Tales from the Odyssey: The Land of the Dead - Book #2
For graduates of D'Aulaires' Book of Greek Myths, these  installments of the Tales from the Odyssey series deftly distill  episodes from Homer's epic. Osborne (the Magic Tree House  series) opens the first volume as Odysseus receives King  Agamemnon's orders to join the fight against Troy, and bring  home the Greek queen, Helen, kidnapped by a Trojan prince. In  succinct chapters, the author then traces the labyrinthine  journey of Odysseus and his men as they attempt to sail home to  Ithaca. She touches on their encounters with the island of the  lotus-eaters, Polyphemus the Cyclops and Aeolus, god of the  winds. The second book brings the hero and his band to the  island of the cannibal giants who devour a number of Odysseus's  men, the palace of Circe the enchantress, who transforms some of  the Greeks into swine, and the Land of the Dead, where Odysseus  encounters his mother's ghost. Plot takes precedence over  character development, but the hero's bravery and fidelity come  through in his actions. In brief chapters and concise sentences,  Osborne pares down each of these adventures into easily  absorbed, swiftly paced episodes that will keep readers  anxiously anticipating book three, Mermaids and Monsters,  scheduled for spring 2003. Each volume includes a glossary of  gods and goddesses and a pronunciation guide to the characters'  names, which also help recommend this series as a tidy  introduction to Homer and to Greek mythology. Final artwork not  seen by PW. Ages 8-11. (Sept.)Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.