SUBSCRIBE
SUBSCRIBE
SLJ Blog Network +
  • 100 Scope Notes
  • A Fuse #8 Production
  • Good Comics for Kids
  • Heavy Medal: A Mock Newbery Blog
  • Teen Librarian Toolbox
  • The Classroom Bookshelf
  • The Yarn
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • About/Contact
  • Fusenews
  • Reviews
  • Librarian Previews
  • Best Books
    • Top 100
    • Best Books of 2022
    • Best Books of 2021
    • Best Books of 2020
    • Best Books of 2019
    • Best Books of 2018
    • Best Books of 2017
    • Best Books of 2016
    • Best Books of 2015
    • Best Books of 2014
    • Best Books of 2013
  • Fuse 8 n’ Kate
  • Videos
  • Press Release Fun

February 5, 2008 by Betsy Bird

Review of the Day: The McElderry Book of Greek Myths retold by Eric A. Kimmel

February 5, 2008 by Betsy Bird   4 comments

The McElderry Book of Greek Myths
Retold by Eric A. Kimmel
Illustrated by Pep Montserrat
Margaret K. McElderry Books (Simon & Schuster imprint)
$21.99
ISBN: 1-4169-1534-6
Ages 5-12
On shelves now

How do your average everyday children’s book illustrators go about proving themselves in this day and age? Well, I don’t know what they teach these youngsters in design school. To my mind, there must be a couple standard tropes they all follow. Illustrators like to prove themselves by creating alphabet books and stories in the public domain. Nursery rhymes, Aesop fables, fairy tales, that sort of thing. Greek myths also happen to be in the public domain, but not that many artists have taken the time to illustrate them beautifully for children. There’s the D’Aulaires version and that’s really the only collection of myths to come to mind. I’m waxing poetic on the subject of artists and myths because I have recently had the pleasure to read “The McElderry Book of Greek Myths”, as retold by Eric A. Kimmel and illustrated by Pep Montserrat. In it we read about every myth from Echo to Persephone. From Icarus to the Minotaur. Kimmel retells each tale with his own particular style. It’s a problematic retelling, but not without its perks.

SCROLL TO KEEP READING THIS POST

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

I think I may have stared for the longest amount of time not at any one picture in this gorgeously illustrated book, but at the copyright page instead. According to the publication page, “The illustrations for this book are rendered electronically.” Hmmm. Nope, I don’t know what that means. How do you define “rendered”? If these pictures were truly created entirely on a computer then color me very much amazed. Truly illustrator/artist Pep Montserrat has outdone himself with some of these images. The endpapers call to mind the black and red figure painting techniques found on ancient Greek vases. You can almost see the brush strokes on some of these images. Many look as if they were painted on top of wood. If it’s all the work of a computer then it’s advanced work indeed.

Montserrat includes a level of detail in his pictures that demands to be appreciated as well. Look, for example, at the image of Hades reclining merrily under a tree mere moments before seeing Persephone and falling in love. Montserrat angles the red god’s arms so that they form the curves of a red heart. The leaves that have fallen around him are heart-shaped as well. You almost wouldn’t notice the mole, earthworm, and centipede sticking their noses out of the ground, calling to mind the place where Persephone soon will be. I also loved that some of his characters have a distinctly early 21st century touch. Orpheus, for example, sports a haircut that any hipster in Williamsburg would be keen to repeat. And there is also the sheer beauty of Montserrat’s art to consider. From sunsets to moonlit nights, Montserrat’s pictures will ensnare and engage readers young and old with their beauty.

