The Odyssey: Selected Adventures

by Homer and Diana Stewart

Retells in simple language five episodes in the voyage of the Greek hero Odysseus from Troy to his home in Ithaca. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Library Binding
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0817216545
• ISBN13: 9780817216542
• Release Date: January 1980
• Publisher: Steck-Vaughn
• Length: 48 Pages
• Weight: 0.64 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 6.3" x 9.4"
• Age Range: 9 to 12 years
• Grade Range: Grades 4 to 7

Customer Reviews

An Odyssey for kids

This is a companion book to The Iliad, adapted for kids by Diana Stewart. The age range for both of these books is probably as young as 8 years old, going up to 12 or 13 years old. It tells in simple language, with nice graphics pictures the story of the real Odyssey.The Iliad leaves off at the end of the funeral of Hector, the great hero of Troy. The Trojan Horse and the way the fighting ends in Troy is at the beginning of the Odyssey, but this is just to set the stage for the journey home of Odysseus, one of the great kings of Greece. The first chapter has Odysseus leaving, and gaining the pity and forgiveness of the gods after being a prisoner of Calypso for many years. He builds a boat to leave, and lands on Phaeacia, and tells his tale of woe. Odysseus tells the tale of the Cyclops, and then the tale of Circe, the problems with the Sirens and the fate of his crew. All of this is done in terms of telling a story to his host king at Phaeacia. Odysseus is set on his way home, but has one last adventure, in his very own home, where men are plotting against him. Athena disguises him, but then he proves who he is by his great archery skill.Even making this a version for children, there's still a lot of death and destruction, especially at the end, when Odysseus is merciless toward the suitors of Penelope who treated him badly. But we get a happy ending at least for Odysseus and Penelope. There is a little glossary at the back with proper names and with a few key words. It is sometimes hard to keep the names and action straight since the text of the book only goes for about 30 pages of a good size print. The rest of the pages are pictures, colorful and well done, drawn by Konrad Hack, a different artist from the Iliad.These two Diana Stewart books are a good way to introduce these classics to children.

A good introduction for kids

The Trojan Horse; the Cyclops; the Island of Circe; the bloody and revengeful return to Ithaca ... all are here with nice illustrations that emphasize the wonder & de-emphasize the blood. Includes a glossary for the hard words & names. In our current era of fast-fast-fast, I'm not sure whether many children would read it through, but if you read aloud to your child, this may be a good choice ... and the chapters are short enough for those children who don't need spoonfeeding. This is a good choice for giving a child the basics of the legend.