Myths and Legends by Sandra Lawrence and Emma Trithart
| Myths and Legends by Sandra Lawrence and Emma Trithart | |
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| Category: Children's Non-Fiction | |
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Reviewer: John Lloyd
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| Summary: A suitable primer for the world's different mythologies, plus some brief examples of what tales they told us. | |
| Buy? Yes | Borrow? Yes |
| Pages: 64 | Date: August 2017 |
| Publisher: 360 Degrees | |
| External links: Author's website | |
| ISBN: 9781848575967 | |
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Mythology is a peculiar realm, when you think about it – not quite legend, and not just the religions of the dead civilisations, but something like a mixture of the two. Certainly some of the entries in this pleasant little read hit on legend – King Arthur, Robin Hood – but we also seemed to believe they were true, even if they didn't fit into any pattern of organised worship. But seeing as it is the gospel truth that people lived by these mythologies, it's vital for the young to have some grounding in the subject, and this book is pretty good at providing such.
It's a very quick read, certainly for the adult perusing it before passing it on, or for someone who's seen other, similar books. In an attractively-illustrated small-format hardback (much closer to the always falsely described 'pocket book' size than I expected) you get a gentle introduction into the nature of mythological tales. We start with the nature of gods, whether good, bad or only occasionally menacing, with spreads concerning the magical instruments and weapons they were known for, trickster characters, heroic humans that were the closest thing to being a god, and so on. No chapter, if you can call it such, is longer than two sides, but also crammed in are a few instances of the actual legends themselves – King Arthur, Theseus and the Minotaur, the comeuppance of Mahishasura, etc.
We then swerve towards different subjects, and while never calling any of this a religion as such, look at what these stories were there for – namely, to serve as explanations (for volcanos, storms, the track of the sun etc), and accounts of our creation. That over with, we look at a few more stories from the pages of myth, whether they be romantic love stories or high drama, such as that which the Argonauts found.
Whether you will really appreciate this book, then, does depend on whether you think Jason's journeys can be served by about a hundred and fifty words. Evidently a lot is left out, especially as we cram in folklore from all corners of the world (even Estonia). But this book was clearly never designed to be comprehensive, but a gentle yet eclectic look at our timeless tales. To my mind the script was very well suited to the school library, or even for home use (with a lot crammed in, it could easily be turned to multiple times). I have no idea why Jason jumps into the present tense when so much was in the past tense, but on the whole there is little wrong with the contents. Just don't come here expecting anything encyclopaedic.
I must thank the publishers for my review copy.
Mythology has left us with countless endearing images, which are collected with some discussion of the legends, in Mythology: An Illustrated Journey Into Our Imagined Worlds by Christopher Dell. For other books for the young, while Roman mythology is hardly featured in the book in hand, you can fill out their understanding with the likes of The Roman Empire by Imogen Greenberg and Isabel Greenberg.
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You can read more book reviews or buy Myths and Legends by Sandra Lawrence and Emma Trithart at Amazon.com.
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