The Children's Homer: The Adventures of Odysseus and the Tale of Troy

THE ADVENTURES OF ODYSSEUS AND THE TALE OF TROY is a truly enthralling read. Padraic Colum is a natural story teller, with a gift for transporting readers into a magical land that includes all the magic and drama of The Odyssey and the Iliad, Achilles, Trojans, Scylla, Charybdis, Circe, and Cyclops. Powerful and heroic, this is truly a triumphant book. Colum's writing can be complex for young children, so some explanation and patience may be needed. However, the results will be well worth it.

I'm reading this to my homeschooled 10 year old son, and he loves it. He's very interested in mythology (Greek and Roman), and loves hearing the names of Gods and Goddesses he's been studying. My middle daughter would probably not be ready for the same story, but each child progesses differently and may enjoy hearing it in another year, especially with some fun mythological unit studies or prep work of another sort in advance.

This is a wonderful introduction to the world of Homer and the Greek heros of the Trojan war. As previous reviewers have mentioned this is a story combining The Illiad and Odyssey. By today standards the language could be archaic, but if you are teaching in the classical method I find it necessary to learn the prose of the past in order to read the classics of the ancient world. If nothing else it promotes thought and requires the reader to thoroughly pay attention. This book flows poetically and captivates your imagination. Your children will not be disappointed.

I first read this book in 1971, when I was in 7th grade. I still think about it. It provided a colorful introduction to the classics. I was not surprised to see that a class of 4th graders loved it.

I read this book to my Grade 4 class with some initial reservations, thinking it would be beyond them. THEY LOVED IT! A couple of brighter ones were particularly interested in Greek myths before I started, and they helped to spark the whole class, but they all were able to understand it. I checked with the class a number of times to see if they wanted me to continue, and it was always a unanimous YES! Knowing that the Odyssey and the Illiad are considered the greatest stories of all time, and such ancient, ancient stories, really hooked them in them. Padraic Colum's language is sophisticated, and the sentence structure is complex, but it is so lyrical and clean, the kids seemed caught in a spell listening to it. One of the lovely things about reading classics to children, is that they see how imbedded in our culture they are. For instance, they could recognize Homer's influence in cartoons and T.V. shows! When we finished, one of the rich discussion topics was how Homer's and the early Greeks' view of women affects our society today. A number of parents expressed gratitude and awe that I would read such sophisticated literature to young children, and were highly impressed with their children's interest in it.