Eric Kimmel & Greek myths

I reviewed The McElderry Book of Greek Myths a couple of months ago along with Charles R. Smith's The Mighty Twelve and Lynn Curlee's Mythological Creatures. At the time I was quite pleased to have three gorgeous books on myths and mythological creatures land in my lap and saw this as a renaissance for one of the standard subjects in children's and teen publishing.

Basically I was thinking that as the myths never go out of style and every kid in the world ends up learning them at some point, it was awesome to see publishers revising the rather dry standards we've all grown up with. (We all love D'Aulaire's but if you're looking for attitude in those retellings you won't find it.) Also, very young children (kindergarten age) are often ready for the myths, but colorful illustrations are pretty much mandatory for that crowd. While I enjoyed all three of the books I reviewed (and my son did as well), it was Eric Kimmel's retelling in the McElderry book, along with Pep Montserrat's outstanding illustrations, that really stood out. I naively thought that Kimmel was likely on his way to a whole series of books on the subject and happily settled back to wait for the next entry (hopefully on the Norse myths).

Unfortunately, my literary optimism this time was dead wrong.

I can't begin to express, as a reader and parent, how disappointed I am in Simon & Schuster for not continuing this series. Kimmel did a great job of including not only the "standards" (Persephone & Hades, Theseus & the Minotaur, Daedelus & Icarus) but also some lesser known myths such as Prometheus and Pygmalion & Galatea. He also retold them all in a manner that injected a lot of fresh blood into the tales. As I wrote last summer: Kimmel is not writing adoring tales but shows both the nobility and pettiness of everyone involved and will likely cause readers to identify quite a bit with his subjects. Midas truly is a ninny here, Medea is crazy, and Ariadne gets her due for providing her critical assistance against the Minotaur.

These are plainly 21st century versions of old stories - the tales have not changed dramatically but Kimmel allows himself to consider just why some of the characters behaved in a certain way. Theseus is a bit of a cad and Icarus not merely thoughtless for flying so close to the sun, but more wistful at the chance to attain great heights after years of imprisonment. Orpheus and Eurydice have a love that knows no bounds and this second meeting with Hades and Persephone merely solidifies what careful readers will have already gathered from their tale: that sometimes opposites do attract and Hell's ruler is a lot more complicated then you might think. (How this tale ended up with a happy ending I'll never know, but it did and is one of my favorites.)

Montserrat's deeply emotional and richly colored illustrations perfectly match the depth that Kimmel attains with his words. Altogether, The McElderry Book of Greek Myths was the sort of gift package that I could see as perfect reading aloud to young children (as I have done, more than once) while also working well for older reluctant readers or those just starting to learn about the myths and looking to get their feet wet slowly before diving into Edith Hamilton. This is a timeless book and I don't say that lightly. I could see Kimmel and Montserrat's work appealing to children over a period of decades just as those have come before them have managed to do. That is why I was so surprised to hear that the book is not going to have a sequel, a decision that seems remarkably short-sighted to me.

But then again maybe I shouldn't be surprised since no one seems to look beyond six months when planning anything in this blasted country anymore. (And I say with all the love of a true American.)

So here's the deal. The book has apparently not sold enough copies to justify another. Why anyone would look at sales figures in only one year for a book on myths and use that to predict future earnings I will never understand as it is a subject that everyone and their third cousin knows will never go out of style. I managed to pick up an out-of-print picture book on Norse myths while I was at Powells for the conference but although my son is happy to hear them, he has already mentioned that it is not as good as his favorite. You want to know the biggest irony? Powells had more than a dozen copies of The McElderry Book of Greek Myths facing out in the children's folklore section. Clearly they can see the book has a lot of appeal for their customers. Maybe someone should make a phone call to the powers-that-be at Simon and Schuster and suggest they reconsider their decision.

In the meantime we will return to Persephone, Hades and crew again in my house and wish that Eric Kimmel and Pep Montserrat were able to entertain us with other titles as well. When two talents fit together so well you would think a publisher would celebrate their synergy and reward them - and the reading public - with more chances to shine. An opportunity is being wasted here and I can't believe I'm the only parent to see it go by.

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