We love collecting Minotaur books, so we were very excited when Faros Books sent us a copy of their My First Greek Myths: Theseus and the Minotaur. This colourful board book tells a simple rhyming version of the tale for a younger audience, with lovely little interactive features on each page. The illustrations are bright and engaging, and even the Minotaur himself is kind of adorable.. just look at him enjoying a dance in his labyrinth!
We meet King Minos and learn about the fourteen youths he demands each year from Athens: seven boys and seven girls, who can be counted using the little pull tab on the side. I thought this was such a clever idea – it isn’t often you get to add a bit of number practice into a myth book!
Then we meet our hero Theseus! He’s had enough of King Minos’ demands and he’s going to put a stop to it. His boat can even be moved up and down on the bumpy waves as he sails towards Crete. We loved spotting the section of the palace we’d seen ourselves in Knossos last year – such a lovely detail to add in! We find out a crucial part of the plot here too about the colour of the sails..
Theseus reaches the labyrinth and is helped by Princess Ariadne to fight the Minotaur. No gore and no weirdly excessive violence is a nice change here! The Minotaur continues to be adorable, and there’s lots of cute animals in and around the labyrinth too. There’s also a nice reference to Minoan frescoes on the walls behind Ariadne!
Finally, Theseus sails back to Athens victorious. But does he remember to change the colour of his sails? I absolutely LOVE that there’s a wheel to let you change the colour of the sails yourself!! Will you keep them black, or will you be less forgetful than Theseus and change them to white?
This is such a lovely playful introduction to the Theseus and the Minotaur myth. The rhyming approach is ideal for engaging younger children with the stories and the illustrations do a fantastic job of introducing the colours and sights of the ancient world. I can’t wait to check out the others in the series – my eye is on The Trojan Horse next…!
wee classics 