398.21

Taken from the Greco-Roman tradition, this beautiful picture book relates the tragic story of Orpheus, a mortal who attempts to win his beloved wife, Eurydice, back from the dead, using the extraordinary power of his voice and lyre.

It is always fascinating to witness the adaptation of classical Greek and Roman mythology, so full of sexuality and disturbing violence, for the modern childhood reader. Mikolaycak is to be commended for retaining some more disquieting elements, as at the end of this book, when the crowd beats Orpheus to death for his refusal to play for them. Some latter parts of the myth, in which Orpheus is credited with establishing the institution of pederasty, are (understandably) omitted.

Mikolaycak, an artist of great power, has crafted a beautiful book with Orpheus. I thought that it was a bold move to have partial nudity in the illustrations, as most children's books with a classical theme make heavy use of strategically-placed "drapery." Another point of interest was the use of selected lyrics from Monteverdi's opera L'Orfeo in the text.

Although I approve of this picture book from both an artistic and mythological-folkloric perspective, I think that parents might want to be aware of its more disturbing elements, as enumerated above. This might not be a book to read to very young children... ( )