Our picture book of the week this week is the superb "Goddesses and Heroines: Women of Myth and Legend" by Xanthe Gresham-Knight and Alice Pattullo.
Xanthe and Alice have come up with a brilliant and diverse selection of mythical and not-so-mythical women in a truly brilliant book packed with classic characters we all know and love, plus quite a few more obscure ones waiting to be discovered and admired - even if some of them are probably not quite the role models you'd want your kids to emulate (Baba Yaga anyone?)
This book may sound like an instant classic, but it's actually the voice used to describe the characters that appeals the most. Talking to kids (particularly my daughter) in a cool and contemporary way about these characters is an instant way to win over your audience, and also a really fantastic way to describe legendary characters they may have encountered before in a new and exciting way.
From Aphrodite the mighty creator of the world, to Mulan the original cross-dressing mighty warrior herself, this globe-spanning collection of mythical mighty matriarchy is absolutely perfect - and a brilliant way to engage kids with finding out even more about these characters from other sources too!
Sum this book up in a sentence: An enviable cast of amazing mythical and legendary female characters that kids will love learning about, summed up in a mighty tome of awesomeness. Unmissable!
"Goddesses and Heroines: Women of Myth and Legend" by Xanthe Gresham-Knight and Alice Pattullo is out now, published by Thames and Hudson (kindly supplied for review).