Monday 11 September 2017

Giveaway #643 : Win Gods and Monsters book (including Thunderbolt Talisman) - closed - winner Ashleigh Allan


Gods and Monsters is the latest offering from author Stella Caldwell, who has already written several other children's books, including Dragonworld, Egyptworld, Beastworld and Explore 360 : The Tomb of Tutankhamun. She has a real knack for bringing ancient history and mythology to life in an exciting and entertaining way that it easy for children to grasp.


Before we'd even started looking through the book, Pierre was most impressed to discover that it comes with a Thunderbolt Talisman attached to the front cover. This was a nice touch to help continue the learning experience outside of the book, and lead into follow on activities such as imaginative play. Pierre, for example, asked if he would have special powers like Percy Jackson when wearing it !


The book is split into three categories : The Greeks and Romans, the Vikings and the Ancient Egyptians. I was pleased to see that it delves deeper than the usual Greek and Roman mythology - Viking mythology, in particular, is often completely overlooked.


The pages are perfectly balanced with lots of pictures and short texts, which make it appealing to even young children and reluctant readers. It's a clever mix of presenting real-life artefacts from the ancient world, as in a museum, and imaginative representations of mythical and mythological figures.


The lavish CGI artwork helps recreate dramatic scenes from mythology and really brings to life the terrifying monsters and gods, including Frost Giants, Poseidon, the Midgard Serpent and Ammit, Devourer of the Dead. Even as a grown-up, I was highly impressed with the realism of the pictures and drawn in by the fascinating attention to detail.


The kids have only been back to school for a week and it's already been used for research for two homework projects - Sophie had to find out about monsters, including the Sphinx, and Juliette had to find pictures of some of the ancient Greek and Roman sites for a latin project. They both quickly found the information they needed, then ended up getting drawn in and reading the whole book !


The texts provide historical context to the mythology, while the illustrations really help young readers to imagine the scenes and creatures. Generations of children have been fascinated by Roman and Greek mythology, but recent successful book and film series, such as Percy Jackson and the Olympians, the Kane Chronicles and the Magnus Chase stories, have made them even more popular. It's great to find a book that is as appealing as it is educational.

Paperback
72 pages
225 x 225mm
Published Sep 2017
ISBN 9781783122998
RRP : £8.99




Carlton Kids have kindly offered to send a copy of the book to one lucky Madhouse Family Reviews reader. Fill in your entries in the Rafflecopter widget below.


UK only. Closing date : 26/9/17

T & C's : Entries close at midnight on the closing date. Winners will be selected with a random number generator and announced on facebook and in the giveaway post subject line. Please note, you will be contacted by email and/or twitter and if I haven't heard from you after 28 days, I'll have to pick another winner. Prizes will be sent out by the companies or their PR directly to winners. Madhouse Family Reviews cannot be held responsible for any prizes that go astray !

83 comments:

  1. Margaret Clarkson
    Neptune

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  2. A Minotaur! I was scared of them when I was little!

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  3. I was always scared of the minotaur

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  4. Neptune!fab giveaway perfect for my nephew thanks

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  5. I always loved Hel from Norse mythology, all Norse mythology is fascinating

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  6. i have commented, norse mythology is great Van Hallah

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  7. i have commented, norse mythology is great Van Hallah

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  8. I always liked Poseidon never certain who dreamed up such a god

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  9. I think neptune

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  10. has to be the loch ness monster

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  11. My husband would love reading this with my son :)

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  12. Neptune always fascinated me the most and then along came Poseiden.

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  13. Medusa has always fascinated me...it must be a nightmare for her to find a willing hairdresser? ;)

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  14. Leave me a comment to tell me who/what you think the most fascinating god or monster is . . . ..apart from my boss, it's . . Pseidon with his trident

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  15. Poseiden interests me the most, the power to control the sea is amazing

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  16. My son loves learning about Norse Gods and Goddesses. He likes Loki.
    He said he likes them because they are more believable. They have good Gods and bad ones...

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  17. Frankenstein's Monster is fascinating!

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  18. I was always fascinated by Medusa and her head of snakes!

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  19. Athena the Goddess of wisdom who has an owl she carried on her shoulder.

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  20. loch ness monster has always fascinated me

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  21. i love the stories of the loch ness monster x

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  22. Norse mythology is great Van Hallah @leabana1

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  23. I've always been fascinated with Celtic mythology and my favourite is the Morrígan, she was the goddess of battle

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  24. always been fascinated by medusa x

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  25. I am very scarred of Medussa, after that film which I can't remember but it was always on a Sunday afternoon in my childhood! haha x

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  26. My favourite god is Apollo. I find his role as the god of healing so interesting and the flip side of that, that he can also send plague like at the beginning of the Iliad.

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  27. has to be Cerberus, he has the heads of dogs, claws of a lion, a mane of snakes and a serpents tail ... fabulous

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  28. Frankenstein's Monster :- Fascinating.

    CPR :- Resuscitation can make use of electricity via defibrillator.

    Organ Transplantation etc, and advancements such as face, hand, etc transplantations.

    Great Medical Advancement seems to have come from thoughts, imagination, etc.

    Rachel Craig

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  29. zeus is my favourite God as he is the King of gods.

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  30. medusa always got me scared when i was young

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  31. Cyclops, he used to scare me, with just that 1 eye

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  32. Have entered, King Kong but he wasn't really a monster

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  33. The Greek & Roman Gods and Goddesses fascinate me - Too many to choose from. maybe Neptune

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  34. I'm not entirely certain but Dracula or Frankenstein

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  35. Medusa always freaked me out. Thanks for the competition.

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  36. My son Bobby LOVES learning about gods at the moment. It's a sudden interest so I thought I would enter! Xox

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  37. Ancient Egypt and their gods is fascinating to me so I'd say Osiris.

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  38. I like Medusa too.

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  39. I love reading about mythology

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  40. Cookie monster!! Great competition!

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  41. Loved the film Jason and the Argonauts, loved all the mythical creatures but mainly medusa

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