The Monster in the Maze (Greek Beasts and Heroes) - Softcover

Lucy Coats read English and Ancient History at Edinburgh University, then worked in children's publishing and now writes full-time. She is a gifted children's poet and has also written several picture book texts. She is widely respected for her lively retellings of myths and has also published a children's novel. Her 12-book series, Greek Beasts and Heroes is being published by Orion throughout 2010. Lucy's website is www.lucycoats.com. Anthony Lewis is a highly-acclaimed illustrator, whose most recent collaboration with Lucy Coats is COLL THE STORYTELLER'S TALES OF ENCHANTMENT.

This entry in the Greek Beasts and Heroes series reprints eight more myths from a larger collection never published in this country. Though the sex and most of the violence is absent and the tale of Theseus is problematic (the text unnecessarily gives Ariadne’s ball of yarn magical qualities and also gives the Minotaur a human body while the accompanying picture doesn’t), the retellings stick fairly closely to the common plotlines. Framed as tales told by itinerant storyteller Atticus, and presented with cartoon illustrations, these myths will serve as sanitized but acceptable introductory versions. Grades 3-5. --John Peters