Alice Mills

Nice, illustrations are spotty. Some reproductions are fabulous but unfortunately uncredited. The intro states that "some of the illustrations were commissioned just for this volume" and it is obvious which ones. Considering you can probably find this book used for a dollar or two it is a good value. If you are a 'sensitive' parent you might feel that these original unDisneyfied tales are too scary for your young child. If so I suggest you unplug the TV and lock your kid in their room for 15 years.… (mehr)

Mythology - Multiple nationalities covered

What ages would I recommend it too? – All ages. Children will enjoy learning about other cultures, their hopes and dreams.

Length? – Each section is an hour or so read, except for Classical, which would be several days.

Characters? – Memorable characters.

Setting? – Ancient world.

Written approximately? – These stories were gathered and published in 2007.

Does the story leave questions in the readers mind? – Yes. The Classical era (which stories are easy to find anywhere) took up almost half the book. As a reader, I hoped to learn more about cultures we don't already know. It would have been great to see a dozen or more stories from early Africa. There were thousands of civilizations there, and yet, it seems their mythology was brushed over with very few stories shared.

Any issues the author (or a more recent publisher) should cover? In several places, as a reader, I wondered how true to the people those myths were, and how much they had been changed by descendants to meet the "Christian" demands of the time. Would the myth recorders even know? Would the current descendants even know? Would they tell if they did? Were there societies that choose to keep their myths to themselves, rather than share with reporters?… (mehr)