Books for Pagan Kids

From the Elves at Pagan Institute Report

Folks have asked for annotated bibliographies for Pagan-friendly children's books. Here are some of our favorites. Please tell us about yours!

The Blessing Seed
Author: Caitlin Matthews

The Blessing Seed is not an overtly Pagan book. It is a beautiful Creation Myth. Children are bound to hear the Christian creation story. References to Adam and Eve abound in our culture. This book is a good reframing of the Hebrew Creation Myth. God has no gender, and leaving the first garden is a Blessing, not "the Fall."

The Blessing Seed introduces important Pagan principles to children, including singing as an act of magickal creation: God sang the world into being. God also gives the woman and man the duty to care for (not dominate) everything on Earth. God instructs the people to listen to intuition, the inner song that was sung at the beginning. Path-working is introduced. "The four paths are called the path of wonder, the path of emptiness, the path of making, and the path of coming home. These four paths of life will help you to learn and to care." Children will learn that each path contains a memory, learning, and a gift. The paths are interconnected, and each builds on the others.

The author, Caitlin Matthews, is a Celtic scholar from Oxford, England. She has written numerous books for adults and children. She includes an author's note at the end of The Blessing Seed, which is long, but informative. She says last, "In writing The Blessing Seed, I have been particularly conscious of the way in which children consider stories in the context of their own lives: how we return to our source when things have gone wrong is an important lesson to learn when we are young. The song of creation in this story reminds us to reconnect with the deep well of life. The blessing seed roots in each of us: if we walk the fourfold pathway of life, that seed will grow into a mighty tree in whose branches the Great Spirit can live and flourish."

This book is especially helpful to have in households where children might be exposed to a religion that incorporates blame and fear into their creation mythology. It very subtly introduces Celtic concepts of power and meaning in the structure of threes and fours.

Besides the many-layered text, the illustrations are simple and beautiful. this is one book I don't mind reading repeatedly.

It's generally available used: Check out http://www.half.com
Review by J. VanDerMeer

The Glunk That Got Thunk
author: Dr. Seuss

The Glunk That Got Thunk is a lesser-known story by beloved children's author, Dr. Seuss. On the surface, it is a cute story about how a child gets into trouble that she can't get herself out of, without help. The little girl thinks up a Glunk because she is bored with cute, fuzzy things. The Glunk becomes real, can't be "un-thunk", and starts to wreak havok on the household. Her older brother helps her get rid of it. The rhymes are fun and the pictures are colorful and expressive.

On a deeper level, this story can teach about responsible use of magick and the value of working together. The little girl used magick out of boredom, without a specific idea of her desired outcome. She tried repeatedly to repair her mistake of thinking up the Glunk, but was unable to get rid of it until she and her brother, working together, "un-thunk" it.

This fun story can become a valuable part of a Pagan family's library. It is available in the collection, I Can Lick 30 Tigers Today and Other Stories by Dr. Seuss, and can be found at bookstores and online.

Review by J. VanDerMeer

Earth, Fire Water, Air
by Mary Hoffman, illustrated by Jane Ray
(NY: Dutton Children's Books (division of Penguin), 1995.)
$19.99 hardcover.
Dewey Decimal System: J398.26 H

This sumptuously illustrated book explores myths and images from around the world. Joseph Campbell retold for grade school children. I especially enjoyed the use of artistic styles from a variety of cultures. This is a perfect way to introduce the 4 elements to your children.

HALLOWEEN Books
Christa Landon

Are you looking for excellent treats for that special little manifestation of the Trickster in your life? One of my favorites is Norman Bridewell's The Witch Next Door (Scholastic). The neighbors don't like this particular new resident who wears black. Pagans and Unitarian Universalists of all flavors will delight in this lighthearted tale about bigotry. Since this book first came out during the open housing struggles of the sixties, I suspect that Scholastic intended to comment about bigotry against people who WERE black, rather than about people who WEAR black. Share this one with your non-Pagan friends!Another classic, this one by Tomie De Paola, is Strega Nona . This is a beautiful retelling of the classic tale of a wise Grandmother Witch and a greedy fool. You can get this Caldicott award-winning book for $6.95 from Simon and Schuster. C.L.G. Martin's The Dragon Nanny is a wonderful tale about assertiveness, the Crone, and the self-perpetuating dynamics of bigotry. Get an extra copy for anyone who's been told she's too old to be useful. ($3.95, Alladin Books, division of Macmillan)Mary Fahy's The Tree That Survived the Winter tells a bit of our Pagan "Gospel" (of course without attribution).

