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BabyLit® Primers
The Odyssey: A BabyLit® Monsters Primer
BabyLit® is a fashionable way to introduce your toddler to the world of classic literature, and little ones will love The Odyssey: A BabyLit® Monsters Primer.
Monsters don’t have to be scary; meet ten monsters from Odysseus’ epic journey home, illustrated in funny, friendly ways. Featuring moaning, groaning ghosts; a silly Cyclops; goofy lotus eaters; and two colorful sea monsters. With clever, simple text by Jennifer Adams, paired with stylish design and illustrations by Sugar’s Alison Oliver, these books are a must for every savvy parent’s nursery library. Collect all twenty-four classic literature-inspired BabyLit® primers!
Monsters don’t have to be scary; meet ten monsters from Odysseus’ epic journey home, illustrated in funny, friendly ways. Featuring moaning, groaning ghosts; a silly Cyclops; goofy lotus eaters; and two colorful sea monsters. With clever, simple text by Jennifer Adams, paired with stylish design and illustrations by Sugar’s Alison Oliver, these books are a must for every savvy parent’s nursery library. Collect all twenty-four classic literature-inspired BabyLit® primers!
22 pages, Board book
Published September 5, 2016
3 people are currently reading
360 people want to read
About the author
Jennifer Adams
181 books199 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
Jennifer Adams is the author of more than forty books. Her bestselling BabyLit board books (published by Gibbs Smith) introduce small children to the world of classic literature and have sold 1.5 million copies. She is the author of another series of board books, My Little Cities.
Jennifer’s picture books for children, Edgar Gets Ready for Bed, Edgar and the Tattle-Tale Heart and Edgar and the Tree House of Usher are inspired by Edgar Allan Poe’s poem “The Raven.” She also has two new picture books forthcoming from HarperCollins.
Her titles also include books for adults, including Y is for Yorick, a slightly irreverent look at Shakespeare, and Remarkably Jane, notable quotations on Jane Austen.
Jennifer graduated from the University of Washington. She has 20 years’ experience as a book editor, including at Gibbs Smith and Quirk Books. She currently works as a consulting editor for Sounds True, developing their children’s line. Jennifer works some evenings at her local independent bookstore, The King’s English, to feed her book habit. She lives in Salt Lake City with her husband, Bill Dunford, who is also a writer.
(bio from author's website)
Jennifer Adams is the author of more than forty books. Her bestselling BabyLit board books (published by Gibbs Smith) introduce small children to the world of classic literature and have sold 1.5 million copies. She is the author of another series of board books, My Little Cities.
Jennifer’s picture books for children, Edgar Gets Ready for Bed, Edgar and the Tattle-Tale Heart and Edgar and the Tree House of Usher are inspired by Edgar Allan Poe’s poem “The Raven.” She also has two new picture books forthcoming from HarperCollins.
Her titles also include books for adults, including Y is for Yorick, a slightly irreverent look at Shakespeare, and Remarkably Jane, notable quotations on Jane Austen.
Jennifer graduated from the University of Washington. She has 20 years’ experience as a book editor, including at Gibbs Smith and Quirk Books. She currently works as a consulting editor for Sounds True, developing their children’s line. Jennifer works some evenings at her local independent bookstore, The King’s English, to feed her book habit. She lives in Salt Lake City with her husband, Bill Dunford, who is also a writer.
(bio from author's website)
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 33 reviews
November 18, 2017
a student found it and got it for me! It's great though not completely accurate. Going to read it to my classes after Break!
August 13, 2020
Solid winner this one. Great monsters, great pictures, great sounds. Rowan approves.
October 29, 2019
I like quarto pub books but this one was disappointing . I have not read homers odeyssey so this book didn't make any sense at all. I was hoping to introduce the classic to my toddler but this book has no story or even a one liner . Just a bunch of colorful monsters and I am clueless about monsters in general . They did a much better job with wonderful wizard of Oz and I was expecting something on similar lines . The primers are disappointing with no real.vonnection to the classic they are associated with . The treasure island shape primer was the same case . Babylit books are overrated
January 12, 2026
This was highly disappointing. There's no story in this book. It only presents some of the monster characters in a confusing way and the illustrations can be misleading.
I guess I was expecting at least a very simplified version of the main plot, but nope.. there's not even the main character, Ulysses, in this book.
I guess I was expecting at least a very simplified version of the main plot, but nope.. there's not even the main character, Ulysses, in this book.
July 18, 2018
Reminiscent of the Midsummer Nights Dream primer where you get a picture and a little quote with no attempt to familiarize the reader with the original story, though considering the age of the kids I’m reading it too I don’t mind (and neither do they).
December 12, 2021
This one. I don't know. I thought it would be more fun? I don't know. Little boys love monsters. And this story I thought would be better turned towards them. I didn't really like it very much but it's probably me. The colors and the pictures were beautiful but it wasn't what I was hoping.
November 5, 2023
I don't think this book can stand alone without more context. Most adult readers probably do not remember the full narrative of the Odyssey, but maybe they can make up stories and discuss the illustrations.
February 22, 2024
Adams Adventure #21
Baby Lit #17
Not the most useful of the Baby lit books, it doesn't really help a kid to have a list off monsters etc - it is well just a list of make believe characters that is not teaching them anything with a vague link to a literary classic.
Disappointing.
Baby Lit #17
Not the most useful of the Baby lit books, it doesn't really help a kid to have a list off monsters etc - it is well just a list of make believe characters that is not teaching them anything with a vague link to a literary classic.
Disappointing.
June 29, 2025
I loved the illustrations- this book SLAPS. Literally. I slapped every page and it made a fun sound. The writing has some plot holes… it was more of an intro to characters than a story that followed the heroes journey.
