Basher History: Mythology: Oh My! Gods and Goddesses

Basher History

by Simon Basher

The myths and legends of the ancient world still fascinate and entertain people the world over. The stories of gods and goddesses have a timeless appeal that captures the attention of generation after generation of children. Basher History: Mythology gives a fresh look to some of the key characters from famous myths and legends – meet Zeus, father of the Greek Gods; Norse Freyja, goddess of love, beauty, war and death; and Egyptian Bastet, goddess of cats, along with many many others

Genres: Mythology, Nonfiction, History, Childrens, Picture Books, Reference, Middle Grade

128 pages, Paperback

First published July 3, 2014

Reviews

[jack • 20 · Rating 5 out of 5]

5✨ • this was a really cool one !! i've been really liking this series of books ( the basher series ) and this one was awesome cause of the three different cultures it follows !

[Melissa Barbier · Rating 4 out of 5]

While this book does not include creation myths, it does go into detail in the many gods and goddesses of a variety of cultures. The book is organized into groups of: Ancient Greeks, Norse Legends, Egyptian Deities, Roman Deities, and an index and glossary. It even has colors on the sides of the pages so that a reader could flip through to see the different sections easily without having to look for a specific page number. It is written in a very accessible fashion such as this excerpt about Zeus, "Call me Big Daddy! I am the mover and the shaker on Mount Olympus - gatherer of storm clouds, hurler of thunderbolts, maker of rain. King of the gods, I also happen to be father to more than a few." Another of the gods is described as "supercool," and one of the battles as "superbad." Each god or goddess gets one page of an explanation and a few bullet points of facts about the god or goddess. Sometimes the bullet fact tells you how to pronounce the name like "Poseidon sounds like Joe Biden." This would be great to use with older grades maybe 4th through high school. The only thing it is missing is some family trees to show the relationships between some of the gods and goddesses. Maybe students could make their own as an assignment along with this book.

[Diz · Rating 3 out of 5]

I felt that this didn't work as well as the Basher series books on science and other technical topics. The reason is that they typical Basher book technique is to give inanimate things and concepts a personality, but gods and goddesses already have strong personalities, so that technique doesn't work as well. Additionally, with only one short page for each character, I felt that there was so much left out. Mythology is full of interesting stories and they are hardly covered here. Having said all that, the kids still enjoyed this book pretty well, and they didn't have any complaints about them, so perhaps the target audience, which may not have much knowledge of mythology, are satisfied with this.

[Halli · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a great introduction to mythology. The topic is presented in a fun way, with first person accounts from the gods and goddesses. Catchy, modern language makes it feel more accessible, and the cartoon illustrations are adorable! I really liked that Norse and Egyptian mythology were included with the Greek/Roman, because I was not as familiar with them.

[Jacob Carlson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wish it told more about the gods

[Christopher.C · Rating 4 out of 5]

this book was a book

[Aidan Kozak · Rating 5 out of 5]

EVERYONE should read this book.

[Kyrie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute children's book giving the basics of Greek, Norse, and Egyptian gods and goddesses (with a nod to the Romans, as well).

The deities look a little cutesy in the drawings, but it is a children's book and probably better they look cute than blood-curdling.

The intro to each one offers a rhyme as a pronunciation guide. It's clever, and yet sometimes I found it more confusing than if I'd just made my own attempt. I did like the brief biography and the fun facts at the end of each blurb.

[Natalie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm up and down with Basher books, but I truly enjoyed this one. Probably because mythology is so fun and the image style was perfectly matched with the content. I liked how simple and easy it was to read. One page of fun info told first person, and one cute picture to match.

I liked how it talked about Norse, Egyptian, and Greek mythology but didn't try to mix it all together or compare and contrast. It was much easier to read and come to my own conclusions.

Excited to see if the fifth graders like it!

