One myth at a time
Not a treasury of forty stories in tiny type. Each book gives a single myth the room a picture book gives it: one story, told properly, that a four-year-old can hold in their head.
Greek mythology for children
One myth. One book. One bedtime.
Painted picture books that give a child their first Greek myth, simply and kindly and with a laugh, then leave the real story waiting at the end for the grown-up who is reading aloud.
Why these books
Written for the lap, not the classroom shelf.
Nothing to be frightened of
The underworld is torchlit and cosy. The monster is the good guy. Medusa is lonely, not lethal. Children meet these characters as friends first, which is exactly how they keep them.
The real myth at the end
Every book closes with “About the Real Myth”, the original legend in plain words, so the grown-up reading aloud has an answer to the question that always comes after the last page.
The library
Sixteen myths, and a shelf that keeps growing.
Three Heads, One Good Dog
Cerberus, the Guard Dog of the Underworld
One dog, three heads, three very good jobs, and only one body to share.
Ages 4–8 · 32 pages · 8.5 × 8.5 in
Don't Open the Jar!
The Story of Pandora
Everything in the world was safe inside one clay jar. Everything.
Ages 4–6 · 32 pages · 8.5 × 8.5 in
Whatever You Do, Don't Look!
The Story of Medusa
The girl everybody runs from has never once been asked her name.
Ages 4–6 · 32 pages · 8.5 × 8.5 in
Hold On to the String!
The Story of the Minotaur
A brother lost in the middle of a maze, and a sister who will not let go.
Ages 4–6 · 32 pages · 8.5 × 8.5 in
The Girl Who Ate Six Seeds
The Story of Persephone
Six little seeds, eaten very much on purpose.
Ages 4–6 · 32 pages · 8.5 × 8.5 in
The Boy Who Flew Too High
The Story of Icarus
A locked door, a tall stone tower, and a boy who keeps looking up.
Ages 4–6 · 32 pages · 8.5 × 8.5 in
The Baby They Hid in a Cave
The Story of Baby Zeus
There is one rule on this mountain. When the baby makes a noise, make a BIGGER one.
Ages 4–6 · 32 pages · 8.5 × 8.5 in
Born from a Headache
The Story of Athena
Zeus had an idea. It was a very big idea. It would not fit.
Ages 4–6 · 32 pages · 8.5 × 8.5 in
Not the Bad Guy
The Story of Hades
Everybody ran from Hades. Everybody except a boy called Milo.
Ages 4–6 · 32 pages · 8.5 × 8.5 in
The King with the Three-Pointed Fork
The Story of Poseidon
Poseidon was king of the sea. He loved giving presents. BIG presents. WET presents.
Ages 4–6 · 32 pages · 8.5 × 8.5 in
Up, Pegasus, Up!
The Story of Pegasus
Pegasus had wings. ENORMOUS wings. He kept tripping over them.
Ages 4–6 · 32 pages · 8.5 × 8.5 in
The King Who Turned His Toast to Gold
The Story of King Midas
King Midas loved gold. He loved his roses. But most of all, he loved his dog.
Ages 4–6 · 32 pages · 8.5 × 8.5 in
Hello-ello-ello
The Story of Echo
Echo loved to talk. She talked to the goats. She talked to the bees. Nobody else could get a word in.
Ages 4–6 · 32 pages · 8.5 × 8.5 in
My Name Is Nobody
The Story of the Cyclops
Odysseus and his sailors were very hungry. They found a cave full of cheese… and they ate ALL of it.
Ages 4–6 · 32 pages · 8.5 × 8.5 in
Never Trust a Giant Wooden Horse
The Story of the Trojan Horse
For ten whole years, the Greeks knocked on the big gate of Troy… and the answer was always NO!
Ages 4–6 · 32 pages · 8.5 × 8.5 in
The Man Who Stole Fire
The Story of Prometheus
Long ago, the very first people had no fur and no feathers… and no fire. Brrr!
Ages 4–6 · 32 pages · 8.5 × 8.5 in
Still to come
- Atlas and the very heavy sky
- The strongest baby in the world
- Orpheus and the song that nearly worked
Inside a book
Every page is a painting, and every sentence is made to be said out loud.
Twenty-six full-colour pages in a large square format built for laps and classroom circles. Short, rhythmic lines with a refrain children join in on by the second night. The same gods, heroes and creatures are painted the same way in every title, so a child who meets Cerberus in book one recognises him again in book five.
- Read-aloud time
- About five minutes
- Format
- 8.5 × 8.5 in paperback
- Reading age
- 4 to 8
- Also on
- Kindle, tap to enlarge
Read aloud
Every story is also a film, told by the same voice that reads it at home.
Don't Open the Jar! — the whole book, read aloud. Three and a half minutes.
More stories on the channel
The author
Orson Vale
Orson Vale writes The Little Myths Library from Greece, in the land where these stories were first told, and reads every book aloud at home before it goes to print.
Each title tells a single myth the way a child should meet it for the first time: simply, warmly and with a laugh, in short, rhythmic sentences made for reading aloud, with glowing watercolour illustrations and an “About the Real Myth” page that gives grown-ups the original story in plain words.
Together the books build one world: the same gods, heroes and creatures, drawn the same way, book after book. A library a child can grow through from four to ten.
For parents and teachers
The myth a child hears first is the one they keep.
Faithful, not watered down
Persephone eats the seeds. Pandora opens the jar. The stories keep their real shape. What changes is the gentleness of the telling.
Built for a Greek myths week
One myth per book means a class can take one story at a time, and the closing page gives the teacher the original version to read from.
A world that repeats
Cerberus in book five is the same dog as in book one, painted the same way. Children notice, and that noticing is what makes a series stick.
The next myth
Be there when the next book lands.
One short note when a new myth joins the shelf. Nothing else, ever.