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Pegasus, the Flying Horse
Beautifully illustrated with dramatic oil paintings, a timeless story from Greek mythology comes to life and tells of Bellerophon, son of Poseidon and a mortal woman, who tames a flying horse and eventually pushes Zeus too far.
40 pages, Hardcover
First published October 1, 1998
About the author
Jane Yolen
989 books3,258 followersJane Yolen is a novelist, poet, fantasist, journalist, songwriter, storyteller, folklorist, and children’s book author who has written more than three hundred books. Her accolades include the Caldecott Medal, two Nebula Awards, the World Fantasy Award, three Mythopoeic Awards, the Kerlan Award, two Christopher Awards, and six honorary doctorate degrees from colleges and universities in Massachusetts and New Hampshire. Born and raised in New York City, the mother of three and the grandmother of six, Yolen lives in Massachusetts and St. Andrews, Scotland.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
July 11, 2022
Superb retelling of the encounter between Pegasus and Bellerophon, son of the great sea-god, Poseidon. Athena takes pity on the handsome young man's desire to ride the great winged horse and she gives him a magic bridle. But riding the horse is not enough. Neither are any of the wonderful places Pegasus takes Bellerophon, the kings he meets, nor the beautiful princess he marries. He wants nothing less than to be a god!
A teaching tale much like that of Daedalus and Icarus, Bellerophon must fly too high and be brought to destruction as he will not listen to his cautioning advisors. This, however, is a tale within a tale, and one is left wondering, who is the old man relating this tale?
Besides being a wonderful story, the artwork is fully 5 stars as well. This was a gift to my horse-besotted oldest daughter many years ago. Who knows, maybe her little girl (or someone in the next generation of our family) will love horses and this beautiful book as much as she did.
A teaching tale much like that of Daedalus and Icarus, Bellerophon must fly too high and be brought to destruction as he will not listen to his cautioning advisors. This, however, is a tale within a tale, and one is left wondering, who is the old man relating this tale?
Besides being a wonderful story, the artwork is fully 5 stars as well. This was a gift to my horse-besotted oldest daughter many years ago. Who knows, maybe her little girl (or someone in the next generation of our family) will love horses and this beautiful book as much as she did.
May 12, 2022
The illustration of King Iobates' daughter is not so pretty but the rest of the illustrations are very nice. I thought this would be a Perseus story but it was nice to read about the story of Bellerophon and his unquenchable ambition.
April 21, 2018
1. This book does not have any awards.
2. Prek - 2nd Grade
3. This is a tale about the famous story of Bellerophon who is a demigod son of Poseidon. How he wanted to ride a flying horse so bad but he had to pass numerous challenges. Eventually he took advantage of Pegasus plummeted to earth we he be Americans a bigger for the rest of his life
4. I think that this story's main lesson is to not let your ego overcome you. Its the classic tale of a male hero but the only difference is that there is not a happy ending.
5. I would not use this book in my classroom.
2. Prek - 2nd Grade
3. This is a tale about the famous story of Bellerophon who is a demigod son of Poseidon. How he wanted to ride a flying horse so bad but he had to pass numerous challenges. Eventually he took advantage of Pegasus plummeted to earth we he be Americans a bigger for the rest of his life
4. I think that this story's main lesson is to not let your ego overcome you. Its the classic tale of a male hero but the only difference is that there is not a happy ending.
5. I would not use this book in my classroom.
November 7, 2016
We really enjoyed this version of the classic Greek tale.
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March 1, 2016Title: Pegasus, the Flying Horse
Author: Jane Yolen
Illustrator: Li Ming
Genre: Myth
Theme(s): To be prudent, Greek God/Goddesses, Pride, Being content with what you already have
Opening line/sentence: It was a bright and pearly day in old Corinth when the boy Ios and his father went to buy a horse at the market.
Brief Book Summary: A young boy, Ios, and his father were walking to the market when they cam across a beggar who began to tell them a story of a flying horse with wings, named Pegasus. The beggar tells of a boy, Bellerophon, whose only dream was to find Pegasus but when he did he became selfish and desired more and more things and ultimately caused the death of his brother. After visiting two Kings, Bellerophon is sent on a mission to defeat the beast called Chimaera and after he weds a King’s daughter. Bellerophon continued to want more which led to him falling from the sky, greatly injuring his body, and becoming a beggar on the streets of Corinth.
