Mary Pope Osborne's Tales from the Odyssey the One-Eyed Giant

We began this series before the 5th and 6th books were completed. My daughter (then 5) absolutely loved the stories and kept asking when we would get to finish the series. Her little sister was enthralled by the books as well. They were thrilled when our set was completed, and both enjoyed the much anticipated ending. Since then, my now 7 year-old has read through this series probably 3 times on her own. A few months ago, she dedicated a weekend to reading all 6 books -- with occasional Barbie breaks. While the Odyssey books are quick reads and by no means comprehensive, the author stays true to the original storyline in an age-appropriate manner and deepens young readers' interest in the epic. After devouring this series, my daughter will definitely enjoy listening to me read The Children's Homer (which is also a wonderful child-friendly version) to her. I'm sorry, but I have to throw this in for those that may not fully appreciate the author's Magic Tree House series . . .the Odyssey series is well written and not sappy like the Magic Tree House books (which, admittedly, my kids love to listen to OVER and OVER again on audio - and they are educational -- just so saccharine). Part of the charm for my daughter, who admires all things beautiful, was the hardback format of the Odyssey series; they are indeed lovely little books. Maybe Mary Pope Osborne should tackle the Gilgamesh epic??? I appreciate that she clearly loves to write accurate works for children and wants them to enjoy reading while learning something new and important.

I use this book for an ESL English class. It's much more comprehensible than reading the poetic version. The kids seem to enjoy it, where I think they would be lost with the poetic translation in our textbook. All of the students in this class are low level English speakers, so this gives them something interesting to read without a huge comprehension challenge. They especially like to read about the Cyclops. They all passed the test because they understand it.

Mary Pope Osborne does an excellant job of retelling the infamous tale on a level that children (and adults!) can enjoy. My husband and I read the books to our two sons. They looked forward to it every evening. The books had a lot of action so they were never bored with the story and couldn't wait to hear what happened next! We are waiting anxiuosly for the final book #6 to be released.

Because my kids have learned so much from the Magic Tree House Series, I read this aloud to my 7 year old daughter and 4 year old son. Both were fascinated. We read this in one day, because we all wanted to find out what happened next! (They did find the One-Eyed Giant pretty scary, so I wouldn't recommend it for kids prone to nightmares.)Also, I appreciated the glossary, to help with pronouncing names. I'll definitely get the others in this series -- Excellent!

This book was exciting, tense and kept me reading it. I love Ms. Osborne's style of writing. I ran out and bought the 2nd book the next day, and finished it that day.My favorite part was when they met the one eyed giant. AustinAge 10