Favorite Greek Myths

Rating:
Summary: Childhood Nostalgia!
Review: I received this book for Christmas one year when I was a child ... it enchanted me for hours. The illustrations, as I remember, were wonderful and so were the stories. If you were to buy this book for your inquisitive child, they would NOT be disappointed.

Rating:
Summary: WOW
Review: I took mythology in college and loved it. I had lost the text book though and it was sadly missed! I love art and collect books! This is a beautiful book, with beautiful art! The illustrator also did work on the time life series enchanted world, which I own the entire collection so it was a pleasant suprise to see his illustrations for this book. The stories are wonderful, some I remember some I didn't. I read it from cover to cover and will cherish it! Hopefully she'll write more greek myths, a series! I plan on getting her other book, Favorite medievil tales, I'll write a review either way! If you appreciate beautiful art and good stories this is a must have for any library, I'll pass this one on to my children!

Rating:
Summary: Mary Pope Osborn retells her favorite Greek myths
Review: The really nice thing about "Favorite Greek Myths" is that Mary Pope Osborne has not simply picked the most famous or most popular stories from classical mythology. Once you read the stories of Ceyx and Alcyone or Callisto and Arcus I think that is pretty clear. Each of these dozen stories focuses on a pair of mythological figures, from parents and children like Phaeton and Helios, to lovers like Echo and Narcissus, to gods and mortals like Minerva and Arachne. The fact that Osborne uses Minerva rather than Athena reflects the Latin origins of these particular Greek myths. With the exception of the story of Cupid and Psyche, first told by the Latin writer Apuleius, all of the myths retold by Osborne come from the "Metamorphoses" of the Latin poet Ovid. Each story is accompanied by a full-color painting by Troy Howell that is evocative of the artwork of Pyle and those from a century ago. The back of the book includes a list of the "Gods, Goddesses and Mortals," as well as "Modern Words With Greek Origins," both of which teachers and students alike will find useful. "Favorite Greek Myths" works well as both an introduction to this series of classic myths or as a next step up for those who have read more juvenile accounts of these same stories. Osborne adopts her writing style to each tale, so that the comic elements are heightened in Bacchus and King Midas while the tragedy tones are enhanced in the story of Orpheus and Eurydice. This is an excellent book to turn to once young readers have an understanding of the pantheon of classical deities and want to savor individual myths.

Rating:
Summary: Mary Pope Osborn retells her favorite Greek myths
Review: The really nice thing about "Favorite Greek Myths" is that Mary Pope Osborne has not simply picked the most famous or most popular stories from classical mythology. Once you read the stories of Ceyx and Alcyone or Callisto and Arcus I think that is pretty clear. Each of these dozen stories focuses on a pair of mythological figures, from parents and children like Phaeton and Helios, to lovers like Echo and Narcissus, to gods and mortals like Minerva and Arachne. The fact that Osborne uses Minerva rather than Athena reflects the Latin origins of these particular Greek myths. With the exception of the story of Cupid and Psyche, first told by the Latin writer Apuleius, all of the myths retold by Osborne come from the "Metamorphoses" of the Latin poet Ovid. Each story is accompanied by a full-color painting by Troy Howell that is evocative of the artwork of Pyle and those from a century ago. The back of the book includes a list of the "Gods, Goddesses and Mortals," as well as "Modern Words With Greek Origins," both of which teachers and students alike will find useful. "Favorite Greek Myths" works well as both an introduction to this series of classic myths or as a next step up for those who have read more juvenile accounts of these same stories. Osborne adopts her writing style to each tale, so that the comic elements are heightened in Bacchus and King Midas while the tragedy tones are enhanced in the story of Orpheus and Eurydice. This is an excellent book to turn to once young readers have an understanding of the pantheon of classical deities and want to savor individual myths.

Rating:
Summary: Top Quality, A Suggested Buy For a Beginner of Mythology
Review: This book was pretty informative and told every story very accurately, which is very goood. Some mythology books these days don't always tell the story the same way and then you have contradicting information. But, ont thing that bothered me throughout the whole book was that the title of the book is Favortite Greek Myths, but clearly they use the Roman names for all of the gods and characters. This can be somewhat misleading. They also focus on some of the gods that are more minor and ignore more popular ones, which I am critisizing. But I have always loved the stry of Daphne and Apollo, and this book has the best version I've ever heard of it. It also includes other stories about Echo and Narcissus, King Midas, Hades kidnapping Persephone, and Arachne, all classics in Greek folklore. Onne thing that was also very useful was that there was a passage in the back of the book giving the names and occupations of each god and goddess. The color paintings in the book are also very beautiful and describe the story, and are therefore well-chosen. This book is very good for beginers of mythology (it was my first mythology book and is very good for children), but not recomended for advanced mythologists. Though the stories are brief and quick to get to their point, they are still informative enough to get the plot. That's why the book is so good for kids. It's really nice to share Greek mythology with kids early because all during junior high you have to study about it (trust me, I'm fourteen), and it's helpful to already know something about before you start. And this book is a good source for that sort of thing.

Rating:
Summary: Top Quality, A Suggested Buy For a Beginner of Mythology
Review: This book was pretty informative and told every story very accurately, which is very goood. Some mythology books these days don't always tell the story the same way and then you have contradicting information. But, ont thing that bothered me throughout the whole book was that the title of the book is Favortite Greek Myths, but clearly they use the Roman names for all of the gods and characters. This can be somewhat misleading. They also focus on some of the gods that are more minor and ignore more popular ones, which I am critisizing. But I have always loved the stry of Daphne and Apollo, and this book has the best version I've ever heard of it. It also includes other stories about Echo and Narcissus, King Midas, Hades kidnapping Persephone, and Arachne, all classics in Greek folklore. Onne thing that was also very useful was that there was a passage in the back of the book giving the names and occupations of each god and goddess. The color paintings in the book are also very beautiful and describe the story, and are therefore well-chosen. This book is very good for beginers of mythology (it was my first mythology book and is very good for children), but not recomended for advanced mythologists. Though the stories are brief and quick to get to their point, they are still informative enough to get the plot. That's why the book is so good for kids. It's really nice to share Greek mythology with kids early because all during junior high you have to study about it (trust me, I'm fourteen), and it's helpful to already know something about before you start. And this book is a good source for that sort of thing.