Aeneas: Virgil's Epic Retold for Younger Readers

My 6th grader (Homeschool) read this to complement his learning of Greece and Rome. He loves mythology. This is a good adaptation for his age.

I have been using this children's version of Virgil's Aeneid for several years now. It tells the very interesting, mythology loaded, story of Aeneas and the Trojans and it manages to still incorporate some epic language in the telling. The chapters are just the right length.I've used this book in the classroom as a once-a-week classroom read, and I have also used it with my own privately tutored students and even my grandchildren.

It was used for school

I was very excited to read this book based on the reviews. Unfortunately, greatly disappointed. The translation could have so much better if there was more dialogue instead of narration. It is unfortunate there is not a better translation out there for young readers interested in the classics.

Great book! Easy to read and follows Vergil's plot to a T.

I found this book to be a faithful rendition of the Aeneid in language which was readily understood and enjoyed by young readers of today. It really brought to life the classic story of Aeneas' journey.I was thoroughly pleased with this engaging version of a classical epic, and would not hesitate to use it with my students.

This book is not bad. In fact, it's quite a good book, and I'm enjoying reading it. I gave it three stars instead of more because of the "for younger readers" bit in the title. I'm reading this to my five year old as part of our study of Ancient Rome right after reading her Geraldine McCaughrean's version of the Odyssey as part of our study of Ancient Greece. This one is for younger readers as in high schoolers, not as in elementary schoolers. McCaughrean's The Odyssey was much more geared toward elementary age. I'm the type of parent that believes we should be honest and open with our children about life and body parts, but I couldn't bring myself to read the words "disgusting orgies" to her. I also had a hard time explaining Queen Dido burning herself to death and the complicated issue of suicide. To clarify, sex and death are things we talk about with her, I'm not the kind of parent that thinks kids should have no idea that sex and death exist. But these are very heavy and complex issues, even for a kid who understands death and sex. Also the chapters are a bit too long for read aloud at this age. The retelling is good, but if you're considering this as part of your first grade curriculum in the classical model, I'd wait until fifth or ninth.

This is an excellent version for young readers from 11-14. We have read it as part of a Classical Civilization Course. Easy to read and well written.