Yolen and Harris (Queen’s Own Fool, p. 726) open a promising series dubbed “Young Heroes” with this tale of the teenaged Odysseus encountering storms, pirates, creatures both natural and supernatural—and a wise, practical young woman to take some of the air out of his inflated ego. Traveling back to Ithaca after visiting his robber-baron grandfather Autolychus, Odysseus and his sidekick Mentor are swept off their ship during a storm and picked up by pirates who are holding vacuous, spoiled Princess Helen and her levelheaded cousin, Penelope, prisoner. After an ensuing series of escapes and adventures, they wind up in Crete, fighting Ladon, a giant, many-headed serpent, in the famous Labyrinth. The authors draw names, creatures, and even phrases from Classical mythology, endow their protagonist with adolescent versions of the quick wits, glib tongue, and thirst for adventure that Homer gave him, and allow the other young characters fair shares of courage and resourcefulness too. Combining ancient lore with modern sounding dialogue—“ ‘We need to get the boar’s attention,’ Odysseus said. ‘No, we don’t.’ . . . ‘Really—there’s nothing to worry about, Mentor.’ ‘I hate it when you say that.’”—this will go down as smoothly as a “Young Hercules” novelization, while giving readers a taste of what awaits them in The Odyssey. (Fiction. 10-13)
Pub Date: March 31, 2001
ISBN: 0-06-028734-9
Page Count: 256
Publisher: HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2000
This vibrant, thoughtful book from Katz (Over the Moon, 1997) continues her tribute to her adopted daughter, Lena, born in Guatemala. Lena is “seven. I am the color of cinnamon. Mom says she could eat me up”; she learns during a painting lesson that to get the color brown, she will have to “mix red, yellow, black, and white paints.” They go for a walk to observe the many shades of brown: they see Sonia, who is the color of creamy peanut butter; Isabella, who is chocolate brown; Lucy, both peachy and tan; Jo-Jin, the color of honey; Kyle, “like leaves in fall”; Mr. Pellegrino, the color of pizza crust, golden brown. Lena realizes that every shade is beautiful, then mixes her paints accordingly for portraits of her friends—“The colors of us!” Bold illustrations celebrate diversity with a child’s open-hearted sensibility and a mother’s love. (Picture book. 6-8)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-8050-5864-8
Page Count: 28
Publisher: Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 1999
PLB 0-688-13166-2 King Midas And The Golden Touch ($16.00; PLB $15.63; Apr.; 32 pp.; 0-688-13165-4; PLB 0-688-13166-2): The familiar tale of King Midas gets the golden touch in the hands of Craft and Craft (Cupid and Psyche, 1996). The author takes her inspiration from Nathaniel Hawthorne’s retelling, capturing the essence of the tale with the use of pithy dialogue and colorful description. Enchanting in their own right, the illustrations summon the Middle Ages as a setting, and incorporate colors so lavish that when they are lost to the uniform gold spurred by King Midas’s touch, the point of the story is further burnished. (Picture book. 7-9)
Pub Date: April 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-688-13165-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Morrow/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 1999
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