| Title | : | The Adventures of Odysseus |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 1841488003 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9781841488004 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Hardcover |
| Number of Pages | : | 93 |
| Publication | : | First published September 1, 2006 |
The Adventures of Odysseus Reviews
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This is it! Finally I've found THE children's adaptation of The Odyssey that doesn't have too much detail or too many characters to keep track of, but plenty of adventure and vocabulary to grow on! I've loved anything Christina Balit has illustrated and this is no exception. And just my two cents--I think it's a GREAT idea to expose children to great works of literature like The Odyssey, so when they encounter the actual works when they are older it will not be overwhelming or unfamiliar because they will already know the story and the characters. Hope this author has written something similiar for The Illiad.
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read for english lit
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The Greek king of Ithaca, Odysseus, was called upon to fight against Troy in the Trojan War. After the war, Odysseus and his soldiers sailed for Ithaca. But, when they moor at a strange island, and blind the giant cyclops Polyphemus, Odysseus shouts his name during bloating to the monster about who blinded it. The cyclops curses Odysseus and his crew. Polyphemus’ father, the god of the sea, Poseidon, then makes it extremely trying for Odysseus and his crew. Most of the crew die. Will Odysseus and his men every see home again?
This is a great re-telling of the Odyssey by the blind poet, Homer. I love how this abridged version of the Odyssey is pretty simple, but very informative and perfect for the age it is written for. In this book, kids learn more about the Ancient Greek culture through the fabulous illustrations and the enlightening text. The illustrations are awesome.
This version is great for kids!
*NOTE - I got a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. -
Reason for Reading: I love Greek mythology and never pass up reading a new retelling of Odysseus.
Another beautiful book from Barefeet Books! This is a mate to Arthur of Albion and a part of their series of chapter books, which contains the two books so far. Heavy card covers with flaps, quality paper and delightfully illustrated as the previous picture book edition has been reduced to a trade paperback size. The gorgeous illustrations by Christina Balit are plentiful and are used for both decorative and illustrative purposes. The colours are heavily Mediterranean with greeny blues and blueish greens mixed with sand colours that darken to browns. Blait's style has an abstract, unrealistic look which matches the legendary epic tale she is painting.
The retelling itself is not the best I've read as it lacks a certain emotion. The authors have gone for an authentic retelling including all aspects of the tale, including a Prologue which recaps the whole Trojan War and puts Odysseus in place for his journey home for the reader. The problem comes from the briefness of the multitude of events. Each one is told thoroughly and rapidly as we sail quickly chapter through chapter with Odysseus. This, unfortunately, leaves little room for the reader to connect with Odysseus and enjoy him as a person. I felt as if I was being told a story about Odysseus rather than going on the journey along with him and getting to know and care for him. This is not unique to this book and can be a common occurrence in children's retellings, as action is chosen over character development when only a certain number of pages can be used.
Now, this doesn't mean the story isn't enjoyable or worth reading; it's the adventures of Odysseus after all! As mentioned all the various aspects of the story have been included. The authors have kept the violence of the original in place and while not inappropriately graphic at all it certainly is not for the squeamish as the cyclopes bashes a man's brains against a wall then pops him in his mouth, for example. However, on the other hand, the sensuous nature of the original has been left out all together and is perfectly clean for all ages.
An enjoyable read, a good introduction to the story, with lovely illustrations and as usual for Barefoot Books, a quality produced book. -
A great way to introduce kids to the Odyssey or simply a nice refresher for yourself before tackling the full version.
It's abridged, so some adventures are left out, but I like how most of the quest was told using a frame-story structure. Odysseus tells King Alcinous of his voyage in first person, then the reader follows his return home in third person. -
This gorgeously illustrated retelling with lyrical prose is a perfect introduction to The Odyssey for younger readers (upper elementary or middle school) or even an adult to doesn't want to struggle through the original language.
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This is a book which I will work on with my year 6 class for the next 5 weeks, as part of the Power of Reading literacy scheme. This book is an adaptation of Homer's Odyssey and when I first started to read it I was a little dubious as I thought it would contain too much detail and be too difficult for the children to follow. However once you get past the first 2 chapters the story really takes off and its great! Its a true adventure story, with Odysseus trying to find his way home to Ithaca after fighting in the Trojan war for 10 years. He imagines the wonderful welcome he will receive upon his arrival; however his journey home becomes a huge challenging adventure in which he encounters a gruesome cyclops (but luckily escapes his wrath!), a 6 headed dragon, a tempestuous lady by the name of Circe and many more obstacles. There is a really great gruesome scene in which Odysseus and his men blind the cyclops with a hot sharpened stick of wood, along with lots of more gore fighting which I think will really appeal to boys. The story is full of mythical gods and goddesses with super human powers, which I think girls will enjoy. As the story has a lot of different characters, I have printed and laminated images of the different characters so that I can stick these on the board as I'm reading the story so that the children wont loose track of who is who. There are loads of activities you can do based on this book e.g. a reenactment of Odysseus's encounter with the cyclops, a diary entry by Penelope describing how she feels waiting for her husband to return home, hot seating, making predictions about what will happen in the next chapter etc. The story is full of rich language and there will definitely be words that kids have not come across before so its a great chance for them to learn new vocab.
