THEOGONY by Elsa Pantopoulou
REVIEW BY MRS ZOI FRAGKOU, AUTHOR
FOR THE BOOK OF MRS ELSA PANTOPOULOU : ΘΕΟΓΟΝΙΑ/ THEOGONY
TITLE: THEOGONY The beginning of all myths - PART I: Cosmogony
AUTHOR: Eleftheria Pantopoulou
ILLUSTRATOR: Emmanouela Kakavia
PUBLISHING HOUSE: Ocelotos publishing, Athens, GREECE
ISBN: 978-960-564-556-4
LANGUAGE: Greek
keywords: Greek culture, mythology, ancient Greece, Greek language, ancient Greek literature
Ages: pre-school and elementary (strongly preferred by adults)
A book about mankind's childhood
When I first saw this book I thought: mythology? Again? But why? When I started flipping the pages I knew it had something more to tell than an ancient story but I wasn't sure what exactly. When looked at the pictures so obviously based on ancient art but expressed in such a modern style and finally read (over and over) this really simple text written in such a few and common modern Greek words, it gradually started to make sense.
The front story is the famous myth of THEOGONY: Hesiod's version on the birth of ancient gods but it focuses on that part of the ancient poem that describes the emergence of primal cosmic elements (earth, love and sky) out of chaos.
The story ends with the first crime in literature committed by Titan Cronos with the help of his mother Gaia against his own father Uranus.
Someone might say: "what a violent story for kids!"
On the contrary the smooth text composition reflects a rhythm that gives life to a warm and moving almost bedtime story about how the world started and still works till now.
Greek ancient motifs like the muses, daughters of Ζeus, and mythic beings like the Cyclops or Ekatogxeirai come alive through the illustration and create a kind of timeline or connection between our time and time zero. Actually it's a book about the beginning of time or the beginning of narration or the beginning of men telling stories to explain nature and overcome fear.
It will catch the eye of any kid interested in mythology, any Ancient Greece's little "investigator".
It can apply as useful tool in the classroom to comparison studies between cultures or religious myths on the beginning of the world and the creation of the universe, as well as to myth writing projects or art activities (e.g. dramatization or painting)
It also may be useful to modern Greek teachers on the subjects of history, poetry, language.
Useful links that can accompany the reading or create cognitive bridges to this book:
- https://www.theoi.com/TreeHesiodLatin.html
- https://www.mensaforkids.org/teach/lesson-plans/an-introduction-to-greek-mythology/
Author's mini cv-message:
My name is Eleftheria (Elsa) Pantopoulou. I live with my family in Athens, Greece. I have studied Food Technology and work as a lab technician at National Technical University of Athens. Some years later I completed my studies on Classical Literature in University of Athens. I enjoy research on ancient languages and texts. Short stories is my favorite genre and that led me to children's stories writing seeded with the knowledge of education I have accumulated over the years during my studies, my readings and continuous interaction with children. You can reach me by e-mail: elsa.pantopoulou@gmail.com or connect with me: https://www.facebook.com/elsa.pandopoulou. You can take a llok at the books details on my publishers webpage: https://www.ocelotos.gr (The beginning of myths)
About Multicultural Children's Book Day
https://multiculturalchildrensbookday.com/
https://twitter.com/MCChildsBookDay
https://www.facebook.com/MulticulturalChildrensBookDay/
https://www.instagram.com/readyourworldmcbd/
https://gr.pinterest.com/pragmaticmom/multicultural-books-for-kids/
Don't forget to connect with us on social media and be sure and look for the official hashtag, #ReadYourWorld. .
We'd like to also give a shout-out to MCBD's impressive Global Co Host Team who not only hosts the book review link-up on celebration day, but who also work tirelessly to spread the word of this event. View our Global Co Hosts:
https://multiculturalchildrensbookday.com/about/co-hosts/
2018 Multicultural Children's Book Day 3 Day Reach: 3.2 Billion Social Media Share Impressions This Year!
Children's reading and play advocates Valarie Budayr from Jump Into a Book and Mia Wenjen from Pragmatic Mom have teamed up to create an ambitious (and much needed) national event and non-profit initiative, and we reached a lot of eyeballs in just three days (day before, day of event, and day after).
