[Jan D. Hodge]

Thanks all for the responses. I'm not familiar with the Percy Jackson series, and the approach has possibilities, but the D'Aulieres' edition is just what I was looking for, and so thanks again to Chris and Nemo.

Jan

[G. M. Palmer]

The D'Aulires is an elementary level book. Evslin is a great bridge between works like that and Hamilton-Graves-Etc.

[Rob Stuart]

I hugely recommend 'Gods, Men and Monsters from the Greek Myths' by Michael Gibson, which I had (and loved) as a boy.

Robert Graves, as John suggests, is the definitive work, but perhaps a bit daunting for a teenager.

[Jan D. Hodge]

Interesting range of responses. I know Hamilton's book, and Graves has long been my handy reference work on myth. But for my soon to be 11-year-old granddaughter, I've settled on D'Aulieres' volume (for its introductory level comprehensive organization) for her birthday, and will supplement it with Gibson's Gods, Men, and Monsters, the story format of which will I think better serve to fill the "down" hours--long flights, train rides, evenings in hotels--during our upcoming trip to South Africa.

Thanks all for comments and suggestions,
Jan

[Shaun J. Russell]

As an adult, I think Graves' books are the best (they were recently compiled into a single trade paperback edition), but when I was in high school, I learned a lot from Bulfinch, and his edition is very readable for a young teen. I might be wrong, but I think he skips some of the saucier myths such as Leda and the swan, as well as the more insidious elements of the labyrinth myth (i.e.: how the minotaur came to be...).

[Ann Drysdale]

I suppose they're too old for Hawthorne's Tanglewood Tales?

[R. Nemo Hill]

I've got a great old illustrated volume of the Hawthorne that belonged to my father when he was a child.

Nemo

[Ann Drysdale]

And I stole a phrase from my copy and hid it in a poem.