The Adventures of Odysseus

Gr 2-4–Greek legends are a wonderful source of adventure stories to engage young readers, and picture book versions allow children to access a text that can elude even mature readers. Compelling illustrations help this process, too, as another way for children to get information as they read. For the most part, the palette of this book consists of earthen colors, breaking from that for more flamboyant palace scenes. The story of Odysseus is long and complicated and has all kinds of characters, introduced here at the outset, which helps orient readers. Pivotal highlights are included: the Sirens, the Cyclopes, and the Trojan Horse, to name a few. However, selecting only some of the scenes makes the story occasionally disjointed. For example, when Odysseus and his crew escape the Cyclopes, they are next seen on a ship when they seemed to be inland only moments before. And in terms of grammar, Corvaglia is excessive with exclamation marks. This works best as a read-aloud for adventure-seeking kids, who will return to these stories again and again. The book lacks a pronunciation chart despite the difficult names and places mentioned.