FAMILY TREASURY OF MYTHS FROM AROUND THE WORLD

With the emergence of a new generation comes the age-old tradition of passing of legends and myths. This vibrantly illustrated family treasury includes ten enchanting stories from around the world. Full color.

The uneven quality of the storytelling in this decoratively illustrated collection, as well as the stories chosen, make it more of a mixed bag than a treasure. There are traditional Western entriese.g., the story of Moses in Egypt, the tale of twins Romulus and Remus, and a segment about Ulysses's encounter with the sirens. Also appearing are an African tale about the sparrow and the hen, a story from India explaining how a little bird took vengeance against an elephant, a Japanese creation tale, and stories from Egyptian mythology. Ten stories is not enough to string around the entire world, especially with half of the stories from Greece, Egypt, or Rome. Most of the retellings are flat and rushed, with the longer epochs compacted into bare synopses. (Folklore. 9-13) -- Copyright ©1998, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Ages 4^-8. Told with simple drama in the present tense and lavishly illustrated on thick paper, this global collection is clearly designed as a book for family sharing. There are 10 stories arranged thematically, including a vivid retelling of Moses in Egypt, two Egyptian myths, animal stories from "the heart of Africa" and from India, one story from Japan. There is nothing at all from the Americas in this world anthology and no sources given for anything. One jarring note in the retelling of the Greek myth of Helios' Chariot is the account of how the monster horses transform northern Africa into a barren desert and burn the skin of its inhabitants ("Since that day their skin has remained dark and the desert arid"). The best-told stories are the heroic epics of Romulus and Remus and of Ulysses and the Sirens, as well as the account of the eternal struggle between the great Egyptian Ra and his envious serpent brother. Hazel Rochman