The Wine-Dark Sea

Almost three thousand years ago, a poet named Homer told the story of Odysseus, a clever captain trying to sail home from a long war. It became one of the oldest adventures ever written, and children have been hearing it out loud ever since. The courage, the cleverness, the long way home, these are the ideas you're already trying to hand to your children.

The Wine-Dark Sea carries the first half of that voyage, from the ruins of Troy to the witch Circe's island, across forty spreads. A floating island held up by nothing. A one-eyed giant outwitted by a captain who calls himself Nobody. A bag of winds opened one night too soon. Odysseus wins by being clever and kind, never by being the strongest.

Each spread pairs a picture with a page to read together. Your child follows the story while you read, and at the foot of the page sits a line of Homer to keep. Almost every line is Samuel Butler's classic translation, word for word. The six most old-fashioned lines are retold in plain, modern English, always with the book of the Odyssey named. A 'Talk About It' question ends each spread, for both of you, at bedtime, at the dinner table, or on a quiet afternoon.

This isn't a parade of gods and monsters. It's one real story, told one island at a time.