Reviews for Young Zeus

The average rating for Young Zeus based on 2 reviews is 4 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2010-01-11 00:00:00 Lee Legg "This is the story of how young Zeus, with a little help from six monsters, five gods (his brothers and sisters), his mother, and an enchanted she-goat (that's me!), became god of gods, master of lightning and thunder, and ruler over all." So begins the adventure of young Zeus as he defeats his father, frees his uncles/aunts from the underworld, and manages to boss his bickering older siblings around long enough to become ruler of Mount Olympus. I was amused by the story; I think Karas had fun writing it and that fun comes through to the reader. Plus, it was fun seeing a nod to Hesiod's "Theogony" (gosh, how many times I had to hear about that in my college class when we covered Greek Mythology!) in an author's note for a picture book. However, I do think this book might upset some children. The gods and goddesses of Greek mythology are so flawed and their antics are so crazy, and that is definitely portrayed here. Some of the illustrations are a bit scary (you know, the cyclopses and hundred-handers and daddy Cronus swallowing his kids!) and some children might feel insecure at the idea of parents playing favorites. But some kids will probably love this stuff and little siblings will probably delight in the fact that youngest brother Zeus ends up reigning over his older siblings.

Review # 2 was written on 2014-12-04 00:00:00 Stig Graff So I saw this in the library and had to find out how in the world someone managed to turn the story of young Zeus into a picture book appropriate for young children. The author omitted the most gruesome bits, but managed to keep quite a few others in with some sugar coating. For example Cronus uses a sickle to banish his father Uranus to the bottom of the sea, but Karas doesn't specify for the reader exactly how he did that. No one actually dies in this book, they just get "banished to the bottom of the sea". I was highly amused by the bickering of the gods once they are freed. I was also amused how the epic battle for dominion over the earth reads like a school yard play session. Overall a successful rendering of a horrific myth into a delightfully fun tale for children. :)