I think this is suitable for independent readers from age 9 and upwards, but could be read to younger children. Its a great way to start learning about Greek mythology. -
If you want to learn about something without working your way through lots and lots of hard-to-understand material and unnecessary information, children's books are usually a good place to start. I've done presentations based mostly on kids book on history and gotten really great marks: they always tell you the most important things in a way that's easy to understand.
So when I realized I wanted to know more about Odysseus (because greek mythology is really rad), i immediately went to the children's section of the library.
The Adventures of Odysseus does a great job of telling the stories and the illustrations are absolutely beautiful. And I feel smarter now. Yay! -
Absolutely gorgeous illustrations accompanying a text that is simplified for children, yet still enchanting. I read this aloud to my 9yo daughter over a few days and she loved it-couldn't wait to hear the next chapter. It really was a joy to read aloud.
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This book is great for middle-grade readers like me. It gives you the adventures in sort of the style of Homer, without having to read Greek or poetry. Plus there are really cool pictures in color on every page to help you imagine it.
Odysseus has a brilliant idea for how to win the Trojan war. Then he and his men have to outwit gods and monsters to get home to Ithaca. When he gets there, he's got to fight a bunch of bad guys who are holding his wife captive and then convince her he really is her long-lost husband. The adventures challenge Odysseus's brain as much as his fighting skills. Following the whole thing is like playing a great video game and winning.
My dad read this too me when I was little, but it was one of the first things I wanted to read to myself when I was old enough. -
My Year 4 placement class are studying this this term and I have really enjoyed reading it. I usually find Greek myths hard to follow - particularly in terms of remembering all of the unfamiliar names and place names - but this version of Homer's Odyssey is cleverly abridged and brings the story to life in a way that is accessible for children.
It is full of adventure, intrigue and tensions, meaning that it will be exciting to analyse and to use to inspire independent writing. It also fits brilliantly with topic work on Ancient Greece and classical civilisations. In keeping with Homer's original work, however, there is a considerable amount of violence and death throughout - this should be noted prior to/when teaching. -
Thought about reading this to/with Kate but decided not to for now.
It includes a prologue about the
judgment of Paris and the Trojan War.
Alcinous and "food for the soul" (stories)
Missing some major interactions in the underworld.
Interesting charge at the end: "Dreams and visions come through two gates: either through a gate of ivory or through a gate of horn. If the dream, the vision, comes through the ivory gate, it is mere fancy, fantasy. If it comes through the gate of horn it carries truth. This dream, this vision, is over. You must decide through which gate it has come." -
We picked this up from the library when we were reading
Argos: The Story of Odysseus as Told by His Loyal Dog by Ralph Hardy to have the "original" story to read in a shortened format. My daughter (7.5y) read it herself and proceeded to give me spoilers throughout Argos (I don't recall The Odyssey from my childhood) so I read this book on my own today.
I liked that there were chapters/stories because for a children's book this has a LOT of words. I also liked the illustrations. -
Having never read or studied the original but knowing the tale I picked it up and was impressed not only by the art work but also by how well it was condensed and edited
No long drawn out tale of the war and it’s many battles and that the GODS played their parts it was just Odysseus’s tale. I’m kind of upset that this wasn’t even taught at school, read it it’s a neat little book that you ought to read -
So I read this first back in 4th grade, as part of one of our units, all about Greek Mythology. This book is what got me into Greek Mythology. Something about it just hit....im not able to give as detailed of a review as I would cause I just randomly remembered it today but yea...its a good starter book, kinda gives you all the deets about greek mythology
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A brilliant telling of the epic stories of Odysseus. Fantastic illustrations. Although this is a children's book, it is enthralling for adults, too. Perfect as a read-aloud for all ages. A great introduction to the Odyssey. All of our children loved this book.
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Contains all the highlights that I remember from studying the full text but presented in an illustrated and simplified version. Note some of the illustrations and content (such as spearing the one-eyed Cyclops, Polyphemus) may unsettle younger readers.
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My children and I thoroughly enjoyed this re-telling of an age old classic. The artwork is wonderful too!
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Great to teach Year 5 children the story I learnt for GCSE and A Level!
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A very easy reading book of a great Greek myth.
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Beautifully illustrated classic.
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A great first introduction to The Oddysey, with excellent artwork
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This is a good retelling, and the illustrations are great, but I wouldn't really recommend sharing these stories with kids until they are more mature.
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Great introduction to the story of Odysseus. Jacob paid close attention to the illustrations and how they connected to the text
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Fantastic retelling of Homer's Odyssey for younger readers, beautifully illustrated.
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3.5 stars or 4 maybe 4
