Mythology

Christopher Pinard’s well-done Celtic Mythology for Kids (Rockridge Press, 2020), subtitled “Tales of Selkies, Giants, and the Sea,” is a collection of twenty different myths from Wales, Ireland, Scotland, and Brittany. Each story is followed by a “Questions to Think About” box. For ages 8-12.

The stories in Kate Forrester’s Celtic Tales (Chronicle Books, 2016), illustrated with eye-catching silhouette art, are categorized under “Tricksters, “The Sea,” “Quests,” and “Romance.” Stories include “The Kildare Pooka,” “The Seal Catcher and the Selkies,” “The Brownie of Fern Glen,” and “The Black Bull of Norroway.” For ages 8-12.

Philip Freeman’s Celtic Mythology (Oxford University Press, 2017) is a historical collection of myths from Ireland and Wales, including “The Earliest Celtic Gods,” “The Book of Invasions,” “The Wooing of Etain,” “Tales from the Ulster Cycle,” and “The Mabinogi.” For ages 13 and up.

Lloyd Alexander’s five-volumn The Prydain Chronicles – titles are The Book of Three, The Black Cauldron, The Castle of Llyr, Taran Wanderer, and The High King – is a wonderful fantasy series based on Welsh mythology. For ages 9-12.

Susan Cooper’s Dark Is Rising series (Margaret K. McElderry, 1999) combines elements of Arhurian legend and Celtic mythology as three children join the Old Ones in the long-ongoing battle between Dark and Light. Titles are Over Sea, Under Stone; Greenwitch; The Dark Is Rising; The Grey King; and Silver on the Tree. For ages 9-13.

In Mollie Hunter’s A Stranger Came Ashore (Kelpies, 2012), a strange man staggers out of the sea in a village on Scotland’s Shetland Islands – and proceeds to charm one and all, especially Robbie’s older sister Elspeth. But only Robbie suspects that the stranger is one of the selkie folk, bringing danger. For ages 9-12.

Pat O’Shea’s The Hounds of the Morrigan, originally published in 1985, is a marvelous story based on Celtic mythology, in which Pidge accidentally releases the evil serpent  Olc-Glas from a book, and then with his little sister Brigit, becomes embroiled in a battle between the forces of good (the Dagda) and evil (the Morrigan). Well worth the effort to track down. For ages 10 and up.

See The Celts: Myths and Legends from creative history teacher Mr. Donn.

From Academic Kids, Celtic Mythology covers the various Celtic deities, religious practices, and Druidism.

Disney’s Darby O’Gill and the Little People (1959) is an oldie, but has worn surprisingly well. Elements of Irish mythology as Darby O’Gill matches wits with the king of the leprechauns and confronts a banshee. Rated G.

Donna Jo Napoli’s Treasury of Egyptian Mythology (National Geographic, 2013) is a gorgeously illustrated collection of myths, introducing Egyptian gods, goddesses, and mythical creatures. For ages 8-12.

By Morgan E. Moroney, Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Egypt (Rockridge Press, 2020) includes a timeline, map, and an introduction to the stories of the major Egyptian gods and goddesses, among them Ra (the Sun God), Osiris (God of the Underworld), Isis (Goddess of Magic, Thrones, and Healing), Seth (God of Deserts, Storms, War, and Chaos), Anubis, (God of Mummification), and Bastet (Goddess of Cats, Joy, and Motherhood). For ages 9-12.

Roger Lancelyn Green’s Tales of Ancient Egypt (Puffin, 2011) is a prose re-telling of Egyptian myths, categorized as “Tales of the Gods,” “Tales of Magic,” and “Tales of Adventure.” Stories include “Ra and His Children,” “Isis and Osirus,” “The Book of Thoth,” and “The Girl with the Rose-Red Slippers.” For ages 9-12.

By Gcina Mhlophe, African Tales (Barefoot Books, 2017) is a collection of eight traditional stories, gorgeously illustrated with hand-sewn and beaded collage artwork. For ages 9-12.

Jamilla Okubo’s illustrated Tales of East Africa (Chronicle Books, 2020) is a collection of 22 traditional tales from Tanzania, Kenya, and Uganda. For ages 9 and up.

Gale E. Hayley’s A Story, A Story (Aladdin, 1988) is the picture-book tale of how Anansi the Spider – who can spin a web up to heaven – frees the world’s stories from Nyame, the Sky God. For ages 4-8.

Anansi the Spider by Gerald McDermott (Henry Holt, 2017) is the Ashanti tale of the tricky (but lovable and resourceful) hero Anansi, with bold folk-art illustrations. For ages 4-8.

Also by McDermott, see Zomo the Rabbit (HMH, 1996), a trickster tale from West Africa, in which Zomo wants wisdom – but first must perform three seemingly impossible tasks for the Sky God. For ages 4-8.

Elphinstone Dayrell’s Why the Sun and Moon Live in the Sky (HMH, 1990) explains that it was all the result of a disastrous visit from the water people.

Also see Mary-Joan Gerson’s Why the Sky is Far Away (Little, Brown, 1995). For ages 4-8.

In Kwame Mbalia’s Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky (Disney-Hyperion, 2019), Tristan accidentally opens a hole between our world and MidPass and plunges into a dangerous mythical world of black American folk tale heroes and West African gods. For ages 9-13.

Tomi Adeyemi’s Children of Blood and Bone (Henry Holt, 2018) is an acclaimed young-adult fantasy with roots in the hero’s journey and West African mythology. Zelie remembers when Orisha was a land of magic – until the maji were slaughtered by a ruthless king. Now, in company with the rogue princess Amari, Zelie is on a quest to unlock the power of the old gods and restore Orisha to what it once was. For ages 13 and up.

From the Yale-New Haven Teachers Institute, African Myths and What They Teach is a detailed curriculum unit for grades 3-5 with background information, integrated activities, and a bibliography.