Edna Barth (1914–1981)

A retelling of the ancient Greco-Roman myth, in which the goddess Venus becomes so enraged at the adoration offered to the beautiful princess, Psyche, that she sends her son Cupid to destroy the young mortal with a spell. But Cupid himself falls in love with Psyche, and secretly marries her. "The path of true love never did run smooth" however, and a lack of trust on both sides leads to tragedy, and to Psyche's quest to be reunited with her beloved husband...

This retelling of the myth of show more Cupid and Psyche offers a much more extensive text than the version illustrated by Kinuko Craft, which I have previously reviewed. Although not long enough to be a novel (64 pages), it is certainly not a picture-book. The narrative is faithful (in the main) to the original version found in Apuleius's 2nd century novel, The Golden Ass.

The wash drawings by Ati Forberg, in black and red, are influenced (so the dust jacket tells us) by the Cretan culture "from which many of the Greek myths arose." I assume that they must mean the Minoans? Although I am aware of the importance of Crete as Zeus's childhood home, as well as its centrality to the story of Theseus and Ariadne, I was not aware that Greek mythology as a whole was believed to have come from this island... I think I will have to investigate this further... Regardless, Forberg's illustrations are charming.

In sum, while I would recommend the Cupid and Psyche illustrated by Kinuko Craft for the younger child, this version provides a very enjoyable retelling for the older child who wants to start reading on his or her own. show less

Each of our holidays has its own familiar traditions: Trick-or-treating on Halloween, eating turkey on Thanksgiving, waiting for Santa Claus on Christmas, exchanging cards on Valentine’s Day. But where do these customs come from, when did they begin, and why do we continue to observe them?
In the engaging blend of careful research and lively prose that has earned her books a lasting place on the holiday bookshelf, Edna Barth explores the multicultural origins and evolution of the familiar show more and not-so-familiar symbols and legends associated with our favorite holidays. Full of fascinating historical details and little-known stories, these books are both informative and engaging. show less

I love the illustrations in Witches, Pumpkins, and Grinning Ghosts -- you can tell they were drawn in the 70s, in a charming way -- but the writing style is too choppy and random for me to enjoy.

I like that a children's book includes info about actual witches, Druids, celebrations of the dead, etc., and I liked the background provided for jack o'lanterns, bobbing for apples . . . all those classic games and symbols associated with Halloween. I haven't gone through the book show more chapter-by-chapter to fact-check, but I suspect some facts might be a little jumbled; some bits just SOUND wrong, but I can't back that up.

Most of my problem, though, stems from Barth's writing style; the book reads like a grade-school essay, with info just dropped into each chapter randomly, with no smooth transitions between time periods or subjects. It's hard to read, or maybe just hard to focus on. It's not a book I'd recommend unless you really dig the art. show less

I thought this would be a really cool book about the history of Halloween, etc. that I could put in my classroom library, but I eventually decided that it would be unfit. It did have a lot of history, even some stuff that was interesting or that I didn't know, but it was so loaded with exaggerations, misinterpretations, and untruths that I got really annoyed. I would definitely recommend going elsewhere for your history, because I found this book somewhat offensive.