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Favorite Greek Myths
by
Here are twelve Greek myths, retold in an accessible style and magnificently illustrated with classic elegance. Full color.
Hardcover, 96 pages
Published
May 1st 1989
by Scholastic Press
(first published 1988)
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I think it's dumb how she uses the Roman names of the gods instead. The book is called "Favorite GREEK Myths", not "Favorite Roman Myths". If it's a book about Greek mythology, she should use the Greek names. It confuses me, and it's really annoying.
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I love myth and so much of the baby pool we play our lives in can be seen, like Narcissus’ face, reflected in these classic tales. But it is time to retire most and rewrite the rest.
Midas - the version i recall learning has King Midas, greedy and selfish, with a complete lack of foresight. All he cares for is gold; so he loses the most precious thing, when his daughter runs in and surprises him with a hug.
In this version he is simply inconvenienced by hunger (darn those golden dolmas!) and Bacc ...more
Midas - the version i recall learning has King Midas, greedy and selfish, with a complete lack of foresight. All he cares for is gold; so he loses the most precious thing, when his daughter runs in and surprises him with a hug.
In this version he is simply inconvenienced by hunger (darn those golden dolmas!) and Bacc ...more
The book itself is very pretty, with gorgeous art and aesthetically pleasing typeface. The myths are short and sweet, and there are some lovely quotes nestled within the pages. Overall, a nice book. I'm not mad about the Roman names because at the beginning of the book, it clearly says, "nearly all of the myths in this collection are derived from the work of the Roman poet Ovid." The stories are originally Greek, but since they're taken from a Roman source, they do have Roman names. Many reviewe
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Osborne, Mary Pope. Favorite Greek Myths. (1989)
In this retelling of Greek myths by Mary Pope Osborne (she wrote the Magic Tree House series) the author introduces young readers to twelve classic Greek myths. In this anthology, I enjoyed two myths the most—Apollo’s Tree and The Great Bear.
In Apollo’s Tree, we learn the tragic tale of Apollo and Daphne. Apollo (the god of light and truth) gets into an argument with Cupid, the god of love. Although Apollo’s arrows can kill dangerous animals, Cupi ...more
In this retelling of Greek myths by Mary Pope Osborne (she wrote the Magic Tree House series) the author introduces young readers to twelve classic Greek myths. In this anthology, I enjoyed two myths the most—Apollo’s Tree and The Great Bear.
In Apollo’s Tree, we learn the tragic tale of Apollo and Daphne. Apollo (the god of light and truth) gets into an argument with Cupid, the god of love. Although Apollo’s arrows can kill dangerous animals, Cupi ...more
Even though this is titled "Greek" myths, the author uses the Roman mythology names in the book. Very disappointing in that respect.
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Good for young an old a like.
Osborne, the author of the Magic Tree House books, retells twelve stories of Greek myth in a very slim (75 not very dense at all pages) volume for children. As in Enid Blyton’s collection, these are tales mostly well-known to Western culture, also mostly from Ovid’s Metamorphoses: Orpheus and Eurydice, Echo and Narcissus, Midas’ greedy wish, Persephone and Hades, the ill-starred love of Cupid and Psyche. She also includes a few obscurities: Arcus, who shot his mother while hunting after she had
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I read it first when I was a child and I really liked it. But now, 9 years later, that I read Rick Riordan's series Percy Jackson and Heroes of Olympus,and did a lot of research about the greeks and romans Gods.I realized that Mary Pope Osborne called her book "Greek Myths" but used lots of Roman names for the Gods. Most Gods had not only different names in greek than in latin, but they had different personalitys too. For the romans,the gods were more like soldiers ready por war. For the greeks
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So far, this is my favorite of Greek mythology children's books. I liked the illustrations and the stories were told with more fluid story language rather than just choppy retelling. The one thing I didn't like was the use of the Roman names. I think it is because these stories are from later in history so it makes sense but it just makes it hard for me to keep things straight :)
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This book contains 15 different stories of various Greek gods and goddess. This book would fit well in a unit on different book genres, as an introduction to myths. The stories are short in length and also have illustrations, so this could be a good read-aloud book that can give students insight to what a myth is as well as what information can be revealed about ancient culture and believes. This is also a good introduction to a discussion about what morals and values are and what affects said m
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Mary Pope Osborne's simply told collection of the major pastoral myths of the Greeks and Romans is a gentle introduction to Ovid in specific and the world of classical mythology in general. Focused on the less violent stories, children may still need some help understanding the bittersweetness of physical transformation as an allegory for change, as otherwise many of the stories may seem to lack logical, coherent endings since Osborne has stripped them of their more discursive elements. Still, b
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This book is lovely and the stories are great. The illustrations are beautiful. My only complaint, which others have noted, is that this book is called Favorite Greek Myths, yet uses all the Roman names for the Gods and characters. That’s a pretty noticeable oops, to be honest. How did the editors not catch that?
I give it 4 stars. It would have been 5 if not for the Greek/Roman mix up.
I give it 4 stars. It would have been 5 if not for the Greek/Roman mix up.
As other reviewers said, I strongly disliked that the author used the Roman names for the gods and goddesses in the story, as it was confusing and I kept having to go back and compare who is who. That being said, I liked seeing how the rather ~saucy~ myths were spun to be appropriate for kids. However, I would choose a different book when introducing my future kids to Greek mythology just to eliminate the confusion of their names.
