The Odyssey: (An Illustrated Retelling of the Classic Greek Myth for Middle Grade Readers and Kids Ages 8-12)

A perfect rendition of the classic story for young readers. I read this out loud, along with the Iliad (same author/illustrator) to my 10 year old, 7 year old, and 4 year old sons, and we all enjoyed it. (Note: the four year old did not always make it through each reading session, he was in and out. It's hard to be the youngest). True to Homer's classic version, this is the story of Odysseus's tortured journey home to Ithaca after the Trojan War. As with the classic, there is a lot of violence. That worried me a little bit, but my sons seem exceptionally indifferent to descriptions or depictions of violence, much to my chagrin. They made faces and complained about the few love/romance parts of the story. My primary criticism of this book is the illustrations. While I appreciate the impressive artistry on an intellectual level, I simply hated most of the pictures. My sons didn't like them, either. Weird body proportions, ghostly white skin on most of the human characters, creepy, grotesque faces even on characters that are supposed to be "handsome" or "beautiful". Art is a very personal thing, so perhaps some people will find the illustrations to be a strength of this book rather than a shortcoming, but not me. For example, see attached photo: call me narrow-minded if you must, I just can't accept this as an image of Athena (though the owl is kind of charming). Five stars because we loved reading this rendition of the story, and even though we did not like the pictures, Neil Packer is clearly a talented artist.

As a boy this was one of my very favorite books. I remember crawling into the nice warm space between the pot bellied stove and the wall on cold wintry Michigan days. I'd escape into a wonderful world of heroes, giants and angry Gods who all vied with each other in epic struggle. What a great tale! Men who cleverly outwitted foes of great strength and supernatural powers to accomplish their ultimate wish...to return home with honor. I seldom spoke to others of this tale, because I was so self conscious that I probably did not know how to pronounce so many of the names. Now along comes a version that has such great illustrations that one wonders how it can be offered at this price. Many "Art" books costing multiples of Amazon's price are not nearly so nice. My wife (who is a graphic artist in her own right) saw the first copy I bought and urged me to buy more copies for all the grand kids, which I did. I expected it to be nice and was really surprised at how much it exceeded my expectations!Highly recommended to folks who love a great adventure that has endured through centuries and especially to those who love great illustration.

I had never read the Odyssey before and always felt left out when I heard references to it, so I got this for a grandsons' visit so we could all learn. It fascinated the boys aged 6, 7, and 11. Their attention flagged just a bit on pages with no illustrations, but with a few prompts ("Do you think the men are going to obey his orders?") they got back into the story. They LOVED the illustrations, though some verged on too scary. Text was full of action and gruesome details, but none of the men who got eaten by monsters were given names, and the kids seemed fine with that. I'm happy that the boys will now know what it means to be "between Scylla and Charybdis," or why a siren song means a temptation to resist. I'll be watching for opportunities to remind them what they learned. My brother who's a classicist says that the Odyssey stays current because the basic issues in life never change, and it's comforting to think, "Odysseus faced this same problem." You can't get that from Batman.

I was choosing between this book and Rosemary Sutcliffe's and Mary Pope Osborne's versions of The Odyssey for our homeschool study of the Greeks. I am so glad I got this version! The use of language is first-rate and the fantastic pacing makes it a wonderful read-aloud for my 6-year old. We do our read-alouds here with a lot of drama and suspense, and the way the book is written lends itself well to that. My son also enjoys the illustrations. Last night, as we read the book together, he was quite literally on the edge of his seat! Overall, a fantastic book for introducing The Odyssey to the younger set.

My 8 year old daughter and I are reading this now. I love the original and she is excited for reading time with me. The artwork is a bit too artsy in my opinion but it can’t be too realistic either or it may be too violent or risqué for kids. I love the quality. Maybe she’ll read it to her kids someday.

My boys, 7 & 9, really like the Underworld series that features a lot of characters from the Greek legends. So, when I heard the review of this book on NPR I thought they would really like this book, which retells the actual Greek story of The Odessey. I was right, we're about 2/3 through it so far and they ask for it every night at reading time. The illustrations are cool and edgy and make you want to study them closely to see if you missed anything. Overall, this was a great purchase, and the cost is really low for the quality of the book. It is hardbound and printed on heavy paper.

The colorful pictures and tamed down writing of this classic tale made this a hit with my kids (and me too!)

Absolutely great for reading aloud, with amazing art on almost every page. The saucy and scary bits have been toned down, or more hinted at, but not sanitized. I read this over about two weeks with my 8 year old son, who is pretty sensitive to scary things, but he loved it. The chapters are perfect for night time reading, and it's written in a way that feels natural for reading aloud. Great!