I read a post at GeekDad this morning about Beowulf and introducing mythology to kids. It reminded me of an an awesome book that I used to introduce Ryan and Nolan to mythology when they were in 3rd and 1st grade called Classic Myths to Read Aloud.
The book collects “Great stories of Greek and Roman mythology, specially arranged for children five and up by an educational expert” and divides them into two “listening levels” based on age (5 and older for Level 1, 8 and older for Level 2) which is quite handy for parents who are worried about holding their child’s interest. The myths are all retold in a way that stays true to the story while making them appropriate for children — there’s no Disney-fying the myth of Hercules here, but Zeus isn’t gong around nailing every nymph he sees, either.
The stories themselves are wonderful, but my favorite part of the book is a section called “a few words more” that goes with each myth. It gives the adult who’s reading them something related to each myth to paraphrase for their child. I loved it, because I could make the myth I’d just read to my boys relevant to their lives (with the added bonus of appearing to possess vast and mysterious knowledge about everything from the origin of the word “capital” to why a marathon is 26.2 miles.)
The book made it easy to share some of my favorite myths with my kids while they discovered favorites of their own along the way. Ryan still talks about when I read him the stories of Theseus, and Nolan loved anything related to the Trojan war. In fact, at the end of the book, there are six stories in a row that tell the story of the Trojan War including the Judgement of Paris, the Trojan Horse, and Odysseus’ journey back to Ithaca. I loved that they were serialized that way, because I could make it into a week-long event with my kids. I introduced them to the concept of a truly epic story, and they didn’t even realize it!
This book, and its sequel, helpfully titled More Classic Myths to Read Aloud (which I couldn’t find online, but have on my bookshelf, nyahh) make perfect bedtime stories for kids of all ages, and if you’re lucky, will lead to your 13 year-old asking you if he can buy Edith Hamilton’s Mythology, because “mythology is awesome.”
The book sounds wonderful. I will try and purloin a copy from somewhere.
Until relatively recently, my entire knowledge of Greek mythology was based on Ray Harryhausen movies.
There is something truly worthy when reading these myths, especially out loud. It can be very rewarding but it can also terrify the cat.
What an awesome book: thanks so much for posting that. We tell our 4-year-old about the Greek gods all the time: she thinks Zeus is responsible for thunderstorms. And overall, your blog rocks.
I absolutely LOVE Edith Hamilton’s Mythology. I bought that book when I was in college and still have it 15 years later. I may have to get the book you mentioned, Wil, because my 11 year old geek, uh, son, is like me in his love for anything ancient Roman or Greek. THANKS!
Edith Hamilton is great, but she does make some mistakes (she mixes up which sister turns into which bird at the end of the Procne and Philomela story, for example). I got turned on to Classics by D’Aulaire’s Book of Greek Myths when I was in third grade, and I haven’t looked back since. It warms my cockles to know that you enjoy Greek mythology enough to have passed on that love to your kids – I had to go search it out myself.
And now, with a smile on my face, I’ll go back to marking Latin homework assignments, heh…
Check out
Seamus Heaney’s Translation and reading of Beowulf. His translation isn’t literal, being considered by some as more of an interpretation because it attempts to capture the spirit of the original poem as it might have been performed over 1,000 years ago. Any fan of Tolkien will enjoy this work, and recognize in it the elements of myth that would later become King Theoden and the men of Edoras. Hopefully the new movie will generate some more interest in the real tale.
Thanks for that review. It is something that I will pick up to read to my 6yr old son. He is always asking for me to tell him stories, and this book looks like something that he will totally dig.
Thank you so much for recommending this book! I love to read bedtime stories to my son each night. The only problem is that children’s books are so expensive for just one short story, so I usually buy the Disney collections that have like 20-30 stories in them and are like 320pgs for only $10. This book here will be a great way to introduce him to other styles (and yes the epic which I will enjoy telling him). It is perfectly priced especially for the 272pgs.
~~TARA~~
Thank you, Wil! I’m definitely grabbing this book as soon as I can. My son has a wonderful imagination, and I’ve always wanted to share some of these stories with him, but every book I’ve found is either way too watered down or contains a little too much of the aforementioned nymph-nailing. 🙂
(Now, I just have to hope he maintains enough interest in these things for me to introduce him to RPG’s in about 4 years. 😉 )
Geez, I wish I had a dad like you when I was growing up… mine used to give one word answers or grunt, even though he’s a pretty smart guy, and he would have never read me any kind of story. I love mythology, so I may pick this up just for me!
i always loved d’aulaire’s book of greek myths when I was a kid; that led directly into heinlein’s juveniles and the foundation series, somehow…
I second D’Aulaire’s. Their Book of Greek Myths got me into mythology, in general, and when I found out they had a Book of Norse Myths, I was ecstatic.
