The Final Battle) by Mary Pope Osborne (Part Two of Two)

My daughter needed this book for school. Its not just one book but three. This is a series based on greek mythology. She only needed the first book in the series but this has the first three books. The price was the same for this as the single book price. I am very happy about that. Book came in perfect condition. the store wins again!

I am a special education teacher at a high school in the Chicago suburbs and I bought this book for my students because they were not able to read and comprehend the version that came in our standard text book. The reading level of the text was perfect for my freshmen who suffer from various reading difficulties, and their ability to actually comprehend the story fueled their passion for learning about Odysseus' journey. Each step of the way they were excited to come in and read about the next adventure Odysseus and his men undertook, and they began to develop an interest in exploring more of ancient Greek literature. I am certain this version is enjoyed by many young people as many parent reviews have testified to, but I would also say that this is perfect for older students with learning disabilities as this makes the text come to life in ways that they never would have understood with a more difficult version.

I was looking for a collection of mythology stories to read to my child, but found this instead. 'Tales from the Odyssey' really condenses and simplifies the story of Odysseus and his long journey home. It has been a very quick and entertaining read, although be advised that some children might have trouble with the number of deaths that occur in the book.

The review I referenced in the title is helpful. I took the advice and ordered Part 2 according to the ISBN number given. It is in fact the right book and inexpensive. Go ahead and buy it!

I only gave it 4 stars because I've not read from cover to cover. I used to teach The Odyssey in full to 9th graders. I will have high expectations for this book.

I bought this book 3 years ago for Christmas when my daughter was 8 and a half. She has always read at about her grade level or slightly above. She had trouble reading it then but picked it up again recently and tore right through it. It's hard to get her excited about many of the books she reads but she loved this and asked for the next volume. I did not read it myself so I am going solely based on her opinion but I was very pleased with her response to it.

I have spent weeks trying to purchase a complete set of Osborne's rendition of the Odyssey. I do not need to reiterate what a wonderful job she did in making this appropriate for younger children without ruining the true spirit of the story. You can find that in the many reviews you will find for each book.

What I am trying to do is save others from spending two weeks trying to find out how they can purchase this set without having to pay $125 for a new paperback copy of one book (The Land of the Dead). There are other books in this series that are also way too expensive. I didn't think I needed to break the bank for books that originally sold for $5.99.

So here's the scoop:

The Osborne rendition of the Odyssey was originally sold in separate books as follows:
Book One: One Eyed Giant
Book Two: Land of the Dead
Book Three: Sirens and Sea Monsters
Book Four: Gray Eyed Goddess
Book Five: Return to Ithica
Book Six: Final Battle

I was going crazy trying to find Book Two (Land of the Dead), Book Three (Sirens and Sea Monsters), and Book Six (Final Battle) for reasonable prices.

So, after much research, I discovered the following:

In 2010 the publisher, Hyperion, combined books 1-3 (now called "Tales from the Odyssey, Part One") and 4-6 (now called "Tales from the Odyssey, Part Two").

"Tales from the Odyssey, Part One": ISBN 978-1423128649 $5.99
"Tales from the Odyssey, Part Two": ISBN 978-1423126102 $5.99

I had no problem finding "Part One" on the store, but "Part Two" was another story. If you type in the isbn it will take you to their listing but it does not have a picture. It says "Part Two" is in stock but will take up to 2 weeks to get to you. Due to past experience, I didn't want to order "Part Two", wait the two weeks and end up with nothing or another "Part One". If you want to experiment & find out if the store can actually get the correct book, please do so and let us know how it works for you.

Here is how I got my hand on both books at the reasonable price of $5.99 each. I ordered "Part One" from the store and then went to their competitor for "Part Two". The competitor does not have "Part Two" available online either, but you can type in the ISBN to see if any of their physical bookstores have copies available on the shelves. A few bookstores in our area had the book. I called and asked them to physically get the book while I was on the phone & please hold it for me. They happily did this for me and told me they were willing to hold it for up to three days.

The publisher (Hyperion) is a division of Disney Book Group. Disney is well know for having strange practices with regard to making their old classic movies available. I didn't know this practice applied to recently published and "in demand" book series. Maybe that's not the case. The copies I purchased are "trade copies". Maybe they're testing the market & the mass market publication will soon be released. I really don't know how the book publishing process works so this is just surmising. Maybe someone versed in the book publishing process can enlighten us. I would love that!

Anyway, if you really want a copy of Osborne's "Odyssey", I hope this helps you find it without your having to spend hours on the computer or running from bookstore to bookstore.

Cheers!

Well, the elementary-school version anyway. The sex and stuff cleaned up a bit. It isn't in iambic pentameter rhyme like the old versions I remember, full of olde vocabularie and the like. This version, covering just the first part of the adventure, was a thrilling read for my boys. We were introduced to the gods on Mt. Olympus and this idea that if you made one god happy, other gods might not like that because they fight with each other. Athena is Odysseus's friend, and the men pray constantly to Zeus, the king of the gods or the god of thunder.

The best part of the story was the skewering of the Cyclops's eyeball. Wonderful description of the heated spear sizzling in his eyeball, too. We finished with the story in a day (like I said, it's the kids' version and doesn't even cover the whole story).

My seven-year-old was jumping and through the whole thing. My six-year-old wanted to act out the eyeball popping part. We read a bit of an explanation on the gods and goddesses and I talked about how people REALLY worshipped these gods and godesses long ago. Great book!

Nice version of the Odyssey for children. Clear, easy to understand language. Nicely sanitized for elementary students.
I would be comfortable reading this aloud to 3rd through 6th grade.
Perhaps a bit blah compared to Riordan's take on the Odyssey.

We homeschool and have been studying Ancient Greece. What an amazing job Osborne has done with her retelling of Homer's Odyssey. We listened to the audiobooks and my kids ranging from 6 to 12 were riveted. They now rank the Odyssey as one of the best stories they have heard of all time. Vivid imagery and detail, great vocabulary and language use in a way that is sophisticated but not overwhelming to kids. Adults will enjoy this book series too! Thank you so much Mary Pope Osborne!!

this book was very interesting.Before I read this book I thought that it was only the bit about the sirens.Now I know it is way more then that.I loved this book and want to read the 2nd book.I love Mary Pope Osborne and read all the books in the magic treehouse series and if you like this book you'll like those books to.

This is a great book! It really kept me interested from the very beginning. It was so good me and my dad ordered Part 2 before I even finished part 1. This is my first book of Greek Mythology. I enjoyed it very much!

This is a great book! It really kept me interested from the very beginning. It was so good me and my dad ordered Part 2 before I even finished part 1. This is my first book of Greek Mythology. I enjoyed it very much!

This is a great book! It really kept me interested from the very beginning. It was so good me and my dad ordered Part 2 before I even finished part 1. This is my first book of Greek Mythology. I enjoyed it very much!

It was the bare bones of storytelling, like reading a history book. No feeling, no emotion, no depth to the story. Written like a synopsis on Wikipedia. Not fun or engaging to read in any way. Booooo.