THE RACE OF THE GOLDEN APPLES

Abandoned by her father because she's not a boy, the infant princess Atalanta becomes the protege of the goddess Diana and is raised by a bear, learning to outdistance all the forest creatures. Returning (in the more familiar part of this Greek myth) to her father's court, she vows to marry only a man who is swifter than she is. In Martin's cleanly told version, Atalanta's love for Hippomenes is the reason she accepts the lure of Venus's apples, letting him win the race as she retrieves them. The Dillons provide an elegant setting: their formal borders and decorative vignettes have the aura and glow of stained glass; costumes, settings, and the patterns that adorn every page are a creative blend of the Greek, medieval, and purely imaginative. The animals are tactile-lovely; Atalanta herself is a pert gamine, a haughty princess—and a sturdy, Olympic-class runner. A handsome update of a grand story. (Mythology. 5+)