Customer Reviews: Read 14 more reviews...
 Fabulous Classical Literature August 10, 2008
My 4th grade son read this and loved it. He was fascinated by it and looked forward to our reading every day (he would read aloud to me). Having read the adult version, I was impressed by this childrens' copy because it stays true to the grain of the story. There is nothing Disneyfied about it. I highly recommend this book to any parent who is trying to introduce classic works to their children, as well as any parent seeking good quality literature. The illustrations are top-rate and further serve to involve the junior reader. Also highly recommended is Sutcliff's Black Ships Before Troy, which is the children's Illiad.
What a great adventure! June 24, 2008
I have loved Rosemary Sutcliff's historical fiction of early Anglo-Saxon and Roman England, so I knew her retelling of the Iliad and the Odyssey would be spectacular. And they are. I use them with the Middle School boys I tutor, who usually HATE to read but absolutely cannot put these down. The illustrations and map in this hardcover version are wonderfully done. The Cyclops with a stake in its eye, the suitor Laertes shot through the neck, with the arrow still there -- who can resist? I even used these with my 11th grader who was a very poor reader, and he lapped it up.
Sutcliff Excels April 26, 2008
As in Black Ships Before Troy, Rosemary Sutcliff writes a story of an epic that many adults are afraid to read for fear of the classics, in a manner that is captivating and understandable. It is by no means dumbed down and yet my children could easily understand the story.
Alan Lee's watercolor illustrations are beautiful and keep the youngest listener sitting quietly to hear the story while seeing the pictures.
The characters and the story are so easy to read that it is an easy transition to pick up Homer's Odysseus and read it.
If you are an adult and have never read Homer's version, I highly recommend reading this for your own enjoyment as well.
A Very Good Choice for 6th-8th Graders, Especially Boys April 6, 2008
I teach seventeen 6th-8th graders at a Christian Montessori school in northern Indiana. We have a classical education bent.
This version of the book The Wanderings of Odysseus, which we read over the course of 3 1/2 weeks (approximately a chapter each day), was a big hit with my class. The majority were very enthusiastic readers; nearly all the boys were reading ahead of schedule. They understood the plot, could retell each chapter, and could identify nearly all the characters.
The reading level was just right for the purpose I had in mind for my middle schoolers. (NOTE: my purpose was to move quickly and happily through a retelling of classic Greek/Roman literature, rather than to challenge the class with demanding literature.)
This book is entertaining without being sensationalized and accessible without being condescending. The illustrations of the larger, more expensive hardback version are splendid, but we did well enough without them.
Furthermore, Rosemary Sutcliff's faithfulness to the details and the tone of Homer's Odyssey is commendable.
I believe my students now have a solid albeit basic foundation for further reading in Homer, or for handling The Odyssey.
I highly recommend this paperback retelling (as well as the magnificently illustrated hardback retelling) of the Odyssey to advanced 4th/5th graders, to all 6th-8th graders, and also to older students and adults who are still unacquainted with classical Greek literature.
Superb! January 30, 2008
I read this to my 12 and 13 year old niece and nephew who hardly ever read on their own and hardly ever agree on anything. We started with the author's Iliad, which they both thoroughly enjoyed. The kids both agree that this is one sequel that is as good or better than the first book. Honestly, they ask (beg, actually) to hear just one more chapter. I personally like the way the author kept qualities of the descriptive language particular to the original epic. The language is just exotic enough that it helps for me to read it out loud, so they can hear it with the emphasis in places that help make it clear. We stop periodically to "re-cap", and re-read particularly lovely passages or phrases.
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