The Iliad and The Odyssey

Marcia Williams’s brilliant wheeze of depicting classic myths and legends in humorous comic-strip format has introduced to very young readers some of the most famous stories, in an accessible and amusing way.

The tales are told in the simplest way possible, in bite-size chunks, but what is really clever is the way the accompanying drawings not only illustrate the words, but also embellish the story.

This is particularly effective when Williams uses speech bubbles, adding an additional layer of entertainment and humour to the books. It also allows her to include as a much of the story as she can without putting off her young audience. In addition, the illustrations are wonderfully lively, colourful and packed with little details. A great idea, handsomely executed.