It's title is Favorite Greek Myths but the author uses their Roman names throughout the entire book.... Um why. Finally at the end of the book she explains that she used the Roman names because Rome eventually conquered Greece and adopted their gods. Then why not write the book as Favorite Roman myths? She mixed them together and it's annoying. Either write about Greek mythology or Roman.
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As othera have commented, the author clearly uses Roman names instead of Greek. Otherwise, these myths are a nice medium between the super simple one page myths that can be found on kids websites and the more graphic myths written for adult audiences.
i loved
but I'm still puzzled for the names
it is supposed to be Greek, even so the names are Roman ...more
but I'm still puzzled for the names
it is supposed to be Greek, even so the names are Roman ...more
Other than the much bemoaned use of Roman names, this is a great collection of Greek myths.
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
Roman names in this Greek tales, and some myths are not complete, especially King Midas. So disappointed.
Great book that compiles the most common Greek myths.
Entertaining, informative & enjoyable. Easy to understand and not a large amount of useless details. Stories are concise & fun to read.
The illustrations in this book are so beautiful, and the retellings are really nicely written. It's genuinely breaking my heart to give this book two stars.
Unfortunately, it's a terrible resource from any but the most narrowly literary perspective.
The source notes are almost non-existent. A vague comment on "who wrote the Greek myths," along with a list of words derived from the Greek language, is not a quality source.
And most annoyingly, Osborne mixes in the names of Roman deities throughout t ...more
Unfortunately, it's a terrible resource from any but the most narrowly literary perspective.
The source notes are almost non-existent. A vague comment on "who wrote the Greek myths," along with a list of words derived from the Greek language, is not a quality source.
And most annoyingly, Osborne mixes in the names of Roman deities throughout t ...more
This is a terrific collection of Greek myths, short stories that are the perfect length to read with children. The illustrations are very nice and convey the age of the stories. The only problem I have with this book has been critiqued by other reviewers here. I do not like that the author has chosen to use the Roman names. It just seems odd that the book's title announces "Greek" myths, but then uses the different names. Oh well, at least we had fun 'translating' them into the names we know so
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While Osborne chose to use Roman names instead of Greek for the myths, they are a well-told introduction to this genre. Troy Howell's illustrations depict the gods' adventures and provide images for young readers who know nothing about Phaeton's chariot of fire or King Midas' gold touch. The book concludes with a list of gods and goddesses of Mount Olympus as well as the mortals who appear in this collection. It also gives examples of words that have origins in mythology.
Genre: myths
Reading leve ...more
Genre: myths
Reading leve ...more
This is an excellent book to read to children. Probably the best youth Greek Mythology I've yet stumbled upon. The tales are simplified enough for children to understand and be entertained by but without sacrificing the essential lessons of the myth. The illustrations are very pretty. I didn't take much umbrage with the Roman names being used because it is explained in the introduction that all the tales are taken from Ovid. Some of the stories, such as Athena & Arachne, don't even survive outsi
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This was my favorite bedtime read while growing up. The artwork is gorgeous and the tales detailed without being too dry. Before I could read by myself, my mom would read the stories while I placed myself into the artwork, creating new stories within my head. Now 20 years later I still cherish this text, using it in classroom lessons for both high schoolers and middle schoolers because of how accessible Osbourne writes the tales.
A great introduction to Mythology. I had the pleasure of meeting the author at a conference earlier and she spoke of this collection fondly. I enjoyed these stories. Also included are appendices, which are definitely a good reference - it offers both the Roman and Greek names of the characters, descriptions, and a short bibliography of other mythological works. My one quibble is that the Roman names were using in text as opposed to the Greek names.
Feb 19, 2015
Anna
added it
Some of the stories were too sad or too scary for my just-5 year old. Maybe we'll revisit the book again closer to Kindergarten.
He was fine with The Golden Touch and The Mysterious Visitors.
He cried with Chariot of the Sun God, Lost at Sea, Journey to the Underworld.
The Weaving Contest's ending was very disturbing to him.
I did not read Apollo's Tree, The Face In the Pool, The Kidnapping, The Great Bear, The Golden Apples, or The Four Tasks to him. Saving those for a later time... ...more
He was fine with The Golden Touch and The Mysterious Visitors.
He cried with Chariot of the Sun God, Lost at Sea, Journey to the Underworld.
The Weaving Contest's ending was very disturbing to him.
I did not read Apollo's Tree, The Face In the Pool, The Kidnapping, The Great Bear, The Golden Apples, or The Four Tasks to him. Saving those for a later time... ...more
This large and beautifully illustrated book consists of the following chapters:
Chariot of the Sun God;
The Golden Touch;
Lost at Sea;
The Weaving Contest;
Apollos's Tree;
The Face in the Pool;
The Kidnapping;
The Great Bear;
Journey to the Underworld;
The Golden Apples;
The Four Tasks;
The Mysterious Visitors.
Those are followed by very interesting information, including in a chapter called Gods, Goddesses and Mortals. ...more
Chariot of the Sun God;
The Golden Touch;
Lost at Sea;
The Weaving Contest;
Apollos's Tree;
The Face in the Pool;
The Kidnapping;
The Great Bear;
Journey to the Underworld;
The Golden Apples;
The Four Tasks;
The Mysterious Visitors.
Those are followed by very interesting information, including in a chapter called Gods, Goddesses and Mortals. ...more
This book has some great retellings of Greek myths. The illustrations are lovely. I just wish that she used the Greek names instead of the Roman. It is perplexing based on the title. Other than that I have no complaints. A nice companion to add to D'Aulaires' books for kids when doing Greek mythology.
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