Neil Packer

PSC REVIEW: Here’s the book I’ve been waiting for. I keep telling kids if you want to read about blood and gore you need to look to the ancient Greeks! This retelling of Homer’s classic tale is perfect for upper elementary and middle school kids (and adults who never got around to reading an adult version, like me) are going to love this book. Lots of bone crunching monster adventure and heroism await the reader And don’t worry, it’s not all about the men. Odysseus’ wife has to show more defend their home against marauders. . This version skips over the Trojan War and starts right in with Odysseus’ adventure. The story never talks down to the reader. It’s not only the story though, that’s important in this retelling. Neil Packer’s illustrations on which he toiled many years add a great deal. With some of them you feel like you’re looking at a Greek frieze. Others are pure evil monsters. It’s interesting that in one Zeus’ is portrayed as a black man. An afterword shows the Greek alphabet and shares what little is known about Homer. show less

Best version we've read so far, and we have read A LOT. Mostly because if the stunning illustration work, but also because there are some allusions to more classic translations and a "who was Homer" epilogue. Now the boy wants to learn Classical Greek.

I liked this book, minus one error on page 94-95. Hyperion is not the sun god. He is the Titan god of heavenly light. I believe that the sun god that they are referring to would actually be Helios, another Titan.