Olympians: Aphrodite, Goddess of Love.

O'Connor, George.  Olympians: Aphrodite, Goddess of Love.  Macmillan/ First Second  2014  76p.  $10.00      ISBN 978-1-5964-3739-5  all ages    series: Olympians  E-BN

In this volume the author introduces Aphrodite, the goddess of love, beauty, and power.  Aphrodite was born of the sea foam and the power of Eros, and was made in loveliness and given power, beauty and an abundance of love.

The reader meets Aphrodite and reads about how she became a part of the Olympian group of gods, although she is the only one not related except through marriage.  On one occasion there is a wedding celebration and all the gods are present except one, Eris.  Eris was the goddess of discord, so to keep the festivities peaceful she was not invited, but she came anyway, and of course it was she who threw out the golden apple, intended for the most beautiful goddess.  This brought three goddesses out to claim the apple; Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite.

This series of tales from mythology introduces the Olympian gods and their individual stories to beginning readers.  The pictures are very pleasing and bright, and will keep the reader going to the end and wanting more. This is the fifth volume in the series.  Other volumes cover Zeus, Hera, Hades, and Poseidon.

Each book in the series includes author's notes, facts about the gods, Greek notes, a “for discussion” section, and a bibliography.          

Greek mythology, Aphrodite                                  --Magna Diaz

Hades

O’Conner, George        Hades       

 Macmillan/ First Second 2012  76p   $9.99

978-1-59643-434-9       elm/ms  G    Olympians series  Graphic Novel    

In translating the mythological tale of Hades, the author of this graphic novel turns the story into an almost urban tale, using contemporary language and slang.  The story concerns Hades, but it really seems to be more about his wife Persephone and her mother Demeter.  The illustrations are well done. The story is interesting, but there are often places where the text seems disjointed and too simplistic.       The Olympians is a well-illustrated series that provides a contemporary slant on Greek mythological tales of the gods and goddesses.     

G          Lynn Fisher                Greek mythology, Graphic novels

 

Hurley, Michael. World’s Greatest Olympians.

Hurley, Michael. World’s Greatest Olympians.   Capstone Publishers, 2012.    32p. $29.00  ISBN 978-1-4109-4122-0 elem  VG-BNes       

     Exciting biographical information, a vivid layout, and outstanding photographs combine to create a winning book about international record-breaking Olympic stars.  Readers of all ages will enjoy this book!  It has so many great features that the reader will turn each page eagerly.  These features include highlights of the Olympic stars’ achievements (presented in the colors bold sky blue and warm orange), Olympic fact files about each star in grass green, and photograph captions in white on a black background.  The layout is without a doubt one of the strengths of this book!  Another strength is the quality of the photographs, which show tremendous features of the Olympic stars down to the musculature, posture and determination of athletes like swimmer Michael Phelps and marathon runner Abebe Bikila.  Olympic viewers will never forget the remarkable win by Abebe, despite a setback in the form of a surgery six weeks before the 1964 Olympics.  The controversial 1988 Olympics brought victory to Carl Lewis when Ben Johnson tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs.  Everyone watched as Ben Johnson became a world-renowned hero when he won the 200-meter and 400-meter running events in 1996.  Other famous Olympians who are highlighted in this book include Jesse Owens, the American who showed Hitler that German athletes were not the best in the world, Fanny Blankers-Koen, Dutch high-jumper and runner who showed the world what a housewife could do, and Steve Redgrave, a British rower who was knighted by the Queen of England for his achievements.  One slight drawback is that the reader will wish the author had included more biographical data about each Olympian, but since his purpose is simply to introduce the reader to each star, he has achieved his goal.  New vocabulary words appear in bold type, and there is a helpful glossary at the end of the book that is preceded by a list of interesting facts about winners of the Winter Olympics as well as Paralympics.  A list of web sites and an index conclude the book.

     The Olympics is a series that includes a variety of topics, including great moments in Olympic history, the 2012 London Olympics, the World of Olympics, and high-tech Olympics.  Each book includes a page of data, action photographs and short snippets of Olympic fact, along with the necessary charts of records, and anecdotal information about variety of stars 

Subject: Olympics

Martha Squaresky