These myths belong to the world, and I suppose that you could make the argument that no one author owns the “true” story behind each one. Yet I would have liked very very much for Mr. Kimmel to have said where he got these stories in the first place. I know he retold them, but the Note from the Author is silent as to where they were found and there is no back matter to this book. It’s important to know where an author gets his source material, particularly when his adaptations of certain myths sound new. Pandora now is lured by voices coming out of the box, begging her to release them, rather than her own curiosity. Moreover, her husband (here it is Epimetheus) says that the fault is his because “I should have explained what was in the box and why it had to remain closed.” And remember the story of Medea and what happened to her children? Well, according to this version Medea and Jason never had any kids. She even decides not to marry Jason saying, “You are a coward, like all men. I do not need a husband,” before flying away in a chariot. And Narcissus falls in love with his own image because Artemis makes a spring reflect objects to be ten times more beautiful than they are (Montserrat ignores this change, however, and the illustration just shows a standard reflection no prettier than its subject).

Kimmel’s changes serve to, ironically enough, humanize the gods. They become more sympathetic under his hand. Hades is the kind of guy who likes to lie on the grass picking flowers. When Ariadne is abandoned by Theseus she ends up with, “a much better husband than Theseus could ever have been,” in the god Dionysius. I understand that with myths there is usually not a single version of any story. And authors are allowed to play with the existing tale and liven it up a bit. Yet without citing any of his sources we’re not sure if Kimmel just produced these stories from memory, if he consulted other children’s book versions, or if these come directly from a Greek translation somewhere. Even if he had just said that it was the Ovid version or the Hellenistic, that would have been enough. And without knowing it’s hard to hand this book to a kid without wondering if you’re given them a flawed text.

I think that if you’re looking for a great book of Greek myths, The McElderry Book may be more effective at providing great illustrations than retelling the stories everyone knows and loves. All authors are allowed a certain amount of creative license, but this should not be considered a primary source. It’s a fine supplement for those kids who have already heard them, and the pictures are worth the price of the book alone, but consider other sources for a collection of the original myths, sad endings and all. Lovely and worth keeping, but best if it is paired with something like the D’Aulaires Book of Greek Myths.

Filed under: Reviews

SHARE:

Read or Leave Comments
2008 reviewsEric A. Kimmelfolk and fairy tale reviewsgreek mythsPep Montserrat

About Betsy Bird

Betsy Bird is currently the Collection Development Manager of the Evanston Public Library system and a former Materials Specialist for New York Public Library. She has served on Newbery, written for Horn Book, and has done other lovely little things that she'd love to tell you about but that she's sure you'd find more interesting to hear of in person. Her opinions are her own and do not reflect those of EPL, SLJ, or any of the other acronyms you might be able to name. Follow her on Twitter: @fuseeight.

ADVERTISEMENT

Related Posts

March 2023

Review of the Day - Bear and Bird: The Picnic and Other Stories by Jarvis

by Betsy Bird

March 2023

Review of the Day - Trees: Haiku from Roots to Leaves by Sally M. Walker, ill. Angela McKay

by Betsy Bird

March 2023

Review of the Day: Hands by Torrey Maldonado

by Betsy Bird

February 2023

Review of the Day: Afterward, Everything Was Different by Rafael Yockteng, ill. Jairo Buitrago

by Betsy Bird

February 2023

Review of the Day: Nearer My Freedom: The Interesting Life of Olaudah Equiano by Himself created by Monica Edinger and Lesley Younge

by Betsy Bird

ADVERTISEMENT

SLJ Blog Network

100 Scope Notes

BLUE FLOATS AWAY Turns Two!

by Travis Jonker

A Fuse #8 Production

Review of the Day – Bear and Bird: The Picnic and Other Stories by Jarvis

by Betsy Bird

Good Comics for Kids

Review: Swim Team

by Esther Keller

Heavy Medal

March suggestions: early Mock Newbery possibilities

by Emily Mroczek-Bayci

Teen Librarian Toolbox

Peachtree and Peachtree Teen Showcase: New titles from February through July 2023

by Amanda MacGregor

The Classroom Bookshelf

The Classroom Bookshelf is Moving

by Erika Thulin Dawes

The Yarn

Jarrett and Jerome Pumphrey Try Something New

by Travis Jonker

ADVERTISEMENT

Related Articles on SLJ

These Books Picture the Music | Read Woke

Supernatural Page-Turners for 'Lockwood & Co.' Fans | Read-Alikes

USBBY Announces the 2023 Outstanding International Books List. Download a PDF of the Full List.

