Thursday, July 16, 2020

The Adventures of Odysseus by Hugh Lupton, Daniel Morden and Christina Balit





2010, fluent reader, Key Stage 2, ages 9-11, upper primary
This is a simple retelling of Odysseus’s story.  It is divided into neat chapters. Each chapter is to a large extent an alone-standing story and the whole story overarches. Towards the end, however, where Odysseus claims his home back, we have cliff-hangers at the end of chapters. 
Both Hugh Lipton and Daniel Morden are professional story-tellers and indeed this text would really  come to life if it were read out loud.  Nevertheless it is very readable by the fluent reader and greatly enhanced by Christina Balit’s delightful illustrations. 
It is important that young people become familiar with the ancient myths. Much of our culture relates to them and this book allows the young readers to access this story on their own.     
     
It is a very pleasingly tangible book. It has a good weight and glossy pages. It uses blocked text and a serif font with difficult ‘a’s and ‘g’s.  It is 12 point and in this particular font is rather small. However the text is double-spaced, which makes it a little easier to read.    

No comments:

Post a Comment

The Book of Chaos by Jessica Renwick

2023   Jessica Nuthatch lives with her aunt and cousin after her parents and her uncle were killed.   Jessica and her Aunt Moira both ...