[Ron Turner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute kids book that serves as a guide to the gods and goddesses of Greek, Norse and Egyptian mythology. I liked the illustrations. I think it's a nice way to get kids interested in reading. I remember reading Bulfinch's Mythology when I was young. From there I became interested in fantasy, horror, sci-fi, history, politics, geography. A good book CAN make a great difference.

[Pollyor · Rating 3 out of 5]

Witty text and Basher's illustrations make it fun to learn about the major gods and goddesses of ancient Greece, ancient Egypt, and Norse mythology . Personally I think some previous knowledge of the characters would be best before reading through this book.

[Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

A one page per person/god/goddess with an emoji type picture. Includes, Greek, Egyptian and Norse.

[Jeremy Dunham · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading this book with my daughter. She really likes it and it have her some good background knowledge on Greek, Norse and Egyptian mythology.

[Kris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun, approachable intro to Greek (and Roman), Egyptian, and Norse gods and goddesses. Basic, but enjoyable.

[Xander · Rating 5 out of 5]

good

[Annabelle Kocher · Rating 3 out of 5]

I only read the Greek chapter. Omg— some of the rhymes are waaaaaay stretches, and some are just hilarious 😂 Anyway, it was kind of Interesting!

[Rachel · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was okay. Had a page for each god, goddess, demi-god, or mythical thing the book was about. It included Greek, Norse, and Egyptian deities and has a page explaining how the Greek and Roman gods were basically the same with a listing of the Greek gods and their Roman equivalents. Each page was written in first person as if the god or goddess or whatever was explaining his or herself. It didn't have much detail, but was pretty informative for a children's book.

[Mirandia Berthold · Rating 5 out of 5]

My son and I picked up this book at his school's book fair as we have been reading the Percy Jackson books and he wanted to know more about the Greek Gods and Goddesses. I thought this book would be fun and informative. It very much was. We read it together and learned about lots of people form the stories which we are reading and even several new faces. The Illustrations and information are doe very well and I was pleased.

[Bayli Walker · Rating 4 out of 5]

I adore the illustrations in this book. The god and goddesses were drawn with great humor. Even if a child wasn't interested in the myths, they would be drawn in by the pictures. The book also does an excellent job of helping the reader understand each god's history and who they are. One of my preferred gods to learn about was Loki. Loki was the god of mischief and is Odin's blood brother. Loki is seen as the one that brings chaos and evil as well as being the Lord of Lies.

[Matthew · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the first Basher book that I wasn't completely thrilled with. They chose only three pantheons and the choices for each had oddities. The Norse were missing Frigga, Egyptians included Rameses for some reason and had a fairly major typo, Greeks had no titans, yet included Pan and Herakles.

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

i thought that it could be better i enjoyed the ones about the greek gods and it even had the name of the roman god/goddess
the norse gods were really bloody and kind of violent
while the egyption ones were just boring. i thought that the pictures were cute though.

[Shelli · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a cute book about many of the various gods and goddesses of Greek, Roman, Norse and Egyptian mythologies. Depending on what you already know about these deities the information ranges from instructive and humorous to confusing; best used in addition with other resources.

[Hudson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this series! Basher gives you the right amount of detail and he makes all the gods seem like little dolls. He makes it seem like that god is talking to you, instead of Basher, who is writing the book.

[Samantha wickedshizuku Tolleson · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an awesome little reference book. It's a really small book, and gives you clear pronunciation and references to other literature.
The illustrations are really campy, but this was worth the by.
As an aspiring author, this has been super helpful.

[Samra · Rating 5 out of 5]

very late elementary approp. great illustrations and not too kiddie-fied.

[Whittney Hooks · Rating 5 out of 5]

SO cute!!!

[Elisabeth S. · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is fun, fantastic, exciting read that makes you want to laugh out loud. This is amazing book Mythology by Simon Basher.

[Armando · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a good book i will like everybody to read it

[Aaron · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good job at explaining mythology.

[Fallon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute and informative!