Druids, Gods And Heroes From Celtic Mythology (World Mythologies)

Druids, Gods and Heroes from Celtic Mythology (World Mythologies)

Numerous authentic Celtic myths and legends, from the most ancient Irish tales to the saga of King Arthur, are retold in this illustrated volume From School Library Journal Grade 6 Up The presentation of the material in this addition to the series is the same as in the other volumes: the book is oversized with two columns of print per page; full-color, full-page illustrations as well as small black-and-white illustrations, all of which are rather static; a very complete index, bibliography, explanation of symbols, pronunciation guide; and a text that is as static as the illustrations. The strength of the book is that it gives very complete coverage of the subject. Detailed background information is given, as well as brief, terse retellings of a number of the myths. But the writing is simply functional and gets the maximum amount of information across with the minimum amount of spark. There are chapters on the Celtic world in general, the gods of Celtic Ireland, the Welsh Mabinogion cycle, and the King Arthur cycle. Therefore, as a straight informational text, this is a good choice. Those looking for well-written coverage of some of the same information should turn to Alan Garner's The Lad of the Gad (Philomel, 1980; o.p.), Margaret Hodges' The Other World (Farrar, 1978; o.p.), and Howard Pyle's ``King Arthur'' books (Scribners). Kay McPherson, Central Atlanta-Fulton Public LibraryCopyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.