Professional Recommendation/Review #1: Publishers Weekly (Publishers Weekly)
Yolen and Ming (previously paired for Merlin and the Dragons) mine Greek myth to retell the story of Bellerophon, the boy who tames a flying horse. Yolen recounts the tale through the voice of a beggar--who, as it transpires in the end, may or may not himself be Bellerophon. Although the telling is not as stately as in Marianna Mayer's and Kinuko Y. Craft's recent Pegasus, the prose is fluid and smooth, and the author deftly wrings the drama from the tale, from the boy's encounter with the goddess Athena and his battle with the hideous Chimaera to his tragic fall from glory. Ming capitalizes on the story's dramatic moments as well, and his oil paintings have a larger-than-life quality. There's a dreamy quality to his artwork--figures and objects blur slightly at the edges, bleeding into shadow and clouds--and the sense of elusiveness is sustained by a palette that shifts from the dark and fiery colors for Bellerophon's battle with the monster to the soft pastels of the skies for the airborne rides of boy and horse.
Professional Recommendation/Review #2: Joan Payzant (CM Magazine, September 3, 1999 (Vol. VI, No. 1))
Pegasus, the Flying Horse, an attractive book in appearance, is written by award winning author Jane Yolen and illustrated by Li Ming whose beautiful oil paintings are found on every page. A good reader or a talented story teller would savor the drama of the myth of Bellerophon who rode on Pegasus to slay the three headed monster, the Chimaera, thereby winning a princess for his bride. For readers with less ability and less love of Greek myth, the book will not have as great an appeal. The cast of characters with their foreign sounding names and the unfamiliar place names make for difficult reading or listening. The brilliant illustrations may succeed in holding the attention of those children, but, on the whole, it is a book for a select few. However, in these days when classics are rarely taught, it will be a valuable resource to introduce the subject of mythology. Recommended for children who enjoy myths and whose parents or librarians have the necessary funds for a beautiful book with limited appeal.
Response to Two Professional Reviews: The illustrations bring the story to life with the realistic images and change of colors due to the actions, thus making it appealing to readers. This is a book that is meant for older, more proficient readers. The names of some of the characters are difficult to pronounce which may take away from the myth’s drama if one does not understand.
Evaluation of Literary Elements: The style of this story creates a different method retelling than what readers may be used to. A beggar is telling a story within a story creating an interesting read with a surprising ending. The author simply could have told the story of Bellerophon and Pegasus, but instead the author told the story through Bellerophon’s point of view, which the reader does not know until the end.
Consideration of Instructional Application: This would be a book I would use for older students because of the events that take place throughout. I would read it aloud with my students to introduce the topic of Greek mythology. I would use this as a beginning of a project for my students to research a Greek God of their choice. I would then have them retell their God’s story in a way that strays from traditional writing, so they could use a PowerPoint, make a video, write a poem, etc.
Author: Jane Yolen
Illustrator: Li Ming
Genre: Myth
Theme(s): To be prudent, Greek God/Goddesses, Pride, Being content with what you already have
Opening line/sentence: It was a bright and pearly day in old Corinth when the boy Ios and his father went to buy a horse at the market.
Brief Book Summary: A young boy, Ios, and his father were walking to the market when they cam across a beggar who began to tell them a story of a flying horse with wings, named Pegasus. The beggar tells of a boy, Bellerophon, whose only dream was to find Pegasus but when he did he became selfish and desired more and more things and ultimately caused the death of his brother. After visiting two Kings, Bellerophon is sent on a mission to defeat the beast called Chimaera and after he weds a King’s daughter. Bellerophon continued to want more which led to him falling from the sky, greatly injuring his body, and becoming a beggar on the streets of Corinth.
Professional Recommendation/Review #1: Publishers Weekly (Publishers Weekly)
Yolen and Ming (previously paired for Merlin and the Dragons) mine Greek myth to retell the story of Bellerophon, the boy who tames a flying horse. Yolen recounts the tale through the voice of a beggar--who, as it transpires in the end, may or may not himself be Bellerophon. Although the telling is not as stately as in Marianna Mayer's and Kinuko Y. Craft's recent Pegasus, the prose is fluid and smooth, and the author deftly wrings the drama from the tale, from the boy's encounter with the goddess Athena and his battle with the hideous Chimaera to his tragic fall from glory. Ming capitalizes on the story's dramatic moments as well, and his oil paintings have a larger-than-life quality. There's a dreamy quality to his artwork--figures and objects blur slightly at the edges, bleeding into shadow and clouds--and the sense of elusiveness is sustained by a palette that shifts from the dark and fiery colors for Bellerophon's battle with the monster to the soft pastels of the skies for the airborne rides of boy and horse.
