darkside that may not be suitable for sensitive children. It is well written for elementary, and even middle school, and is a quick read with modern illustrations. However, it does highlight the less favorable themes of classic mythology, such as anger, jealousy, torment, and death. The last few pages are an excellent resource for identifying the characters of the story, which could be used alone as a supplement to other resources.

[Barbara]

This simplified version of how Diana, goddess of the Moon, fell in love with the great hunter Orion shows just how rash it can be to offend the immortals. Diana's brother becomes annoyed when Diana's preoccupation with Orion leaves him to fulfill her duties, and he tricks her into shooting an arrow at Orion. After she enlists the help of Ophiuchus in bringing him back to life, Orion must contend with a scorpion whose sting causes him to die a second time. Apollo places Orion and the scorpion into the sky where they continue to shine brightly. A fan of Roman myths, I am pleased to see this one getting some attention from a modern audience. I'm not too thrilled with the odd facial expressions and body types in the story, though.