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Reviewed by Lisa McCombs for Readers' Favorite
Persephone loves flowers and nature, and especially the light of the sun. She and her mother Demeter live happily on Mount Olympus amid the nymphs and flowers that bring such joy. Then disaster strikes when Zeus, the father of gods and men, as well as the father of Persephone, promises his daughter’s hand in marriage to Pluto, the ruler of the Nether World. The Nether World is dark and dreary, devoid of light, flowers, and the beauties of nature. Demeter pleads with Zeus to return her daughter to her and, when she is denied, Earth suffers dying foliage and fauna. Crops suffer and the human race is in danger of becoming extinct. Demeter refuses to return to Mount Olympus to continue her reign over the much needed agriculture of Earth until Persephone is returned to her.
Through a line of passionate pleas made to Zeus by an assortment of concerned gods and goddesses, Zeus is finally convinced to approach Pluto with a compromise. Because Pluto is totally infatuated with Persephone, he refuses to allow her return to Mount Olympus be permanent. Before sending Persephone home, he offers her a meal of the forbidden pomegranate. Everyone knows that any food eaten in the Nether World binds the one consuming it to that land of darkness forever. Persephone is thrilled to return home, but knows she must return to Pluto. When Rhea, the goddess of fertility, joins in the fray, she offers an acceptable compromise to Pluto.
Mary Black constructs a lovely explanation of the seasons in this nicely illustrated version of an ancient myth. The Abduction of Persephone contains vocabulary appropriate for young readers to understand, while offering a colorful story that is as beautifully read silently as it is aloud. Greek mythology is a fun medium with which to grab a young reader’s interest and I believe that Mary Black has inspired in her readers a love for the written word.
