Book Synopsis:
A stunning gift book drawing together mythological poems – classic and brand-new – from around the world, illustrated throughout in black and white by award-winning former children’s laureate Chris Riddell. Compiled by bestselling anthologist Ana Sampson, with an introduction by Natalie Haynes, author of Stone Blind.
People all over the world have always told each other stories. And from the very earliest times, many of these stories were told in verse. This collection of poems includes retellings and reimaginings of Roman, Greek, Egyptian, Norse, Celtic, Aztec, Japanese and Inuit mythology.
You will meet gods, monsters, tricksters, heroes, magical creatures and objects, magicians and spirits including Medusa, Icarus, Loki, Osiris, the Minotaur, Pegasus, Bunyip, Kukulcan, Cerberus, Beowolf and Mjolnir and there are footnotes to shine a light on stories themselves.
Includes poems from Neil Gaiman, W B Yeats, Kae Tempest, Sylvia Plath, Shakespeare, Benjamin Zephaniah, Joseph Coelho and many more. . .
My Review:
God’s And Monsters is a really beautiful anthology that would make a great gift for a child.
Firstly I absolutely love Greek mythology so I found it very interesting to learn a bit more about this whilst reading this book. It was especially interesting to learn more about the mythology from other countries as there were a few legends featured in this book that I hadn’t heard of before. I spent lots of time on the computer trying to find out more about them which I always love and I think would create a great learning opportunity for a child.
The book is divided into different sections starting with The First Rays Of Sunshine and ending with The Dark World: Underworlds & Afterlife. I thought this was very clever and I enjoyed following the myths through the different parts of life. You can either read the book from cover to cover or it’s easy to dip in and out of depending on what you’re interested in.
This book is beautifully illustrated, with full page illustrations at times that are just stunning to look at. They really help to bring the stories to life and my children loved flicking through the book just looking at them. My daughter loved retelling the poems to her younger brother too showing how fascinating the poems are to younger readers.
Overall I absolutely loved this book and would highly recommend it to children of all ages. I think it’s aimed at children aged 9 and over but as mentioned earlier my daughter and son (age 8 & 5) were able to really enjoy it too. I think it’s the type of anthology I’d have treasured when I was younger so would make a great gift for Christmas or a special occasion.
About The Author:
Ana has been editing poetry anthologies since 2009, when I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud and Other Poems you Half-Remember from School was the third bestselling poetry title that year. More recently she has edited two volumes of poetry by women, She is Fierce (an Amazon number one category bestseller) and She Will Soar, a collection of poetry about motherhood, Night Feeds and Morning Songs, and Wonder: The Natural History Museum Poetry Book. She has contributed articles to books including Writers’ Market UK and The Book Lover’s Companion and to newspapers and magazines, and talked about poetry and publishing at literary festivals, bookshop events, at libraries, in schools and online. Ana has also appeared on television and radio talking about books, poetry and teenage diaries. She lives in Surrey with her husband, two daughters, two demanding cats, and far too many books.
You can visit her website and sign up for her author newsletter at http://www.anasampson.co.uk.
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