My children ADORE this book! It has the zany humor my "Captain Underpants Lovin'" 8 year-old son craves, and it had a level of humor a bit more sophisticated than that, that both my 10 year-old daughter and I enjoyed.
The stories covered:
The stories covered:
The Foolish King Midas and the Golden Touch
Pandora and the Box of Mystery
Pygmalion and His Rocky Relationship!!!
The Abduction of Persephone
Arachne Gets a Big Head!!!
Perseus vs. Two Nasty Kings and a Really Ugly Monster
Pyramus and Thisbe- An Icky Love Story
The Short Flight of Icarus
Hercules and the Ten Labors (Give or Take a Few)
The Drawn-Out Finale...
What permanently endeared this book to me was that my kids totally got the messages that myths were meant to tell. Far from obscuring the themes, the humor and Townsend's shorthand version, seemed to clarify them and cement them in my children's heads.
A perfect example of this occurred the other night when we were all watching some junky-show on TV. It was a show with a version of the Romeo and Juliette story, and Laura piped up and said, 'Dad, that's just like the story of Thisbe and Pyramus'. To which Dave added, 'but without the crack in the wall."
A perfect example of this occurred the other night when we were all watching some junky-show on TV. It was a show with a version of the Romeo and Juliette story, and Laura piped up and said, 'Dad, that's just like the story of Thisbe and Pyramus'. To which Dave added, 'but without the crack in the wall."
The Skinny:::
Michael Townsend's book was a real hit in our household. My children (boy and girl; 8 and 10) loved it.
The versions of these ancient myths in this book are approximations of the original stories. They are riddled with humor and summaries of some of the 'bigger' themes. At first I wondered if the kids would get anything useful out of the book, but they entirely grasped the greater themes. And honestly, doesn't humor sometimes make memorizing easier.
The versions of these ancient myths in this book are approximations of the original stories. They are riddled with humor and summaries of some of the 'bigger' themes. At first I wondered if the kids would get anything useful out of the book, but they entirely grasped the greater themes. And honestly, doesn't humor sometimes make memorizing easier.
Violence: nothing graphic, but hey, these are Greek myths. Cyclops do get their eyes poked out.
Language: use of the word stupid.
Adult situations: Well, again, it's Greek myths we're talking about here. And Perseus' mom did have help from Zeus to conceive. But not to worry, it's handled quite well (at least my two didn't blink twice). Zeus arrives and goes "Poof!" and the next thing the princess says is, "Wow, I'm pregnant!" To which Zeus replies that now she'll never have to be lonely again. (All difficult material is handled in the same way.)
Highly recommend.
Highly recommend.
Pam~
Somewhere in the X-burbs
Michael Townsend's Amazing Greek Myths of Wonder and Blunders
by Michael Townsend
Reading Information:
Word Count: 10,068
Page Count: 160
Accelerated Readier: 2.8 / points: .05
AR quiz: 138501
2 comments :
My boys love this book, especially my 8-year-old. We've gotten it from the library several times--I should just go buy it.
Boys :D
They're so much fun. All I have to say is 'stupid sheep' and Dave breaks out laughing. And don't you love finding a book that they'll read over and over again.
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btw, I love your Word of Day Feature.
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