I picked this up because it was by the woman who wrote two of my favorite compilations of goddess art/poetry/articles/references/etc. Once again, a book for Barefoot Books, making it a children's mythos book on Goddesses. The art was lovely, and the stories are wonderful for children (even though I can definitely tell where artistic license is taken with telling the tales in a format more understandable for children vs. the direct myth itself. I waffle on my thoughts about this, which bring it down from a four to w three in stars) ( )

American author Burleigh Mutén and British illustrator Helen Cann join forces in this lovely collection of goddess stories from around the world. The eight selections here include:

The Lady of Ten Thousand Names, which details the ancient Egyptian story of Isis, who rescued her brother/husband Osirus, when the god Set murdered him and set him afloat in a sarcophagus on the Nile...

The Princess Who Became a Goddess, in which a mortal Chinese princess named Maio Shan, being too kind and good for the world, became Kuan Yin, the goddess of compassion, going on to aid the father who had had her executed...

We Are All One Family, which sets out the story of White Buffalo Woman, a sacred spirit who came to the Lakota people of North America's great plains, bringing them the sacred pipe, and teaching them sacred rituals...

Mother of Magic, which relates the tale of the Welsh sorceress Cerridwen, whose attempt to use magic to aid her son, Great Crow, didn't go quite as she planned, leading to an unexpected second child...

The Blessing Necklace, in which the Norse goddess Freya gains a necklace of unearthly beauty from four dwarfs, thanks to her charm, only to find her new treasure stolen by Odin...

Ama-Terasu's Mirror, in which the Japanese Shinto sun goddess Ama-Terasu hides from her reckless, destructive brother in a cave, until the other deities find a way to convince her to emerge, bringing light back to the world...

The Great Mother, which tells of how the Nigerian Yoruba mother goddess, Oshun, participates in the creation of humanity...

And finally, Persephone, Demeter and Hekate, which tells the classical Greek myth concerning the kidnapping of Persephone by Hades, and the compromise which brought about the changing seasons...

The Lady of Ten Thousand Names: Goddess Stories from Many Cultures is the second goddess-centered collection I have read from Burleigh Mutén, following upon her Goddesses: A World of Myth and Magic. That other title was an encyclopedia of 107 deities, whereas this is an actual story collection. On the whole, I enjoyed Mutén's retelling of the tales here, all of which were already known to me. That said, the real star of this collection, for me, was the lovely artwork from Helen Cann, which captures the beauty and mystery of these stories. By itself, the text probably would have gotten a three-star rating, but such was my enjoyment of the visuals, that I added an extra star. Recommended to young folklore and mythology lovers, and to readers seeking goddess stories from around the world. ( )

A wonderful collection of goddess stories from around the world. Students will be introduced to goddesses that they may be unfamiliar with. I appreciate the geographic information that is included before each myth in order to give cultural information to the reader.

All these books I've been picking up—the goddesses, Grandmothers' Stories and Grandfather Mountain—I didn't know these were all by Burleigh Muten until I read them. Apparently she has a fascination with these kinds of stories from around the world, and I am so glad, because her books are beautiful and I have loved reading them. The Lady of Ten Thousand Names includes stories about several of the same goddesses that were included in Goddesses: A World of Myth and Magic, but where they were only described briefly there, now they each have several pages of their own story. The illustrations here are also lovely, but I liked Rebecca Guay's and Sian Bailey's much better. ( )

Characters: Ten goddesses from eight different cultures.

Setting: Egypt, China, North America, Wales, Scandinavia, Japan, Nigerian, and Greece

Theme: Female deities and their traditional tales

Genre: Traditional Literature - Myth

Golden quote (optional): “None of these beautiful things can compare to the joy of a child.” Oshun in the story of “The Great Mother.”

Summary: Eight cultures are highlighted with mythological stories about 10 goddesses. The stories are based on culturally traditional tales. Each goddess must face a challenge and determine what the best choice of solution will be. One of the stories tells of a darker side (The Blessing of the Necklace) of a goddess. Freya was willing to go to war to get what she wanted. By contrast, the story of Oshun gives the example of giving everything up to create balance in life. The book contains examples of myths perpetuated for hundreds if not thousands of years through the lens of women.

Audience: second through sixth grade

Curriculum ties: ancient history, goddesses, ELA – compare and contrast writing

Awards (optional):

Personal response: The illustrations in this book appear to be watercolor and collage-like. I like how each story has its own set of graphics at the top of the page and where the page numbers are to separate the each tale. A couple of tales seemed to end abruptly (Cerridwen and Freya) and not being familiar with the stories, I don’t know if the entire myth was told. By far, the Nigerian-Yoruba story of Oshun was my favorite. 17 gods were called upon to populate the earth but all it took was one woman to actually complete the task. The head god (Olodumare) tells the men they have upset the balance of the earth and tells them, “A team of men cannot create harmony on Earth without a woman.” When Oshun realizes she has not kept the balance on Earth, she sacrifices all her possessions to have a child and gives the “Golden Quote.” The perfect words being, “None of these beautiful things can compare to the joy of a child.” ( )