As Pagans, the revelation writ in the sky and in the cycles of nature prepares us to deal with loss and death. At Samhain the Earth rends her garments to mourn the Sun. At this season, we mourn for all the people and hopes and possibilities we have lost during the year. We grieve, but we do not despair. We know that grieving is important work that sustains Life. We know that "from winter's womb He'll come again." This book is appropriate for Imbolc, but I include it this month because it was written for those who have not yet worked the mysteries. For those who need encouragement now, it's "an adult fable that will speak to anyone who has ever come through a difficult time in life. It is a book for survivors who, on the other side of suffering, have found joy, new self-esteem and compassion for others." (A great buy from Paulist Press only $6.95 in hardcover.)

Ishtar and Tammuz: A Babylonian Myth of the Seasons
by Christopher Moor, illustrated by Christina Balit
(NY: Kingfisher, 1996).
Reviewed by Christa Landon

With Iraq in the news, it is doubly timely to share this splendidly illustrated book with your children. Mesopotamia, the "land between two rivers," was the ancient name for the territory of modern Iraq and Syria. Babylon was its greatest important city, even then.

The origins of this myth are over 7,000 years old. Like most myths which captured attention through centuries, the story of Ishtar and Tammus has many versions. Usually, they are presented as divine lovers. Ishtar is Queen of Heaven, and Tammuz is the Golden God, the Vegetation King.

The myths vary on the cause of his death, but all agree that Tammuz dies and descends into the underworld. All Nature mourns his death, commemorated each spring with ritual grieving reminiscent of Catholic Holy Week. Without Tammuz, everything withers, the land dries up.

Ishtar, too, is grief-stricken. She vows to rescue Tammuz from the Queen of the underworld, whatever the danger. To descend, she must surrender her adornments (and power), which she does for Tammuz' sake. (This is the origin of the dance of the seven veils.) She rescues Her Beloved, and reclaims Her adornments as They rise to the upper world. But there is a price for Their release. Each year He must return to the Underworld, and Ishtar must repeat her sacrifice.

In Moore's version of the tale, Tammus is not Ishtar's lover or husband but Her Son. He notes that one of Tammuz' titles is Damuzi, meaning, "Faithful Son." Sonship here may actually refer to the subordinate role of Damuzi. Perhaps the kings of those times were considered the mystical spouses of Ishtar, reigning only while they were young and virile, replaced as needed. Moore also makes Ishtar order Tammuz' death, only to repent it and make the daring descent. In other versions, Ishtar is forced to give another to Erishkagel and finds she cannot sacrifice another -- until she discovers that Tammuz has set up his Kingship without even mourning Ishtar. Then Ishtar gives Tammuz willingly. This is not your sentimental, nineteenth century Mother Goddess and might be disturbing to some children, so you may wish to tell the story so some one else orders Tammuz' death.

If you share this book with your children, you may also wish to share a children's version of GILGAMESH. the ancient epic which also carries a version of this tale.

The Hennepin County Library lists this book as K398.209.35M.

Little Coyote Runs Away
By Craig Kee Strete, illustrated by Harvey Stevenson (NY: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1997.) Hardcover $15.95.

Reviewed by Dr. Christa Landon

Little Coyote would be 5 - 9 in human years, and already his personality -- so beloved by children and mythographers -- is already evident. Clever as he is, lucky as he is, his tricks often fool only himself. Strong willed, Little Coyote refuses to cooperate at bathtime and threatens to run away. Mother Coyote -- who has apparently been through this before -- expresses no alarm, but reminds him to take his medicine bag. After many adventures, Coyote the Clever, Coyote the Trickster, Coyote who dances over boundaries, discovers a boundary that is too much for him, and returns home for more magic.Parents will smile at Coyote's all too familiar antics and attitudes, and children may learn why Mom and Dad don't want them to run away.

