Greek Myths for Young Children Hardcover – January 1, 2009

My 7 year-old grandson expressed interest in mythology after I told him the story of Icarus. I chose this book because it promised great stories with less gore. It is perfect! The stories are beautifully written and the words flow easily when read aloud. He is getting a great foundation in these treasured stories. Today when we were driving to school, he asked me if everyone had to follow the rules of the road. I said that of course they do. Yea He asked, “Even the gods?” Clearly this book has him thinking.

First time book of Greek myths for kids, wonderful art work and good size fonts to read, due to the age of my grand son (4 yo) ill be reading it to him

I've been searching for a book on Greek myths that would be simple enough for my 5-year-old, and "Greek Myths for Young Children (Stories for Young Children) fits the bill perfectly. Bound in sturdy hardcover, the book is well-written and ably adapted by author Heather Amery. There is a brief introduction about Greek myths and there are about 16 myths in all:The Gift of FirePandora's BoxPersephone and the SeasonsThe Story of ArachneThe Many Tasks of HeraclesEcho and NarcissusDaedalus and IcarusBellerophon and the Flying HorseJason and the Golden FleeceKing MidasThe Adventures of PerseusThe Chariot of the SunThe Adventures of OdysseusTheseus and the MinotaurPygmalion and his WifeEros and PsycheI liked that there is a guide to pronouncing the Greek names (as found in the book)at the end. The stories are adapted with a younger target audience in mind so details found in the actual full-length myths, such as the minotaur's origins are not explored here (which is a relief!). The reason I gave it 4 instead of 5 stars is because I felt the book lacked sufficient illustrations. The illustrations are quite simple, not exquisitely detailed as found in some other books on myths, but they are colorful and beautiful. I just felt that there should have been more of them given that this is targeted towards children. Suitable for Grades K-5.

My husband and I both love mythology, and wanted to introduce our daughter to it but she's only four years old. She loves books and stories of all kinds, and we're building her a library, but where to begin with mythology? This book is not TOO hard to understand, I think perhaps perfect for a 6 year old? All children are different developmentally I guess, so it really depends on the child. It is still perhaps a bit above our 4 year old, although she can follow it with explanation. The colors are gorgeous. The only reason I didn't give 5 stars was, I felt they could put a bit more illustration. It's a few illustrations, and small illustrations, and then many beautiful ornate borders edging the pages. Eh, colors are absolutely beautiful but, for a childrens' book? Please, a few more pictures. Kids LOVE pictures!

If you have a young child who is interested in Greek myths, but don't like the violent and gruesome illustrations in so many of the other editions, this is the book for you. The colorful pages, with lovely borders, keep your child's attention during the longer stories, and the playful illustrations have lots of color and detail without being too scary or gory. The stories themselves, too, have mediated the violence and do not include lengthy graphic descriptions of fight scenes or death. When Theseus kills the minotaur, for example, we read, "Dodging its massive horns, Theseus struck the Minotaur again and again with his sword. The monster bellowed again, almost deafening Theseus, but he fought on until, at last, the Minotaur sank to the ground and lay still. It was dead." If you compare this with the bloody throat-slitting scene found in most other versions, this is very tame, which I appreciate since my son is only 5. Stories are simply retold, but with lots of detail and attention to the flow of the narrative, and make good bedtime reading.Contains most of the classics, but also some lesser-told tales in the young children's books, like the stories of Arachne and Pygmalion. I previewed all the major anthologies of Greek myths at the library before deciding which one to buy for my son, and this is by far my favorite. Highly recommended.

I am a teacher who is required to teach Ancient myths, but our school had no resources to do so. I purchased this book and used it as a read aloud. The book is a collection of Greek myths but they are simplified into short stories. There are beautiful illustrations with each story.I was surprised that my students enjoyed the stories so much. I was afraid the stories would be too difficult to understand since they were only 9 years old. Some of the students immediately made the connection with the Percy Jackson series and even with they 3 headed monster, Fluffy, in the Harry Potter series.I admit that I am no expert on Ancient Greek, so some of the less familiar names where difficult to pronounce. The book would have been better if it would have had a pronunciation guide in it.

This is a well written book with a good selection of myths. My only complaint is that there is not artwork on every page. So you could have a 2 page spread with nothing but print (with a decorative border). Although this is fine for older readers, I think that young children like to see pictures, at least 1 picture for each 2 page spread. The myths are so interesting that one would think there would be ample artistic opportunities - even a small picture would help. I'm sure that one might argue that the children should use their imagination instead - but if you are going to specify in the title "... for young children".. then I think you should go ahead and make it a true picture book. The artwork on the cover is gorgeous - I would have like to have seen more like it inside.

My four year old and six year old love this book. They both choose it every night for their stories. It’s an excellent introduction to Greek myths and well adapted for its G rating. I disagree with a prior reviewer; in my opinion the illustrations are ample.

The book itself is beautiful, great illustrations and superb story telling however please be advised that the stories can be quite disturbing for young children. By page 8 we have someone chained up and left to have his liver torn out by eagles! You have been warned! Would advise reading the book yourself first so you can judge if it is suitable for your young person.

Excellent. My daughter 8 was glued to it and loved reading the stories. The pictures are great although I would have liked them bigger and more spectacular. My daughter is very happy with it so that’s all that counts

Very good book. And written in way which is easy for Childrento understand. Once again I suggest 7+ age for this book. Butthe myths are written in very good and relateable manner forchildren. The names of the characters are obviously hard topronounce for younger children but overall the book is easyenough to read and understand.

I quite liked the book but due to a printing production error, the first 20 pages or so are not in the correct numerical order meaning that you have to search from one page to the next for where he following page in the book may be in a story! Bit confusing for a kid trying to learn to read with a book like this!

This is beautifully illustrated but I think I've bought it a bit too early for a four year old who is just starting to read. Daddy will read her the stories though. Usborne do lovely books.