He is in 6th at the moment, but reading at a higher level.
Literary Buffistas 3: Don't Parse the Blurb, Dear.
There's more to life than watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer! No. Really, there is! Honestly! Here's a place for Buffistas to come and discuss what it is they're reading, their favorite authors and poets. "Geez. Crack a book sometime."
Suzi, how old is CJ? I know that B&N has some great illustrated beginner guides to Greek mythology in the kids section that are good for 8-11 year olds. I had a customer bring a few up to the register around Christmastime with a very eager-looking 10-y.o. boy who was really into it. I reminded her of the film from the early 1980s Clash of the Titans, which she remembered liking at the time. They were going to track down the dvd for the movie after I rang their books up.
For junior high and up, you could go with the Hamilton book--it's not illustrated, but it is a good, comprehensive overview of most of classical mythology.
ETA: Cross-post! Check out the Hamilton, then.
The other good one is Bulfinch.
I had the Odyssey in 9th grade as well.
Due to basic slackeriness and allowing his grades to go to a Place They Should Not Be, Nate's having to do work over Spring Break. All things considered, he's handling it pretty well, especially since it's reading stuff. His Language Arts teacher assigned what she calls a "genre bingo" sheet which is basically a 5x5 grid with everything from biography to science fiction to newspapers as reading. Completing two rows gets an A, completing all five rows gets extra credit. I am, of course, making him do all five rows for the aforementioned slackeriness. However, I've also used it as opportunity to introduce him to stuff that I don't think most other sixth graders are going to have on their sheets. For his short story, I handed him a collection of F. Scott Fitzgerald, for a play, I gave him a choice between Brighton Beach Memoirs and Pygmalion (he took Shaw), for biography I picked up iWoz, about Steve Wozniak, and for science fiction, Lewis gave him Ender's Game.
I'm fairly certain I'll get an email from his teacher.
I'm fairly certain I'll get an email from his teacher.
And it will say, "can I borrow some of these books?"
I'm fairly certain I'll get an email from his teacher.
It should be a note of extreme praise of your parenting skills.
I would like to point out that The Odyssey is stupid, and The Iliad is much better.
The Odyssey is fun! There are monsters and witches and Sirens and adventures and sheep and pigs.
Plus, once you read the Odyssey, you are better equipped to read Ulysses in college!