Olympians: Hermes: Tales of the Trickster

We were counting down the days 'til this book came out. The 10th installment of the Olympians series did not disappoint!! My kids LOVE these books so much that we bought 2 copies because I forgot I'd pre-ordered it! He doesn't dumb down any of the stories nor leave anything essential out, but they're still appropriate for even younger readers (my three are 6 and 7.5.) That is hard to do!! We love how he took the story of Io and set up Hermes's stories within that framework. We have a house full of books on Greek myths, and the way he chooses which stories to present and how to weave them in a way that is both entertaining but also speaks to each god or goddess's character is really special and much appreciated!! Not only do his efforts to thoroughly research each story come through, but his language is exquisite -- both witty and erudite. My kids make me read these to them over and over, and while I often tire of how they can listen to the same books again and again, I do not ever tire of these! The extra notes at the end are both super informative and entertaining (his commentary.) We especially loved the personal story about his obsession with Hermes as my son has that in common with him. And the icing on the cake, being Greek, we love that he sticks to the Greek spelling as closely as possible. A sidenote on the series in general, my daughters are even more OBSESSED than they already were with Athena and Artemis after reading O'Connor's books on them. They are always presented as strong and independent, but his depiction of them resonates with them. Can't say enough good things about this entire series!!

10yr old daughter loved this book. She read the whole thing in about an hr or less. She loves greek mythology. She's really into the percy Jackson books and wants to start on the 2nd series of that. While looking for that i came across these books. She wants them all now! Its written like a comic book which is fun! I thought it was just going to be more like chapters of different stories. It has extra info in the back of the book and also has a God family tree which is really cool!

Once again, George here delivers a meticulously weaved story, an aggregation of many written and oral myths, respecting all and still bringing in fresh material without both clashing. As always, the art is sophisticated yet also simple and clean, and the drama written here is so subtle and adult that I can't believe this is supposed to be for kids when it moves me so. The amount of research this man must do makes me tired.

This series is a fav with the 3rd-5th grader. Probably an easy read for the 5th grader but nothing wrong with that. Looking forward to more from O'Connor.

They've all read the Percy Jackson series, but this is a great way to introduce more traditional Greek Mythology stories. My students raced into my classroom every day during our Mythology unit to grab their favorite to read. I highly recommend them and they approach the more, ahem, questionable of the gods and goddesses activities in a clear yet age appropriate manner. I'm slowly collecting a hard cover set that will hopefully fare better than the paperbacks for years to come.

George O'Connor writes (and draws) fun, family-appropriate books that don't push the "West is Best" bias that Rick Riordan and quite a few others do. If you want to preserve the culture and nuance of Greek mythology when you learn it, you should absolutely pick up this series.

I have loved Hermes’s quips throughout the series, so I was very excited to finally get to this volume! And it was just as fun as I was anticipating! Hermes has some of the more fun myths because being the god of mischief, he gets up to some wild things. Lol. As a newborn, he was already sneaking away from his mother and stealing cattle from his big brother Apollo! It was hilarious! Baby Hermes was so cute! I just could not get over it! And he was so charming that not even Hera could hate him. And if you know Hera and that Hermes is a son of Zeus, you know that that is shocking. This volume goes into the creation of the lyre, how Hermes got the caduceus that is seen all over the medical field, the myth of Io and Argus, and it touches on some of his more unusual children like Hermaphrodite and Pan, among other things. Hermes is the god of MANY things: mischief, travelers, thieves, and he’s also the messenger of the gods and a psychopomp (aka he leads the dead to the underworld). He’s a jack of all trades. And this graphic novel said that the reason why he has so many jobs is to stave off his more mischievous tendencies. The way that makes sense 😂 Anyway, I loved this! And I loved Hermes! He’s just so fun and charming in the series and I really like this iteration of him!

The newest addition to George O'Connor's Olympians series is, as always, a perfectly brilliant one. Hermes, the ultimate trickster in Greek Myth - and the inspiration for more figures in art and literature than one can shake a stick at - is right at home underneath George's pen. Mixing his impressive artistic skills (tackling a few new styles here) with his genuine affection for these tales he's crafted THE go-to collection to understanding the Greek Gods.

My daughter loves these.

Another amazing book in this graphic novel series.

Loved it, full of awesome illustrations and great wording and phrases!