The illustrations really bring out Coyote's personality, and provide a wonderful introduction to the Native American divinity sometimes called "God's Dog."

Loretta and the Little Fairy

by Gerda Marie Scheidl, trans. J. Alison James
pictures by Christa Unzner Fischer
(NY: North-South Books, 1993) 64 p.
ISBN 1-55858-185-5

Loretta lived in a cottage with her mother and her doll, Annabella. Loretta was lonely. There was only one other girl her age in the neighborhood, and Loretta didn't like her.

One day Loretta and her doll sat down in the garden, and heard a voice like a small bell say, "Ouch."

Loretta had sat down on a fairy! A small one. And all fairies are invisible at first.

Soon Loretta could see her new friend, who didn't look like a fairy at all, but just like another little girl. And the fairy couldn't do much magick, because she had gotten into some trouble, misused her magick, and now had to stay in the human world until she grew up.

So the two new friends have some wonderful adventures, and learn something about magick and casting spells, and about being brave and growing up.

Moon Mother: A Native American Creation Tale
Adapted and illustrated by Ed Young
(Willa Perlman Books, imprint of HarperCollins, 1993)
ISBN 0-06-021301-9

Dewey Decimal # B398.2097This lush picture book in dreamlike pastels is a perfect bedtime story. Creation begins out of loneliness which is only fully satisfied by union with the Moon Mother.

Once they have completed the work of creation by bringing Woman to the people, the Moon Mother is carried by her husband "Spirit Man" through the night sky to play with the stars. What a lovely thought for your child to hold while drifting into sleep!

Native American Games and Stories

By James Bruchae and Joseph Bruchae, illustrated by Kayeri Atweks. (Golden, Co.: Fulcrum Resources, 2000)
Dewey Decimal System: J790.1927
B 2000

Reviewed by Dr. Christa Landon

Unlike most European games which are based on individual context, Indian games tend to emphasize teamwork over competition. The authors contend that since basketball, soccer, hockey, football, and baseball were all invented within the last 200 years, that they were based on Amerindian ideas.

Games are an essential part of their daily lives because Indians believe that one learns by playing. The tales and games in the book teach that everyone is part of the team; everyone needs luck; it's important to pay attention with all of our senses so we can understand our world.

Not only does the book offer a fascinating glimpse of the values and ideas of the First Nations, but it is also great fun for ages 8+.

Out of the Ocean
by Debra Frasier, author of On the Day You Were Born. Voyager Books, Harcourt Inc., c1998, printing 2002
ISBN 0-15-258849-3
ISBN 0-15-216354-9 pb

Reviewed by Sarah James

"It's not the asking. It's remembering to look." This quote from the book is the best description of the theme in Out of the Ocean. It's a story of a mother and child at the ocean each day, and the treasures that can be asked for and found, from the ocean itself. The environmentally conscious parent might be sad that several of the treasures actually found are human made. But the child brings them home to use for other purposes, and mother asks each day for the treasure of the sun rising and all sorts of other gifts of Nature, so it gives a good message about the nature of "treasure" and about the goodness of asking for, and actually noticing, the simple things that life has to offer.

The ocean is magically alive, bringing things to mother and child, and every child should be able to find at least one interesting treasure from the things that show up on the beach.

The graphics are a mix of a cutout paper look and photographs of the ocean and the treasures they find. The back of the book has an ocean journal of things found on an actual beach in Florida, with information about each item or "thing too big to carry home."

Sarah James is a pastor's daughter, mama witch; database geek by day, and nursing student by night. She sometimes goes by Silverthorne and believes that nothing is "mundane" (except maybe toilet scrubbing).

Peace Tales: World Folktales to Talk About
By Margaret Read MacDonald, illustrations by Zobra Anasazi. (Linnet Books (imprint of Shoestring Press, 1992)
Dewey Decimal System: B398.2M
Reviewed by Dr. Christa Landon

Here are timeless stories for school age children and adults, showing the pathways to war and peace, the folly of fighting, and peacemaking techniques, along with a notes for discussion leaders and story-tellers. The stories lend themselves to dramatization as well as discussion, and could be fine ways of interrupting a quarrel between children and teaching them better conflict management skills.