Professional Recommendation/Review #2: Joan Payzant (CM Magazine, September 3, 1999 (Vol. VI, No. 1))
Pegasus, the Flying Horse, an attractive book in appearance, is written by award winning author Jane Yolen and illustrated by Li Ming whose beautiful oil paintings are found on every page. A good reader or a talented story teller would savor the drama of the myth of Bellerophon who rode on Pegasus to slay the three headed monster, the Chimaera, thereby winning a princess for his bride. For readers with less ability and less love of Greek myth, the book will not have as great an appeal. The cast of characters with their foreign sounding names and the unfamiliar place names make for difficult reading or listening. The brilliant illustrations may succeed in holding the attention of those children, but, on the whole, it is a book for a select few. However, in these days when classics are rarely taught, it will be a valuable resource to introduce the subject of mythology. Recommended for children who enjoy myths and whose parents or librarians have the necessary funds for a beautiful book with limited appeal.
Response to Two Professional Reviews: The illustrations bring the story to life with the realistic images and change of colors due to the actions, thus making it appealing to readers. This is a book that is meant for older, more proficient readers. The names of some of the characters are difficult to pronounce which may take away from the myth’s drama if one does not understand.
Evaluation of Literary Elements: The style of this story creates a different method retelling than what readers may be used to. A beggar is telling a story within a story creating an interesting read with a surprising ending. The author simply could have told the story of Bellerophon and Pegasus, but instead the author told the story through Bellerophon’s point of view, which the reader does not know until the end.
Consideration of Instructional Application: This would be a book I would use for older students because of the events that take place throughout. I would read it aloud with my students to introduce the topic of Greek mythology. I would use this as a beginning of a project for my students to research a Greek God of their choice. I would then have them retell their God’s story in a way that strays from traditional writing, so they could use a PowerPoint, make a video, write a poem, etc.
April 13, 2010
Genre: Myth
Summary: This is a retelling of the Greek myth of Bellerphon. Set in Ancient Corinth, Ios and his father meet an old beggar while on their way to by the boy horse. The beggar recounts the adventures of a flying horse named Pegasus with the young Corinthian Bellerophon. Throughout the story, Bellerophon was never satisfied with what he had and believed that because he is the son of Poseidon, he should be given a place on Mount Olympus with the other Gods. Eventually, Zeus punishes him for his hubris.
Response: I loved the illustrations in this book. It reminded me of renaissance paintings found in Italy. I also liked the message concerning hubris in the story. The beggar cautions that “To fly to high is to fall too far.”
Theme/Concept/Connections: Hubris, Greed, Mythology, Magical Creatures, Ancient Civilizations
Summary: This is a retelling of the Greek myth of Bellerphon. Set in Ancient Corinth, Ios and his father meet an old beggar while on their way to by the boy horse. The beggar recounts the adventures of a flying horse named Pegasus with the young Corinthian Bellerophon. Throughout the story, Bellerophon was never satisfied with what he had and believed that because he is the son of Poseidon, he should be given a place on Mount Olympus with the other Gods. Eventually, Zeus punishes him for his hubris.
Response: I loved the illustrations in this book. It reminded me of renaissance paintings found in Italy. I also liked the message concerning hubris in the story. The beggar cautions that “To fly to high is to fall too far.”
Theme/Concept/Connections: Hubris, Greed, Mythology, Magical Creatures, Ancient Civilizations
January 30, 2010
My daughter liked this the best of the three stories we have read about the Pegasus so far. It wasn’t as difficult to follow as the first we read, nor as simplistic and overly-cheery as the second. What she particularly liked, I think, was the frame story, which included a twist. I liked the book’s message that “A story need not be actual to be true,” which opened up a good conversation about “truth” verses “historical fact.”
January 16, 2011
Logan loves Greek mythology and enjoyed this retelling. A Corinthian boy and his father are on the way to market to buy a horse when a beggar stops them and tells them a cautionary story, of a young man who wants to be a god and whose ambitions are fueled when Athena allows him to ride her horse, Pegasus. There's a great twist at the end which 6-year-old Logan is just old enough to have recognized with a little help.
December 31, 2017
Retelling of Bellerophon and Pegasus. Had fun reading this to my horse-obsessed 1st grade daughter. It's a bit on the long side, and I didn't care much for the illustrations, but she enjoyed it, and I did like learning about the Greek myth.
February 8, 2016
My kid and I enjoyed the set-up of this story, but the moral seemed rather muddled. The illustrations are nice, but there's something odd about them that I can't quite pinpoint. Too many shadows, maybe? The scene where Bellerophon is kissing King Iobates' daughter looks weird to me.
January 23, 2012
A bit boring, and I didn't understand much of what was in the book.
April 17, 2016
Really good picture book for this Greek myth--be prepared for a long read. . .
September 20, 2017
This is the story of Bellerophon and what his pride cost him. I love Greek stories and Jane Yolen did a great job telling it. I also loved the beautiful illustrations.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews