Persephone

by Sally Pomme Clayton, Virginia Lee (Illustrator)

Overview

On a warm spring day, the beautiful young goddess Persephone is snatched from her home by Hades, god of the Underworld, and taken away to live underground and become his bride. Persephone's mother, Demeter, goddess of Earth, is so brokenhearted that she curses the land so nothing can grow — a permanent winter.

 How will Persephone and her mother be reunited? Will spring ever come again?

 This lyrical retelling of the ancient Greek myth by master storyteller Sally Pomme Clayton is brought to life with Virginia Lee's beautiful illustrations. Young readers will be intrigued by the dramatic story as well as by its clever explanation for the changing seasons.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780802853493
Publisher:	Eerdmans, William B. Publishing Company
Publication date:	01/15/2009
Pages:	28
Sales rank:	415,417
Product dimensions:	9.70(w) x 11.00(h) x 0.50(d)
Lexile:	610L (what's this?)
Age Range:	7 - 10 Years

About the Author

Sally Pomme Clayton is an internationally acclaimed storyteller, children’s book author, and award-winning playwright. Her previous books for children include Amazons! Women Warriors of the World and Tales Told in Tents (both Frances Lincoln). Sally lives


Virginia Lee worked on Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings film trilogy creating architectural details for the sets. She has also illustrated the children’s book Frog Bride by Antonia Barber (Frances Lincoln). Virginia lives in England.

Editorial Reviews

AWARDS and RECOGNITIONS
 
Parents' Choice Award, Silver winner (2009)
International Reading Association-Children's Book Council Joint Committee, Children's Choices (2010)
Book Links, Lasting Connections of 2009
North Carolina Children's Book Award, Junior Books Nominee (2010–2011)
Maryland Black-Eyed Susan Award, Nominee (2011-2012)

 


Kirkus Reviews
"This pourquoi tale from ancient Greek mythology has everything to recommend it to modern readers. Clayton employs vivid imagery, powerful emotions, and loads of action to convey adventure, grief, love, drama, and the circle of life. Dialogue is crisp and accessible, while retaining just a hint of the formality expected of gods and goddesses. Lee's imaginative illustrations, detailed in glowing earth tones and sweeping across double–page spreads, complement the action. . . A beautiful retelling of an enduring myth."
 
Booklist, Starred Review
"Approaching the Greek myth of Persephone with the respect that a good storyteller holds for a great story, Clayton retells the tale with drama and grace. The mixed-media artwork creates a series of scenes defined by sweeping lines, broad views, and restrained use of color. Reflecting the generally somber tone of the narrative, the illustrations are impressive in their stately beauty. Strange and memorable, the many cross-sections showing the earth's surface and the Underworld are particularly impressive. This lovely picture book was first published in England, but its appeal, like that of the myth, is universal."

From the Publisher

Gr 3-6

Lyrical language and vivid details make for a strong retelling of this Greek myth, as Persephone is "plucked" from a flower-filled field, carried off to the Underworld by Hades, and sought out and mourned for by her distraught mother, Demeter. The story follows a traditional path, and Clayton makes connections to day-to-day life and the harvest cycle in the narrative and in her interesting afterword. Demeter welcomes her daughter home with a feast of "fresh bread, white cheese, dark olives, and cool glasses of barley water" and her seasonal comings and goings are marked by changes to the environment ("Ice melts and the ground grows soft. Earth bears fruit....Spring has come again"). Lee's mixed-media paintings, showing stylized classical-looking figures, effectively use color and tone to convey the characters' emotions: Persephone is aglow with happiness in a spring-hued scenario or wrapped in deep despair in Hades's dark kingdom. Cutaways simultaneously depict above- and belowground scenes (for example, Demeter rests in a sunlit pool while Persephone sits on a lonely Underworld throne) to underscore the story's themes. Add this fine picture book to mythology sections.-Joy Fleishhacker , School Library Journal

School Library Journal

When Hades sees Persephone gathering flowers in a field, he carries her off to the underworld to be his queen. Her mother Demeter is so distraught that she curses Earth with endless winter. With intervention from Zeus and other gods, Persephone is found and rejoins her mother. But she ate pomegranate seeds while in the underworld and so must spend three months each year with Hades, during which time winter occurs above ground. This pourquoi tale from ancient Greek mythology has everything to recommend it to modern readers. Clayton employs vivid imagery, powerful emotions and loads of action to convey adventure, grief, love, drama and the circle of life. Dialogue is crisp and accessible, while retaining just a hint of the formality expected of gods and goddesses. Lee's imaginative illustrations, detailed in glowing earth tones and sweeping across double-page spreads, complement the action. In depicting the characters, she borrows features from Greek statues but manages to give them humanity. A beautiful retelling of an enduring myth. (Picture book/mythology. 7-10)

Kirkus Reviews