Get an extra copy to give to a friend after a quarrel.

The Pomegranate Seeds
by Laura Geringer, illustrated by Leonid Gore.
(NY: Houghton Mifflin, 1995) $15.95 hardcover.
J 292.211 G

This version is based on (Unitarian) Nathaniel Hawthorne's adaptation of the ancient Greek myth in Tanglewood Tales. It retells the story as a coming of age journey, rather than a sexual abduction, and may be fascinating to middle school girls and older. The illustrations are stunning and dreamlike.

Religion and the Gods
Robert Hull
NY: W. Franklin Watts, div, of Grolier Publishing, 1999
0-531-15383-5 p

The introduction begins,

"The ancient Greeks were very religious, but in a way that was different from how we see religions today. They had no word for religion and no sacred book like the Bible or Koran. And they believed in many gods, not just one."

But be patient, it gets better. The collection of art -- most of it beautifully reproduced -- speaks for itself. In just 32 pages, the text introduces the Twelve Olympians, the Gods of earth, sea and sky, country and city, home, and skills, and knowledge. The Heroes are introduced, as are some sanctuaries, rituals, and festivals. Mention too is made of the religious games.

The glossary and index are welcome, too.

Though clearly written about "ancient religion" as if no one anywhere still honored any Gods other than Yahweh, it is still an excellent introduction to Greek religion for the middle school child.

"Something Magic"

Maggie S. Davis; illustrated by Mary O'Keefe Young,
NY: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 1991. $13.95 (U.S.)
ISBN 0-671-69627-0

Something Magic Happens for the Reader, Too
Review by Anthony Link

While not overtly Pagan, this lovely children's story focuses on a young girl's special relationship with her Grandmother. Beautifully worded, colorfully drawn, this story can easily wet your eyAll through the story, the girl tries to see which part of herself most resembles her "Gammy." There are healthy, graceful undertones about the way Gammy has aged over the years. There is also a very touching page where they remember Grandpa, who is dead, but is still close to Gammy.

As the book draws to a close, the young girl sees something magic happen to Gammy! "Light shone from inside her. It twinkled in her eyes and made her face look rosy. It was brighter than the moon and made me warm. Maybe that's the part of Gammy that I look like." When we turn to the last page, something magic happens for the reader too! We see that the story is really being told by a Mother, telling her own memories of Gammy to her young daughter. "Maybe that's the part of you that looks like me," she says standing hand in hand with her daughter, walking where the tip of the ocean meets the sand. Maid, Mother, and Crone come full Circle! Artwork is unique in style, since each drawing sketches a white-bordered photo, like what we'd see in an old family album. There are several nice renderings of the full moon and other nature scenery too. While the price is a bit steep, hopefully this book is one that your children will keep and share one day with their own grandchildren.

Link (Anthony)
AnthLink@aol.com
© Anthony Link Used with permission.

The Storyteller's Goddess
Resource for Goddess-based stories from around the world.

We Goddesses: Athena, Aphrodite, Hera
By Doris Orgel
Illustrated by Marilee Heyer
(NY: DK Publishing, Inc., 1999)
Hardcover, 100 pages. ISBN 0-7894-2586-6

Dewey Decimal number J292.13Reviewed by Dr. Christa Landon Middle School readers (and adults) will be delighted with this lively encounter with Athena, Aphrodite, and Hera, each of whom tell us their side of several mythological stories. Those of you who remember the Iliad, know that the Trojan War began at a wedding. It seems that the Goddess of Strife, Eris, had not been invited, and she found a way to spoil the wedding anyway. She came just long enough to leave a gift, a Golden Apple inscribed with the words, "To the fairest." She threw it towards these same three Goddesses, and left. Of course, they quarreled over who deserved the apple. Zeus was too wise to be the judge, so he assigned the task to a poor mortal, Paris. Each of the Goddesses offered the judge a bribe, Hera offered Kingship; Athena offered victory, but the winner was Aphrodite, who promised him the love of the most beautiful woman of earth. Unfortunately, this beauty, Helen, was already married to a King, who went to war with Troy to win her back, and possibly to retain his matrilineal throne.Ever since this epic was told, these 3 Goddesses have represented different values and goals and points of view. Readers will feel they know each of them and able to identify the Heras, Athenas, and Aphrodites around them and in themselves.