July 3, 2017
The BabyLit books have the best illustrations and lots of fun language. This one has quotes from the Odyssey, which was great.
January 8, 2018
Super cute!
June 7, 2018
I love these BabyLit books. The monsters are awesome and they do a wonderful job of introducing children to classic literature.
February 4, 2020
So much fun, and shows that monsters don't have to be scary!
February 6, 2020
Great illustrations! Got me ready to read the real thing in a few years.
February 10, 2020
Not meant to be a story, just single pages featuring different creatures encountered in the Odyssey. Fun, simple, brightly colored, and enticing to a baby's eyes!
January 23, 2021
One of our first books - love the art and that this series includes actual quotes from the original text.
April 7, 2021
3,5/5
June 2, 2021
Delightful 😁
July 3, 2021
I am so confused by it and question reading it to children but still it is SO CUTE.
July 29, 2021
A fun introduction of the monsters from the Odyssey for my toddler. Circe was a favorite.
Read
July 29, 2021Cute, and probably good for an infant
August 11, 2021
Awesome monsters primer! Saw some familiar monsters and some new ones. Great eye-catching colors for baby.
April 29, 2023
Adorable!
December 26, 2023
The pictures are fun for a kids book. The stories are a little, meh.
March 13, 2024
Such a cute and fun introduction to some of the monsters from "The Odyssey".
January 11, 2025
Didn't initially understand that this was meant to be an encyclopedia of the monsters Odysseus encountered on his journeys, but with fresh eyes the art and quotes make this a lot of fun.
September 9, 2025
A fun look at some featured monsters in the odyssey.
May 3, 2022
Board book, monsters from The Odyssey. So very cute!!!
March 8, 2017
Amusing for me, sort of hard to relate to Kait, though she had fun talking about the pictures.
March 19, 2017
I have to admit, as an English major, BabyLit has become my guilty pleasure in the children's section of bookstores (in which I spend a lot more time than I used to since having two little ones). There's a Pride and Prejudice version, and a Jane Eyre one (and many more), and probably the one I most want to get next is Jabberwocky.
However, I can't escape the feeling that I'd be getting these more for myself than for my children (with the exception of Jabberwocky -- that one's so silly already that very little change is necessary). It isn't easy to translate even minor elements of a large, two-hundred-year-old adult work of fiction into something children, much less babies, can actually enjoy and relate to. Since they can't yet understand the big picture or the context in which these stories were written, I think they could easily get lost even in primers that emphasize things they're already learning, like counting.
As for this book in particular, it's my four-year-old who likes it the most, and he's getting toward the end of his board-book-interest phase, generally. My 19-month-old seems a bit indifferent at this point.
I consider myself somewhat familiar with the general story of the Odyssey, but even I only remembered about half of these monsters, and was second-guessing my pronunciation of a couple of them (I might even question the usefulness of introducing a child to Charybdis when they can barely say their own name). I also cringe a little at the ghosts and images of skulls and bones in a toddler book (but that may be my own upbringing rearing up at me). But I enjoyed their renditions of Calypso and the Lotus Eaters especially.
And since it's the Odyssey & all, I wish Odysseus himself had been included somewhere here -- maybe just a little guy visible in each picture to give some kind of continuity to the whole thing. Just an idea. I felt like I had to explain that part just to give a little bit of context.
But there I go getting all practical. Its the Odyssey. It's fun; it's a nice, large-sized book. And the pictures are very amusing, and a fun way to introduce children to the concept of mythical creatures. And when they do read Greek mythology someday (which they will), probably a little light bulb will go on and they'll remember their imaginations being awoken early on by a board book.
Still, I would imagine this would appeal more to toddlers+ than babies, despite the series name.
And now I really want to get Jabberwocky: A BabyLit® Nonsense Primer.
(In compliance with FTC guidelines, I disclose that I received this book for free through GoodReads' First Reads. I was not required to write a positive review.)
However, I can't escape the feeling that I'd be getting these more for myself than for my children (with the exception of Jabberwocky -- that one's so silly already that very little change is necessary). It isn't easy to translate even minor elements of a large, two-hundred-year-old adult work of fiction into something children, much less babies, can actually enjoy and relate to. Since they can't yet understand the big picture or the context in which these stories were written, I think they could easily get lost even in primers that emphasize things they're already learning, like counting.
As for this book in particular, it's my four-year-old who likes it the most, and he's getting toward the end of his board-book-interest phase, generally. My 19-month-old seems a bit indifferent at this point.
I consider myself somewhat familiar with the general story of the Odyssey, but even I only remembered about half of these monsters, and was second-guessing my pronunciation of a couple of them (I might even question the usefulness of introducing a child to Charybdis when they can barely say their own name). I also cringe a little at the ghosts and images of skulls and bones in a toddler book (but that may be my own upbringing rearing up at me). But I enjoyed their renditions of Calypso and the Lotus Eaters especially.
And since it's the Odyssey & all, I wish Odysseus himself had been included somewhere here -- maybe just a little guy visible in each picture to give some kind of continuity to the whole thing. Just an idea. I felt like I had to explain that part just to give a little bit of context.
But there I go getting all practical. Its the Odyssey. It's fun; it's a nice, large-sized book. And the pictures are very amusing, and a fun way to introduce children to the concept of mythical creatures. And when they do read Greek mythology someday (which they will), probably a little light bulb will go on and they'll remember their imaginations being awoken early on by a board book.
Still, I would imagine this would appeal more to toddlers+ than babies, despite the series name.
And now I really want to get Jabberwocky: A BabyLit® Nonsense Primer.
(In compliance with FTC guidelines, I disclose that I received this book for free through GoodReads' First Reads. I was not required to write a positive review.)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 33 reviews