Review by Booklist Review
Drawn from polytheistic traditions worldwide, this expansive gallery of immortals masculine, feminine, and in several cases neither or both, is unusual in several respects. For one, though Williams includes major deities from Norse and ancient Egyptian sources, she skips the Greek and Roman pantheons (mostly) to focus on some that have gotten less press, from Yoruba and various Baltic cultures to Māori, Hindu, Shinto, and Aztec. For another, she groups her selections by type rather than tradition so that readers can easily compare, for instance, sun and moon gods, tricksters, fire deities, or universe creators from distant cultures. Moreover, her brief but seldom bland entries are laced with relevant references to contemporary video games, films, the Marvel Comics Universe, and books by the likes of Rick Riordan and Neil Gaiman. It gets better: Anansi, masked and posed in his descendant Spider-Man's familiar three-point stance, leads an array of chiseled, spectacularly dressed (or discreetly undressed) figures in dramatic illustrations painted in a range of culturally evocative styles by a similarly diverse set of 17 artists. Closing roundups of demigods (Arjuna, Cú Chulainn) and heavenly beasts (Fenrir, Namazu) lead in to substantial lists of print and web resources pitched to the intended young audience. An outstanding companion for more conventional, or constrained, surveys.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by School Library Journal Review
Gr 4--8--A captivating and awesome volume on world mythology that won't stay on shelves for long. The work is organized by power, ability, or theme, such as Creation, Love, and War. The author tries to forgo the usual suspects from Greek and Roman mythology and explores gods and goddesses from Inuit, Korean, Hawaiian, Hindu, Finnish, and other cultures. The art is amazing; it captures the splendor of each immortal, a perfect reminder as to why these deities were worshipped in the first place. The border patterns in the book are inspired by elements from each culture--the kuba and mudcloth fabrics in Africa, ancient Mesoamerican textile patterns, the Trinity knot for Celtic, and others. Along the border of each profile, readers will learn the approximate dates of when each god was worshipped; some continue to be honored in the present day. Tidbits of information float throughout. "In Modern Times" factoids often include mention of Marvel movies or even Rick Riordan's series, adding a layer of relevance to young readers. Back and front matter feature a glossary, further reading, bibliography, author and illustrator's notes, and index. VERDICT There could never be enough mythology books, but this one is gorgeous, informative, accessible, and overall, fun. Shelve alongside D'Aulaires's mythology books and pair with the countless fictional myth retellings.--Shelley M. Diaz
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