Trojan Horse, The - Hardcover

Lorenz, Albert; Schleh, Joy

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0810959860 ISBN 13: 9780810959866

Publisher: Abrams Books for Young Readers, 2006

Synopsis

The only picture book available featuring the tale of the Trojan Horse!

The Trojan Horse is one of the best known and most ingenious plans in the history of warfare. But it certainly raises a lot of questions: How did the Greeks, so far from home, pull off this daring feat? How did the Trojans—surrounded in their fortress—have enough food and water to sustain them for years? How could so tall a wooden horse be built unseen?

Albert Lorenz provides his answers to these questions, and others, via art panels, speech balloons, and architectural-style drawings, for a totally unique perspective on the famous conflict. The chorus guides the action, but there is plenty of commentary by the gods, as well as human action on earth. The city, ships, and the horse itself are rendered as architectural cut-aways and elevations to reveal what is going on inside as well as outside.

Packed full of well-researched facts and historical details, this book will appeal to readers looking for an adventure story about military cunning and fantastic events.

About this title

About the Author:

Albert Lorenz has written and illustrated three children’s books: Buried Blueprints®, House, and Metropolis, which was a Smithsonian Notable Book for Children. He is also the author or co-author of several books for adults about architectural illustration and has been published in numerous magazines, among them The New York Times, Newsweek, and Architectural Record. Lorenz taught at Pratt for many years and his title today is Pratt Institute Distinguished Professor, Retired. He is now Professor of Illustration at Adelphi University, Garden City, NY.

From School Library Journal:

Grade 2-6–Part graphic novel, part picture book, and part Stephen Biesty-style cutaways, Lorenz's work breezes through the Trojan War, focusing on the culminating incident. The author omits grisly matters, leaving in the beauty contest of the goddesses, the rewarding of Helen to Paris, the long duration of the war, and the inspiration to create the great horse. The quarreling gods and goddesses are busts who talk in a modern style (yup, he just declared war!). The full-color illustrations feature ancient artistic motifs, large architectural structures teeming with small figures of humans and animals, cartoon panels of various sizes, and exaggerated facial expressions. Especially notable is a cutaway of the Trojan Horse, showing how soldiers got in and out, and what was included in the structure (notably, a bathroom). An author's note and a cartoon-style map provide further details, including the history of the city of Troy and dates and locations for the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. While the narrative is so abbreviated as to lose much of its more nuanced dramatic tension, the overall question of the story--who will win the war, and how?–is sufficient to keep young readers turning the pages. Not a notable achievement, but still an attractive and inviting title to help update aging mythology collections.–Coop Renner, Hillside Elementary, El Paso, TX
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About this edition

• Publisher: Abrams Books for Young Readers
• Publication date: 2006
• ISBN 10: 0810959860
• ISBN 13: 9780810959866
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 40