MYTHOLOGICAL MONSTERS OF ANCIENT GREECE

A picture-book catalogue of creatures of Greek myth is rendered in such a way that Phidippides would never recognize them. Fanelli (Dear Diary, 2000, etc.) offers up a smorgasbord of monsters, from Argus to the Sphinx, along with bare snippets of information about each one (“Pegasus carried Bellerophon in his battle with the fire-breathing Chimaera”). The art is mixed-media collage in a muted palette; it makes no attempt to create lifelike representations of its subjects, presenting instead spike-nosed cut-paper ovals atop variously shaped bodies. The figures are unlovely to begin with, and become downright unsettling when one realizes that cut-out photographs of human eyes are used for the creatures’ eyes (this effect is particularly creepy on 100-eyed Argus). One might justifiably argue that creatures of myth have no basis in reality and therefore should not strive to achieve the realism of, say, ancient Greek statuary. The very distinctive depictions present a model of artistic engagement with story that rejects the conventional and embraces personal imagination. This offering is unlikely to spawn equally fantastical and creative imaginings on the part of its readers, however, as the monsters are presented to the child reader almost entirely without context—they occupy a sort of nightmare world devoid of the stories that would bring them to life. It is the rare member of the picture book audience that would have the necessary background in Greek mythology to allow her to understand and appreciate the artistic vision contained herein. One is left with just one word: Why? (Picture book/nonfiction. 3-7)