Children's Dict. of Mythology

Overall, I was favorably impressed by "The Children's Dictionary of Mythology," edited by David Adams Leeming. The book is full of entries from "Achilles" to "Zeus." It is an ambitiously multicultural work which includes the mythology of many regions: Africa, the Middle East, Australia, North America, the South Pacific, India, Japan, etc.Each entry is a short, informative essay. Some entries, like "African Mythology" or "Animism," are general in nature, while others focus on specific deities, heroes or relevant cultural phenomena. Some sample entry topics are "Book of the Dead," "Coyote," "Dikithi" (a Bantu trickster), "Kali," "Lilith," "Quetzalcoatl," etc.One of the book's strongest aspects is its rich assortment of full-color illustrations. There are many photographs of artwork of all types: a Hopi cloth, a sculpture of the serpent-headed Medusa, a stained-glass window depicting Sir Galahad, a knife handle carved to represent the trickster Raven, a wooden statue of the Chinese goddess Kuan Yin, Egyptian paintings, and much more. A note to the reader declares, "Myths are sacred tales about gods, goddesses, heroes, and heroines." Thus I was puzzled by the book's failure to include many important figures from Jewish, Christian, and Islamic sacred narrative. Yes, "Adam" and "Eve" are included, but there are no articles on "Abraham," "Moses," "Jesus," "Mary," and others. Yet the editors include figures from other living religions, like Hinduism. Certainly, by the book's own definition of myth, the excluded figures merit entries. This selective process of inclusion and exclusion left me somewhat dissatisfied with the book. Despite its flaws, however, this book is an admirable reference work for young readers.