Mythology: Oh My! Gods and Goddesses (Basher History Series)

by Simon Basher, Mary Budzik

Overview

The myths and stories of the gods and goddesses of the ancient world have a timeless appeal that captures the attention of generation after generation of children. Basher History: Mythology is an information-packed introduction to Greek/Roman, Norse and ancient Egyptian mythologies. Meet Zeus, father of the Greek gods (and learn that the Romans knew him as Jupiter), Norse Freyja, goddess of love, beauty, war and death, and Egyptian Bastet, goddess of cats, along with many others. This unique and upbeat guide is a legend in the making.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780753441633
Publisher:	Kingfisher
Publication date:	11/08/2016
Series:	Basher History Series
Sold by:	Macmillan
Format:	eBook
Pages:	128
File size:	26 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.
Age Range:	10 - 14 Years

About the Author

Simon Basher is the creator and illustrator of more than a dozen internationally bestselling books for children including the critically acclaimed Basher Science series. Based in London, Basher specializes in "graphic surrealism" and his original artwork is regularly exhibited and sold in the UK, Europe, USA and Asia.

Mary Frances Budzik is the author of previous Basher titles Grammar and Punctuation. She has a BA in English Literature from Boston College and an MA in English Literature from Colombia University. She lives in Connecticut.

Sue Alcock (consultant) is a professor of archaeolgy and classics at Brown University, specializing in ancient Greek and Roman culture.

Additional Consultants: Professor Richard Buxton (Greek/Roman), Dr John Haywood (Norse) and Dr Aidan Johnson (Egyptian)

Artist and designer Simon Basher has fun playing in the world of contemporary character design. Inspired by a love of simple line work and a rich color palette, his characters fill the gap between edgy manga and the cuteness of Hello Kitty. He lives in England.

Editorial Reviews

2014-05-28
In Basher’s latest set of breezy “self”-portraits, 58 gods, demigods and mythological creations of diverse sort step up in turn to the microphone.The entrants are limited to the ancient Egyptian, Norse and Greco-Roman pantheons and arranged in no particular order within their respective chapters. They range from the usual celebrities like Poseidon (“rhymes with ‘Joe Biden’ ”), Odin and Osiris to some who have gotten less press, such as Hebe—“Waitress to the Olympians”—and Gefjon, Aesir goddess of plowing. Along with mixing in such non-Olympians as Odysseus, Budzik swells the ranks by lending voices to Bifrost, Yggdrasil and even the battle of Ragnarok. The author’s introductory claim that the gods gave mortals “something to believe in and ideals to aspire to when life was looking bleak” is massively disingenuous considering the speakers’ own accounts of their exploits (Hel complains, “It’s really grim here. I get the dreariest dead”). Nevertheless, the sex and violence are toned down to, for instance, Hera’s tart reference to “my hubby’s mortal girlfriends” and Isis’ allusion to “complicated family vibes” (following her brother/husband Osiris’ dismemberment by their brother, Seth). In a radical departure for Basher, some of his dolllike cartoon figures bear grimaces rather than cutesy smiles.More-systematic treatments abound, but the airy tone and quick-facts presentation give this some potential as a lighter-than-air refresher. (chart and foldout poster of Greek/Roman equivalents) (Mythology. 10-12)

Kirkus Reviews