I gave this book to Chaos for her fourth birthday. At the time, she wasn't taken too much with it, but really enjoys it now. Although it's very colorful and has plenty of illustrations, it doesn't have pictures on every page. That sort of put a damper on her interest at first, but now, at five, she doesn't seem to mind. I also think some of the creatures used to frighten her (she wasn't too big on the picture of the Cyclops).
Actually, we've returned to this book because I ran out of myths to tell her. When I put Chaos to bed at night, I often tell her a Hercules or Odysseus story. "Hercules and the Hydra" is one of her favorites ("Cut! Burn! Cut! Burn!"). When my mental stash was depleted, I busted out this book again.
It's a great book and, although the tales are bit abridged, be warned, they aren't censored and no happy, Disney-like endings have been added. When Bellerophon, after riding Pegasus to slay the Chimera, gets cocky and decides to ride the flying horse to Olympus, he still ends up plummeting to his death. That certainly isn't the kind of ending my daughter expected.
I'm not sure what she makes of those kinds of things yet, but she always asks for "one more page," so I take that as a good sign.
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