2 New Books for Beginning Readers Based on Indigenous Stories

9 Nonfiction Titles that Showcase Pioneering Women in STEM

About Betsy Bird

Betsy Bird is currently the Collection Development Manager of the Evanston Public Library system and a former Materials Specialist for New York Public Library. She has served on Newbery, written for Horn Book, and has done other lovely little things that she'd love to tell you about but that she's sure you'd find more interesting to hear of in person. Her opinions are her own and do not reflect those of EPL, SLJ, or any of the other acronyms you might be able to name. Follow her on Twitter: @fuseeight.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Melissa says

    February 5, 2008 at 9:51 am

    We have the D’Aulaires one, and my oldest loves it. But the illustrations are kind of lacking… this does sound like would be good paired with it. I’ll have to check it out.

  2. Matt says

    February 5, 2008 at 9:57 am

    When I think of “Rendered” I think of video editing, in which I splice different sections together, add music, transistions, etc. and then “render” it into one complete film. In other words, taking parts made of different media and combining them into one. Perhaps the art is a synthesis of several techniques, digitally rendered together? I am intrigued, but nothing trumps D’Aulaire’s! Thanks for the review.

  3. Alkelda says

    February 5, 2008 at 12:58 pm

    This is most disappointing, as I was looking forward to this book. I want to give my child nothing but happy endings every day for the rest of her long, healthy, fulfilling but uneventful life (you see where I’m going with this…) but not at the expense of the stories themselves.

  4. Fuse #8 says

    February 5, 2008 at 3:00 pm

    To be fair, he has plenty of authentic unhappy endings here as well. Icarus plunges to his death. Echo fades into nothingness. I just plucked out the changes that I felt were particularly peculiar.

ADVERTISEMENT

Archives

  • External Links

    • A Fuse #8 Production Reviews
  • Follow This Blog

    Enter your email address below to receive notifications of new blog posts by email.

    This coverage is free for all visitors. Your support makes this possible.

    This coverage is free for all visitors. Your support makes this possible.

    Primary Sidebar

    • News & Features
    • Reviews+
    • Technology
    • School Libraries
    • Public Libraries
    • Age Level
    • Ideas
    • Blogs
    • Classroom
    • Diversity
    • People
    • Job Zone

    Reviews+

    • Book Lists
    • Best Books
    • Media
    • Reference
    • Series Made Simple
    • Tech
    • Review for SLJ
    • Review Submissions

    SLJ Blog Network

    • 100 Scope Notes
    • A Fuse #8 Production
    • Good Comics for Kids
    • Heavy Medal
    • Neverending Search
    • Teen Librarian Toolbox
    • The Classroom Bookshelf
    • The Yarn

    Resources

    • 2022 Youth Media Awards
    • The Newbery at 100: SLJ Celebrates the 100th Anniversary of the Award
    • Special Report | School Libraries 2021
    • Summer Reading 2021
    • Series Made Simple Spring 2021
    • SLJ Diverse Books Survey
    • Summer Programming Survey
    • Research
    • White Papers / Case Studies
    • School Librarian of the Year
    • Mathical Book Prize Collection Development Awards
    • Librarian/Teacher Collaboration Award

    Events & PD

    • In-Person Events
    • Online Courses
    • Virtual Events
    • Webcasts
    • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise
    • Subscribe
    • Media Inquiries
    • Newsletter Sign Up
    • Content Submissions
    • Data Privacy
    • Terms of Use
    • Terms of Sale
    • FAQs
    • Diversity Policy
    • Careers at MSI


    COPYRIGHT © 2023


    COPYRIGHT © 2023