Organized by theme—from gods of creation to gods of death and the underworld; from gods of water to gods of fire; from gods of love to gods of war—this diverse encyclopedia features both familiar and underrepresented deities, Dinah Williams delivers a collection of stories that will entuse the fans of legends and myths. The stories include gods and goddesses from 30 pantheons:
Akan * Annang *Aztec * Babylonian * Bushongo * Canaanite * Celtic * Chinese * Efik * Egyptian * Finnish * Greek * Hawai’ian * Hindu * Hittite * Hopi * Ibibio * Incan * Inuit * Korean * Lithuanian * Māori * Mayan * Navajo * Norse * Pueblo * Roman * Shinto * Sumerian * Yoruba

As a Greek myself, I was drawn to the brilliant storytelling and the fantastic illustrations, I think that upper KS2 and KS3 will really enjoy this book. There is a fair amount of literature out there about Greek/ roman and Norse gods/goddesses and deities but I found so many interestings stories I had not come across before. A very enjoyable read indeed!

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for my review copy, all opinions are my own.

This book gives us a look at a variety of gods and goddesses from all cultures, helping to show us how similar so many cultures beliefs are. So many cultures have their own creation deities and deities connected to nature.

Thank you to NetGalley and ABRAMS Kids for the Advanced Reader Copy.

I enjoyed reading this book. Although the formatting was off on the NetGalley app, the content was still readable (although sometimes it would run on between one god and the next which was a little confusing at first).. The book included descirpitons and depictions of various gods from around the world, including some I was not familiar with such as Mbombo and Amaterasu.

In my years as an elementary school teacher, I have found that books such as these appeal to children in grades 3 +, as children are fascinated with myths and legends. The images in this book might remind chidlren of some of the superheros they see in their graphic novels and it might encourage them to learn a little more about the gods.


I would probably recommed this book for children in grades 5+ as it delves into topics such as murder, has vivid descxriptions such as "her rotting, maggot-filled corpse", and higher level vocabulary.