Chinese Mythology

September 1, 2001
Gr 5-7-Chinese Mythology provides useful historical background to mythical and historical dynasties. Ten stories about creation, prehistory, and various legends include popular and lesser-known tales. Legends taken from various philosophies are presented. Wolfson's simple yet occasionally bland retelling of a combination of nine familiar and rare tales would be useful in an instructional setting. Each tale is preceded by an introduction and followed by academic questions with answers and expert commentary. Tales from the Tsimshians, Salish, Maidu, Cherokees, Blackfeet, Cheyennes, Hopi, Anishinabes, and Micmacs result in a wide span of coverage. Bock's black-and-white illustrations provide no enhancement to the tales. Both books are compact and strictly organized, allowing students to cover broad ground quickly. Unfortunately, they lack textual zest and illustrative flair, making their use purely an intellectual exercise rather than a memorable delight.-Nancy Call, Santa Cruz Public Libraries, Aptos, CA

Copyright 2001 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

January 1, 2002
In each book in this series, seven to ten myths are accompanied by an extensive preface about the culture. Illustrated with undistinguished black-and-white drawings, each blandly retold story has an introduction and is followed by a set of intrusive questions and answers and "expert commentary," which quotes scholars writing at a higher level of complexity than the other text sections. Bib., glos., ind. [Review covers these Mythology titles: "Egyptian Mythology, American Indian Mythology, Inuit Mythology". ]

(Copyright 2002 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)