The book includes a map of greater Greece, illustrations in watercolor, ink, and colored pencil, a brief pronunciation guide, bibliography, index of proper names, and a few black and white photos of classical art.

If you can't locate the book, the publisher can be contacted at www.dk.com.

When the Moon Is Full: A Lunar Year
By Penny Pollock, illustrated by Mary Azarian

If you're looking for a follow-up to "Goodnight, Moon" here is an easy reader you'll love. The writer, descendent of the Wyandotte Indians begins with this sweet rhyme,

Full moons come,
full moons go,
softening nights
with their silver glow.
They pass in silence,
all untamed,
but as the travel,
they are named.

Mary Azarian's strong illustrations depict the seasons of Northern woods and fields, so they will be familiar to Minnesota children. And if your children memorize the text, they'll know the months of the year.

Wild Girls: by Patricia Monaghan
Copyright 2001
Llewellyn publications
Book review by Gina Guion.

Wild Girls is a book aimed at girls in the age's 9-13 brackets who are interested in learning about the Goddess, and following a goddess oriented path. It is a collection of stories featuring different Goddesses from different lands in their maiden years; much like the readers of the book. Each story has something to offer the reader about being young and female, and working hard to be a follower of The Mother. Following each tale there are small discussions of the lesson of the story, and how it relates to modern day girls; followed by activities and crafts ideas.

I'll be honest; I haven't read much in the way of books on Paganism aimed at young adults, so I haven't much to compare this book to. I guess to be really honest, I found some of the activities to be repetitive, and didn't see the point in some. Some I found to be downright hokey. But I'll try not being negative; I am not a teenager, maybe to a younger age group these are great ideas. I have, however read a great deal of Christian books aimed at teens; they teach Christian values and they're aimed at Christian girls and they do their job very effectively.

So to look at this book in that way, I would say this book teaches Goddess honoring values and does it well. Some of the words the author used I cringe at: "Wild, reckless, and free, the maiden goddess is the Wild Girl who lives by her own laws..." (Back cover) maybe I am a prude, but those are strong words; granted not every girl who picks this book up is going to take that statement literally and live by it. The author might have chosen something a little more...subtle. I am however, pleased to see this isn't a book filled with buzz words like "Power, Love Spells, curses, charms, Love Potions etc..." There was one short section dedicated to charms and spells, and she did a sufficient job warning the reader about the "no-no" aspect of cursing, The Threefold Law, and the proper thought process involved in writing a spell. I am very happy to see she didn't encourage spells geared toward manipulation of others.

The spells she suggested were, of course aimed toward what young adults would be concerned with; this book is certainly good for young adults, I would suggest having a young girl look at it and tell us what they think of it as well. I would hope to see something of the equivalent aimed toward teenaged boys about the young God.

Witch Child
By: Celia Rees.
Publisher: Candlewick Press, 261 pages, $15.99.

Abstract: Cast in the form of a teenage girl's journal, this gripping young-adult novel looks at the tribulations of those believed to be witches in 17th-century Britain and America. Most appropriate for mature Jr. High students and teens.

Reviewed by Lauren A. Liang
Special to the Star Tribune

Despite the absence of a new Harry Potter novel this summer [2001], England has not left readers bereft of a witch's tale. Candlewick Press recently released the British children's import, "Witch Child" by Celia Rees, a dark tale aimed at slightly older readers.

Cast in the form of a journal, this compelling novel is narrated by 14-year-old Mary. She recounts her experiences in 17th-century Britain and America, a dangerous time for witches.

"Witch Child" begins abruptly, drawing readers in with an opening page font that resembles the scrawl from an old-fashioned quill: "I am Mary. I am a witch." Mary tells us she lives with her grandmother, cat and pet rabbit on the edge of a village.

Immediately, she explains that Grandmother is on trial for witchcraft. The details of the old woman's arrest are graphic, sweeping readers into the horror Mary faces: "Men came and dragged her away ... They skewered the cat on a pike; they smashed the rabbit's head by hitting him against the wall."