For me, as a nine year old, it was all about the illustrations. Edgar Parin D’Aulaire studied under Matisse, and his pictures were full of vivid, imaginative depictions of myth. Totally amazing stuff.
Thanks, Wil! I have been looking for a good mythology book for kids to read to my girls (ages 7 and 4). I have now requested this book from my library (they actually have two- Classic Myths to Read Aloud and Classic Mythis to Read Aloud to Your Children). I love mythology, and I know my girls will be interested too.
Thanks, Wil! We’re trying to go green this x-mas and my wife and I have been trying to figure out what to get a 7 year old that is green (read: no plastic or lead based paint). What could be better than a used book? Nothing. Nothing could be better. (unless perhaps it didn’t have to be shipped.)
My 8-year-old daughter has been into mythology for years now. And it started, of all places, by her grabbing my 3E Monster Manual from my bookshelf. Since then she gets a new book on mythology every year for Christmas. The best part is when she sees a character or story re-done in a cartoon and says, “That’s not how it went! They got it all wrong! Here [grabbing one of her books], I’ll show you!” LOL!
And not to be outdone, her little sister (5 years old) has taken possession of the dog-eared Monster Manual and is rapidly catching up.
Who ever said having duaghters wasn’t fun?
I have on my reference shelf the three volumes of the Cartoon History of the Universe by Larry Gonic, ready to be shared with the kidlets. The rave reviews from the likes of Gary Trudeau, Lynn Johnston, Carl Sagan, and some teenager at a comics convention summarize things nicely.
I JUST sent this book to school with my 3rd grader this morning, I SWEAR! His class just wrapped up the Greeks and are now moving on to the Romans. Awesome.
My comment has nothing to do with mythology. I was just curious about the source of the names of his boys. Lol, sounds like someone is a baseball fan.
Thanks for posting this, Wil – I’ve been looking for good mythology books to read to my 5 yr old twins. I just ordered a copy, which should arrive in plenty of time for the holy-daze.
I agree, mythology is awesome. I remember asking my Latin teacher, “So when did people stop worshipping the Roman gods?” and she replied, “Did they really ever?”
As an aside, I saw “Beowulf” this weekend and it was TERRIBLE. I do not mind saying that at ALL on the world-wide-internets. The CGI humans were only rendered well about 50% of the time — Beowulf is the only one who consistently looks good. As for the story? After discussing it with my co-worker this morning and comparing it to the poem (which I’ve never read), he was blown away by how “Hollywood” the story had become. On the commercials, they use a pull quote that says, “Rolling Stone says, ‘Leaves you wanting more …’.” Yeah, it left me wanting a lot more — more effort on the parts of everyone involved.
Great post…one of the best Christmas presents that my parents ever gave me was a used copy of “Bullfinch’s Mythology” when I was about 10. Not only did I learn about the wonders of used books, but I’ve been in love with mythology ever since.
I just ordered this for a friend who has a 4 year old boy. I’ve given copies of Aesop’s Fables and Grimm’s Fairy Tales to friends with new children for years.
I recall from years ago my father reading me the story of “How the Elephant Got It’s Trunk” from the “Just So Stories” by Kipling. I can even hear his voice in my head saying “the great gray-green geasy limpopo river …”. One year when I was home for Christmas I read it to one of my nephews (who fell asleep on my lap). Good stuff!
🙂
I’ll look for these books; meanwhile, I’ll third the recommendations for the D’Aulaire book. I found it in the school library in fifth grade — in my defense, I wasn’t in that school before that year! — and to this day I keep it on hand in my high-school classroom.
A nonmythological aside: Anyone have ideas on how I would go about getting 120 subscriptions to Reader’s Digest for cheap? I’m trying to get more of the kids to do everyday reading, and while it tends conservative at times, it’s got a good mix of content for my demographic. The lowest subscription rate I’ve found was $13.98/year. We have it in the library, but everyone having his/her own would allow for some possibilities that don’t happen when everyone has to share. Subscriptions also would get it into their homes to be read on a day-to-day basis.
Thanks for the great book recommendation! We’re homeschooling our kids and have been looking for this exact kind of book.