The bestiary every young reader needs the summer the Odyssey returns to the big screen.
Polyphemus the cyclops. Circe the sorceress. The Sirens on their rock of bones. Scylla with her six toothy heads, and Charybdis swallowing entire ships. Calypso, who offered Odysseus eternal life. The shades of Hades. Cerberus at the gates. The 108 suitors waiting in Ithaca to kill him the day he came home.
This summer the world is going to talk about the Odyssey again, and your child will want to keep up. Creatures of the Odyssey is the first full illustrated bestiary of the monsters, gods, nymphs and people Odysseus crossed paths with on his impossible voyage. Twenty-one chapters, twenty-one double-page illustrations to a full bleed, written for ages 6 to 10 in clear modern English. Perfect companion for the family that is going to the cinema this July.
Every creature, one chapter at a time.
The Odyssey is a long poem with many characters. Most retellings push them into a single timeline that is hard for a young reader to navigate. This book takes the opposite approach: one creature per chapter, with its own portrait, its own quick-fact box, and a short retelling that keeps the bite of the original.
- Chapter I. The Lotus-Eaters. The first danger of the voyage: a fruit that takes away your wish to go home.
- Chapter II. Polyphemus. The cyclops in the cave, blinded with a sharpened olive stake.
- Chapter III. Aeolus. The king of the floating island who keeps the four winds locked in a leather sack.
- Chapter IV. The Laestrygonians. Giants the size of three men stacked.
- Chapter V. Circe. The sorceress of Aeaea, who turns Odysseus's men into pigs.
- Chapter VI to VIII. Hades, Tiresias, the Sirens. The descent to the dead and the song that pulled sailors to their drowning.
- Chapter IX to XI. Scylla, Charybdis, the cattle of the Sun. The strait Odysseus had to choose to cross, and the lightning bolt that finished his crew.
- Chapter XII. Calypso. Seven years on Ogygia and the offer of immortality Odysseus turned down.
- Epilogue. The Suitors. The most dangerous monster of the whole poem, waiting inside his own palace.
Plus nine more chapters of other inhabitants of the voyage: the four winds with their own faces, the wandering rocks of the Argonauts, Proteus the shape-shifter, the fifty Nereids, Cerberus the three-headed dog, the faithful dog Argos, and three forgotten figures whose names Homer never let go (Heracles in Hades, Elpenor on the roof, Argos under the dung heap).
Why this is the right book the year of the film.
Major Hollywood adaptations of classics live and die by the audience's previous knowledge. Creatures of the Odyssey gives your child the names, the faces and the stories before the cinema does it for them. Read the book at home, then watch the film and let your child catch the references. Or take the book to the cinema lobby and read about the monster you are about to see on screen.
What is inside
- 21 illustrated chapters of full double-page art, color interior.
- Quick-fact boxes for every creature: kingdom, family, special trait, danger.
- Map of the voyage at the start of the book.
- Reading age 6 to 10. Reads aloud well, reads alone better.
- 6 x 9 inches paperback, glossy cover, white paper, color interior.
Perfect for
- Families going to see the film this summer.
- Birthday and graduation gifts under 20 dollars.
- Beach and summer reading lists.
- Classrooms studying Ancient Greece.
- Curious young readers who like monsters more than princes.
Add Creatures of the Odyssey to your cart now and read the cyclops chapter before the cinema does it for you.