At Grandmother's hanging, Mary is whisked away by an unknown woman. Here and throughout the text, Rees skillfully evokes the authentic voice of a frightened and observant teenager.

By the time Mary gains passage on a ship to America as part of a Puritan group, the reader is shaking with her when she sees the eyes of a minister fix on her and begin to narrow: "For a moment I was afraid he had seen right into me, guessed my true nature."

The witches among us

This "true nature" is what sets Mary and the novel apart. Unlike Harry Potter's fantastical subculture of wizards, Mary's witches are part of the regular community, albeit often disliked and lonely. This witch tale is dark and frequently violent. There is no Quidditch playing; instead women on cliffs with "long hair streaming, arms outstretched" disturb sailors, mysterious rabbits follow Mary and upsetting futures are read in still waters.

In the tradition of Elizabeth George Speare's 1978 novel, "The Witch of Blackbird Pond," (which won a Newberry Medal) "Witch Child" describes the early Puritan settlements in powerful detail, clearly illustrating the fears many of these early settlers held and how this contributed to the Salem witch trials. "Witch Child," however, veers away from the earlier book's account of an innocent girl falsely accused by having Mary identify herself as a witch.

Whether Mary really is a witch is left to the reader to decide. The addition of a foreword and prologue add to the mystery, describing the journal as a discovered "collection of documents termed 'the Mary papers'." Readers are asked to assist in the search for Mary's descendants.

With its strong female adolescent protagonist and exciting narrative, "Witch Child" is likely to appeal especially to teenage girls who are ready to move beyond "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and "Sabrina."

-- Lauren A. Liang is the Guy Bond Fellow in Reading Education at the University of Minnesota.

Brief Mentions from the UUA
Religious Educators List:Children's Books on how we minister to one another: Because Brian Hugged His Mother
By David L. Rice.

How a caring gesture echoes from person to person throughout the day until it comes back to the person who started it.

Donna O'Neeshuck Was Chased by Some Cows
By Bill Grossman.

Donna pats a cow on the head, and it starts chasing her. Various people and animals offer to help her, but once she pats them on the head, they start chasing her too. Eventually she turns around, stands up to them, and asks, in desperation,

"What do you want?"

It turns out they want pats on the head. After she dispenses pats on the head for most of the day, she finally gets someone to pat her on the head. Then "everyone patted each other." (Actually, it ends with a statement that pats on the head from Donna are better than anyone else's, but I always skip that page.) It's very funny, in rhymed, rhythmic language, and sums up my experience of ministry and shared ministry -- if one person is responsible for caring for everyone it's exhausting, but if we all care for each other then that ministry is shared. (reviewed by Rev. Lynn Ungar)

Love Can Build a Bridge

(Yes, like the song by the Judds) The photos describe how each person passes along a good deed - which comes back in the end to the first person.

Not yet reviewed:

Celebrating The Great Mother: A Handbook of Earth-Honoring Activities for Parents and Children by Cait Johnson and Mara D. Shaw.

Rebecca Grisaille's list of children's books about Classical Gods and Goddesses
(used with permission)

ATHENA by Nancy Loewen (hard to find);

BOOK OF GODDESSES by Kris Waldherr (nice images of Athena, Diana, Juno, Maia and Venus);

THE CHILDREN'S BOOK OF ANCIENT GREEK AND ROMAN MYTHS by Antoinette Brazouski;

CHILDREN'S HOMER by Padraic Colum and Will Pogany (one of my favorites);

CUPID AND PSYCHE by Marianna Mayer and KY Craft (amazing illustrations of Aphrodite and Persephone, as well as a scene on Olympus when the other Gods welcome Psyche);

D'AULAIRE'S BOOK OF GREEK MYTHS (a classic);

A GIFT FROM ZEUS by Jeanne and William Steig (playful retellings with off-beat illustrations);

GODS AND GODDESSES IN GREEK MYTHOLOGY by Michelle Houle;

GODS AND GODDESSES OF OLYMPUS by Aliki (another classic);

GODS, MEN AND MONSTERS FROM THE GREEK MYTHS by Michael Gibson;