Read Your World eBook Fundraiser
Read Your World: A Guide to Multicultural Children's Books for Parents and Educators: $4.99 Fundraiser
This is a MCBD fundraiser. 100% of proceeds goes towards gifting books to teachers for their classroom libraries. 20 bloggers and 2 authors contributed their best diversity children's book lists to create this resource.
FREE Classroom Poverty Kit
A Resource for Teachers To Teach About Poverty in America: FREE Classroom Poverty Kit
Our FREE Poverty Classroom Kit includes Book List for ages 4 -12, Classroom Activities on Poverty, "Poverty Doesn't Discriminate" Poster by Mehrdokht Amini.
Reading Resources
Reading Resources for Parents & Educators: Diversity Book Lists and Activities
Our world is filled with amazing sources of multicultural book ideas, websites, authors, organizations and other resources to help your family incorporate diverse books into your reading process. We have hundreds of the best lists of diversity books for kids of all ages so you can find the exact books you need.
We Trended at #2 on Twitter!
Our #ReadYourWorld Twitter Party Trended on Twitter: We hit #2 on Twitter!
Our world is filled with amazing sources of multicultural book ideas, websites, authors, organizations and other resources to help your family incorporate diverse books into your reading process. We have hundreds of the best lists of diversity books for kids of all ages so you can find the exact books you need.
About Multicultural Children's Book Day
https://multiculturalchildrensbookday.com/
https://twitter.com/MCChildsBookDay
https://www.facebook.com/MulticulturalChildrensBookDay/
https://www.instagram.com/readyourworldmcbd/
https://gr.pinterest.com/pragmaticmom/multicultural-books-for-kids/
Don't forget to connect with us on social media and be sure and look for the official hashtag, #ReadYourWorld. .
We'd like to also give a shout-out to MCBD's impressive Global Co Host Team who not only hosts the book review link-up on celebration day, but who also work tirelessly to spread the word of this event. View our Global Co Hosts:
https://multiculturalchildrensbookday.com/about/co-hosts/
2018 Multicultural Children's Book Day 3 Day Reach: 3.2 Billion Social Media Share Impressions This Year!
Children's reading and play advocates Valarie Budayr from Jump Into a Book and Mia Wenjen from Pragmatic Mom have teamed up to create an ambitious (and much needed) national event and non-profit initiative, and we reached a lot of eyeballs in just three days (day before, day of event, and day after).
Read Your World eBook Fundraiser
Read Your World: A Guide to Multicultural Children's Books for Parents and Educators: $4.99 Fundraiser
This is a MCBD fundraiser. 100% of proceeds goes towards gifting books to teachers for their classroom libraries. 20 bloggers and 2 authors contributed their best diversity children's book lists to create this resource.
FREE Classroom Poverty Kit
A Resource for Teachers To Teach About Poverty in America: FREE Classroom Poverty Kit
Our FREE Poverty Classroom Kit includes Book List for ages 4 -12, Classroom Activities on Poverty, "Poverty Doesn't Discriminate" Poster by Mehrdokht Amini.
Reading Resources
Reading Resources for Parents & Educators: Diversity Book Lists and Activities
Our world is filled with amazing sources of multicultural book ideas, websites, authors, organizations and other resources to help your family incorporate diverse books into your reading process. We have hundreds of the best lists of diversity books for kids of all ages so you can find the exact books you need.
We Trended at #2 on Twitter!
Our #ReadYourWorld Twitter Party Trended on Twitter: We hit #2 on Twitter!
Our world is filled with amazing sources of multicultural book ideas, websites, authors, organizations and other resources to help your family incorporate diverse books into your reading process. We have hundreds of the best lists of diversity books for kids of all ages so you can find the exact books you need.
2019 Multicultural Children's Book Day Poster