Medusa Gorgon’s Bad Hair Day

Medusa Gorgon works for the goddess, Athena, as a guardian in her temple. To help with her fiery temper, Medusa’s best friend, Arachne, has suggested she keeps a diary as an outlet to process her feelings. But when Medusa angers Athena and is banished to the twenty-first century to retrieve Athena’s shield which she (Medusa) might just have got rid of in a fit of temper, her life becomes a series of VERY bad days.

‘Medusa Gorgon’s Bad Hair Day’ is a brilliant read! Fast paced and funny, it is the perfect book to read this summer holiday!

Accessible and entertaining, the dairy style format is really popular with lots of children as the first person writing easy to engage with and this particular one is highly illustrated and hilarious. Her frustrations with the gods and the unfairness of life and her bewilderment at life at secondary school and navigating the perils of friendship groups make for very entertaining reading - with many a true word spoken in jest!

Obviously, the book draws heavily on the Greek myths, but readers don’t need to be familiar with the story of Medusa or Arachne or any of the other Gods to thoroughly enjoy the story. The author uses characters from these myths, but very much makes them her own, developing their personalities and allowing Medusa and Arachne to choose their fate.

Friendship is at the heart of the story. Although quick tempered, Medusa is a loyal, kind friend, far from the cold hearted monster of myth, easy to relate to and easy to like. The illustrations are just wonderful and add much to the story, making this an excellent addition to any bookshelf.

Medusa Gorgon’s Bad Hair Day

Bethany Walker, illustrated by Katie Abey

Scholastic ISBN: 978-0702340659

The Odyssey of Phoebe Quilliam

Phoebe has inherited her love of art and stories from her grandmother, Cass, spending much time with her in the sunny studio where they paint and share Greek myths. But Cass is struggling to remember things and has to go into a home. When Cass’s home is sold, Phoebe pays it one last visit and is swept into a strange adventure. Finding herself on a beach in Greece, she meets Leander, a boy who is on a quest to find out what happened to his father, one of King Odysseus’s shipbuilders, after the Trojan Wars. She also meets Hattie, her grandmother’s childhood friend, who sets Phoebe on a quest of her own- to defeat a monster and find her own way home.

This was a one-sitting read! Engaging from the first page, ‘The Odyssey of Phoebe Quilliam’ combines a thrilling adventure story with the poignant worries of a child coping with dementia in a loved one.

Like many children, Phoebe takes on worries which should not be hers, in this case, believing that she is responsible for her grandmother’s decline, that she should have told her mother that Cass was forgetting things. The close bond she and Cass share is beautifully captured, making both her grandmother’s decline and Phoebe’s feelings of guilt and loss all the more touching. The family are also dealing the the loss of Phoebe’s father who died whilst on a rescue for the RNLI and the fact that Cass has no memory of this, believing her son to still be alive, only adds to the family’s pain. This all makes the story sound very bleak- but it isn’t. Phoebe’s personal circumstances frame her adventure which is full of hope and healing… and action and adventure.

And there is plenty of action and adventure! Against a background of Greek myth, Phoebe and Leander embark on their quests, finding support and comfort in one another as they face dangers and dilemmas, overcoming their own fears and finding their way home once more. There are plenty of monsters, an epic sea voyage, excitement and peril in this imaginative and engrossing book!

The perfect candidate for story time selection, this book would make an excellent class read, engaging children with Greek myths and offering plenty to discuss and enjoy.

The Odyssey of Phoebe Quilliam

Annelise Gray

Zephyr ISBN: 978-1035911011

Published 11th September 2025

You can read my review of ‘Rider of the Storm’ here.

The Wolf-Girl, the Greeks and the Gods

This book is an absolute stunner! Told through the eyes of Spartan princess, Gorgo, it is an epic re-telling of the Persian Wars and I loved it so much I almost don’t know where to start.

The writing is completely compelling, offering a rich blend of mythology, history and narrative. Gorgo, one of the few female figures named by the historian, Herodotus, was a real Spartan princess and makes a spirited, engaging guide through the events. The telling is well paced, with each of the two parts-A Spartan Childhood and The Great War, broken into achievable chapters. It is an intense story, full of the blood of battles and the dark deeds of gods and mortals- unputdownable (is that a word?!) and absorbing.

And then there is the artwork! From the ships on the endpapers, white against a blood red background, to the gallery of gods, Greeks and Persians, from the maps to the double page spreads, the story is vividly brought to life by the wealth of fabulous illustrations. The artwork is as magical and evocative as the tale it illuminates.

This is a bit on the pricey side yet for the right reader, it’s worth every penny. I loved it!

The Wolf-Girl, the Greeks and the Gods: a tale of the Persian Wars

Tom Holland, illustrated by Jason Cockcroft

Walker Books ISBN: 978-1406394740

The Golden Age

Known in English as Ovid, Publius Ovidius Naso was a Roman poet. He is best known for the 'Metamorphoses', a long verse narrative which retells more than 250 ancient Greek and Roman legends, unified through the theme of transformation. In this collection, Heinz Janisch has chosen seventeen of those stories and has retold them in this volume.

Some of the selected stories are familiar ones. Midas and his golden touch; the plight of Icarus as he and his father attempt to escape from Crete; Arachne’s transformation after foolishly challenging the skill a goddess. Other myths are less well-known- Circe’s transformation of Picus into a woodpecker; Philemon and Baucis, changed into trees by Jupiter, their bows forever entwined; the story of the Lycian farmers, turned into frogs by Latona.

Each myth is retold in a succinct style, making them accessible and easy to follow yet, as these stories are, full of action and emotion. The illustrations have an ethereal quality, using muted colours to capture the essence of magic running through these stories.

There is a note from the author at the end of the book as well as a list of names of the characters in the book and a short note about Ovid. This collection is sure to appeal to children in upper KS2 and into KS3, offering much to discuss and enjoy as they bring Ovid’s Metamorphoses to a new audience of readers.

The Golden Age: Ovid’s Metamorphoses

Heinz Janisch, translated by David Henry Wilson

illustrated by Ana Sender

North and South ISBN: 978-0735844711