THE GOLDEN FLEECE by Padraic Colum and Will Pogany;

GREEK GODS AND GODDESSES by Geraldine McCaughrean;

GREEK MYTHOLOGY by Joan Vinge;

GREEK MYTHS FOR YOUNG CHILDREN by Heather Amery;

HERCULES by Nancy Loewen (hard to find);

HERCULES by Donald Richardson (long novel for older kids);

HER KIND: STORIES OF WOMEN FROM GREEK MYTHOLOGY by Antonia Barber (for older children);

HEROES, GODS AND MONSTERS OF GREEK MYTH by Bernard Evslin (used by many schools);

I AM ARACHNE: 15 GREEK AND ROMAN MYTHS by Elizabeth Spires;

KING MIDAS AND THE GOLDEN TOUCH by Charlotte and KY Craft (gorgeous illustrations);

MYTH-O-MANIA
by Kate McMullan; a new chapter book series for kids between about first and third grade; fun, light, *not* to be taken seriously; each book comes with two sticker cards featuring Deities and/or heroes; so far only HAVE A HOT TIME, HADES! and PHONE HOME, PERSEPHONE! and SAY CHEESE, MEDUSA! have been released; future offerings include GET TO WORK, HERCULES!, GO FOR THE GOLD, ATALANTA!, KEEP A LID ON IT, PANDORA!, NICE SHOT, CUPID!, and STOP THAT BULL, THESEUS!;

PEGASUS by Marianna Mayer and KY Craft (gorgeous image of Athena);

THE RACE OF THE GOLDEN APPLES by Claire Martin and Leo and Diane Dillon (very cool images of Diana);

SNAKEHAIR: THE STORY OF MEDUSA by Stephanie Spinner;

THE STORY-TELLER'S GODDESS

THE TROJAN WAR by Coolidge (hard to find);

THE TWO QUEENS OF HEAVEN by Doris Gates and Trina Schart Hyman (Demeter and Aphrodite);

VENUS by Nancy Loewen (hard to find);

YOUNG HEROES
by Jane Yolen; a novel series for kids ten to fourteen; titles offered to date include ODYSSEUS AND THE LABYRINTH and HIPPOLYTA AND THE CURSE OF THE AMAZONS; a book featuring Atalanta is due in a few months;

ZEUS by Nancy Loewen (hard to find).

Other Books for Pagan Kids -- not reviewed

THE CABLE CAR AND THE DRAGON by Herb Caen (Elementary Level)

THE DRAGON OF AN ORDINARY FAMILY by Margaret Mahy (Elementary Level)

THE EYES OF GRAY WOLF by Jonathan London Illustrated by Jon Van Zyle (Elementary Level)

THE GHOST-EYE TREE by Bill Martin Jr. & John Archambault Illustrated by Ted Rand (Elementary Level)

HENRY & THE DRAGON by Eileen Christelow (Elementary Level) Henry is afraid of the dark. His dad has told him a story about knights and dragons before bed. Henry's imagination runs away from him, but in the end he overcomes his fear.

KNOTS ON A COUNTING ROPE by Bill Martin Jr. & John Archambault Illustrated by Ted Rand (Elementary Level)

THE MAGIC PUMPKIN by Bill Martin Jr. & John Archambault (Elementary Level)

THE TALE OF RABBIT AND COYOTE by Tony Johnston Illustrated by Tomie dePaola (Elementary Level)

UNICORNS! UNICORNS! by Geraldine McCaughrean & Sophie Windham (Elementary Level)

WHERE DID ALL THE DRAGONS GO? by Fay Robinson (Elementary Level)

WHO OWNS THE MOON? by Sonia Levitin Illustrated by John Larrecq (Elementary Level)

THE WITCH BABY by Wendy Smith (Elementary Level) It's time for the little witch to go to school. She learns from her family how to have fun there.

THE WITCH OF HISSING HILL by Mary Calhoun (Elementary Level) The land was once full of dragons, but one day they left for the world on the other side of the sky. Thunder is just the sound of their flight.

Additional bibliographies for children's books:

www.thebunnybunch.com/index.htm
http://pages.ivillage.com/ladyautumndesigns/shespeaks/id3.html

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