Hercules - Hardcover

Burleigh, Robert

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0152016678 ISBN 13: 9780152016678

Publisher: Harcourt Childrens Books, 1999

Synopsis

Journey back to ancient Greece and meet the greatest hero who ever lived--Hercules! With eleven difficult tasks behind him, he now must face the last and most terrifying. To bring back the three-headed monster dog, Cerberus, Hercules must enter the Underworld--where the dead go--and come back alive! With a bold storytelling voice, Robert Burleigh takes the reader into the classical world of Greek mythology and reveals the courage and valor of this larger-than-life hero. Award-winning illustrator Raul Colón’s dazzling artwork imbues this classical story with magic and power.

About this title

About the Author:

Robert Burleigh is the author of many books for children including Flight: the journey of Charles Lindbergh, which won the Orbus Pictus award. He lives in Chicago, Illinois.

From School Library Journal:

Grade 3-6-A picture-book retelling of the final labor of Hercules, hauntingly presented. Told in the third-person present tense, the story follows the legendary hero into the underworld to retrieve the three-headed dog, Cerberus. The narrative is spare, broken into short, poetic lines: "Soundlessly,/They push into the river./And the rocky bank fades behind them." This may be more detailed than some readers want, but they will be drawn in and revel in the story. The success of this version depends heavily on Colon's watercolor and colored-pencil illustrations. His characteristically golden hues work well for the Mediterranean and mythical setting, and the varying dimensions of the pictures (from single, to page-and-a-half, to double-page banners) on the wide pages make the text and visual narration move from left to right as if on a scroll. A couple of details mar this otherwise lovely book. The bizarrely cartoonlike illustration of the Gorgon seems out of style with the otherwise unified-looking characters and creatures. Also, Burleigh's choice not to include Eurystheus (the king who commands Hercules's labors and is shamed by his success in this one) or Hercules's return of Cerberus to the underworld (readers don't know what happens to the creature in this version) make the telling seem unfinished. Still, this is an enticing contribution.
Nina Lindsay, Oakland Public Library, CA
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Harcourt Childrens Books
• Publication date: 1999
• ISBN 10: 0152016678
• ISBN 13: 9780152016678
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 32
• Illustrator: Colon Raul