The Mighty 12: Superheroes of Greek Myth

by Charles R. Smith Jr., P. Craig Russell (Illustrations)

Meet the most impressive of the gods and goddesses of Olympus-and even a few monsters-and see them revealed for what they really ancient superheroes with the power to shift shape, move mountains, and change fate. In this innovative introduction to Greek mythology, energetic poems and dynamic comic book style illustrations create a seamless blend of the ancient and contemporary that depicts the gods in all their super-human glory.

Genres: Mythology, Poetry, Picture Books, Graphic Novels, Childrens, History, Nonfiction

48 pages, Hardcover

First published April 1, 2008

About the author

Charles R. Smith Jr. is an award-winning author, photographer, and poet with more than thirty books to his credit. His awards include a Coretta Scott King Award for illustration for his photographs accompanying the Langston Hughes poem "My People" and a Coretta Scott King Honor for his biography of Muhammad Ali, Twelve Rounds to Glory. He is the author of Rimshots, Hoop Kings, Hoop Queens, Tall Tales, Short Takes, Diamond Life, and I Am America. A father of three himself, Charles brings his love of basketball and baseball right down to the toddler set in Let's Play Basketball! and Let's Play Baseball! His recent work celebrates subjects he's been interested in since he was a kid, such as The Mighty 12, which honors Greek gods and goddesses. He currently lives in Poughkeepsie, NY, with his wife, Gillian, and their three kids. You can visit him online at www.charlesrsmithjr.com.

Reviews

[Dee Robb]

Art work was good. Little else of substance here.

[Andrew]

Who was Zeus, Apollo, Aphrodite, Hera, and the other "Superheroes" of Greek Myth?
Meet the BIG 12 primary deities of Olympus, told with striking Renaissance style illustrations by P. Craig Russell (they're really beautiful, even Hephaestus), and poems of their "mighty deeds" by Charles R. Smith, Jr.

While this is a good intro for youth into the world of Myths, it DEFINITELY shies away from the darker sides of these Gods and Goddesses, even poetically.
Additionally, the only non-Gods featured include Cerberus and Medusa.
Good intro, beautiful artwork, nice poetry...

[L M]

Illustrated in graphic novel style; text might be dense for some younger readers

[Blue Mountain Middle School]

A poetic guide to the major Greek gods, this is a quick overview of the god and goddesses, their powers and interests, their personality, and some insight into how mortals viewed them. A quick read and literary reference with rhythmic prose, but limited as a resource for reports or in depth study of Greek mythology.

[Kaycee]

The Greek gods are a dynamic bunch with hundreds of different myths and tales that have been told about each of them for thousands of years. This book has taken the rich mythology and limited it to clumsy rhymes. The book has separate poems about each of the gods and various other mythological creatures. The poems have a very halted sense of rhythm and some of the wording is clumsy and prevents a nice flow of words. More often than not the poems don't really tell a story either. They tell a little about the gods personality but readers would have learned a lot more about the personalities if some of the myths were actually told. The art is decent its colorful and the illustrator tends to cover the more risqué parts with cloth but the lack of clothes among some of the men seems unnecessary. Also since the text told so little about the gods I would have hoped the artwork would go deeper but it only contained one scene for each god. I wouldn't really recommend this book for any student in the fear it would turn them off of graphic novels and Greek mythology.

[Tawny]

This book was alright. I think it is great that it has the potential to teach young children about the different Greek mythology. I was not too drawn into that book but that may be because I already know all about these Greek Myths. But one of my favorites is the story of Medusa. The pictures through out the entire book are really good. There is a lot of color and great facial expressions in all of the characters. I might see this book as a potential book to read to my students but there might be a better book that will deliver this same message.

[Mary Ann]

I really enjoyed this book on Greek mythology. The illustrations are dynamic and engaging. They present the Greek Gods a bit like comic book heroes. But the description of each god is actually written in poetic form.

It would make a great companion to the Percy Jackson series. This does not tell the story of the gods in story form, but rather gives information and background about who each god was and what they were famous for. It also gives some information about how they were related.

[Jesika La Bryer]

Copyright 2008
I found myself not really retaining any of the information in the book because I just wanted to be done. I see the importance of Greek Gods, but I just didn't like this book. However, the appearance and illustrations would be very appealing for those who like comic book type books.

[Sam Bloom]

This one is good for grade 5 and up. Excellent, comic book-style illustrations and prosey poems about the Greek gods and goddesses - very entertaining. I may have to use this as a reference when reading the new Percy Jackson book...

[Tara]

I wish I could say that the cool illustrations make up for the lack of readability of the text, but... I can't. It is almost a weird mix of a comic book and a poetry book. Not a good choice for someone trying to learn about mythology, but if someone if already into mythology, they might enjoy it.

[Hoa]

It should read like a poem, but doesn't quite make it. I learned some new bits of information from the book, but this format didn't work for me. The boys loved the pictures and were pleased by the content. It complements the greek mythology stories we've encountered.

[Rachel]

Interesting combination of graphic novel style with poetry. Poems are complex, don't always flow sometimes rhyme and sometimes not which makes them harder to flow though. Scope and inclusions are sometimes a little odd, but has some very interesting elements

[Sarah]

Because we all knew the Greek pantheon were the superheroes of the past, but now kids can see it for themselves.

[The Styling Librarian]

Entertaining GN, connect with my Percy Jackson students.

[Mas5thgrade2012]

poemy
evilteddy

[Matthew]

The text is not bad but the artwork by P. Craig Russell is what makes this book on Greek mythology.

[Fiona]

Enjoyed the insight into greek mythology, but the poetry bored me to bits - preferring to just skim through the book. The 3 stars are for the illustrations.

[Lisa Kidder]

http://damiandaily.wordpress.com/2009...

[Monique]

Colorful and wonderful artist expression but the prose may be too detailed for small kids.