An actor, teacher, and friend of C.S. Lewis, Roger Lancelyn Green was a gifted storyteller who wrote several short stories for children. (He encouraged Lewis to publish The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.) The Tale of Troy is about the Trojan War and the heroes’ return home.

If your son or daughter is not quite ready to read Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey, this story is a good place to start. While staying true to the ancient stories, he shortened them, enabling a retelling of the whole. His enjoyable version includes the background, main events, what happened to the heroes, and Odysseus’s journey home to his wife, son, and kingdom.

The tales of the central characters — Agamemnon, Menelaus, Paris, Helen, Achilles, Hector, Ajax, Aeneas, Odysseus, Telemachus, Penelope — are told.

Green’s book offers students a solid foundation in the West’s literature; it’s hard to think of a better choice. The book is well-written, action-packed, and moves quickly. I recommend reading it to your student(s).

Finally, the illustrations are by Pauline Baynes, the original illustrator of The Chronicles of Narnia.