The classic Greek myths, retold from the female point of view of, specifically, the Goddesses Athena, Aphrodite and Hera, allows a different perspective on familiar events like the Trojan War. 10,000 first printing.
"I started out in children's books by translating, then retelling stories I'd loved as a child in Austria," says Doris Orgel. (Her first book, a translation of Dwarf Long-Nose by Wilhelm Hauff, illustrated by Maurice Sendak, won the Lewis Carroll Shelf award.) "Translating and retelling were like taking intensive writing courses, learning from master storytellers how it's done," Orgel goes on. "I soon started writing my own stories, and have published lots-fifty or so-picture books, middle-grade and YA novels. But I've stayed true to my roots, gone on doing translations and retellings," including: The heart of Stone, and A Monkey's Uncle by Wilhelm Hauff; tales by the German romantic poet Clemens Brentano; E.T.A. Hoffmann's The Child from Far Away; The Enchanted Drum by Walter Grieder; The Grandma in the Apple Tree by Mira Lobe; Little John by Theodor Storm; Baron Munchhausen; The Story of Lohengrin; Godfather Cat and Mouse from the Brothers Grim; and most recently, Elke Heidenreich's Nero Corleone: A Cat's Story, an honor book in the 1998 Mildred Batchelder award.
Many of Orgel's original books have retellings at their core. The Devil inVienna, her prize-winning novel about her family's escape from Austria under Hitler, starts with its two young heroines scaring each other, just in fun, by recounting tales of lurid things the devil did in olden days, thus setting the stage for Nazi devilry, not in fun, that would happen soon.
Orgel's three latest books, Ariadne, Awake, The Princess and the God and We Goddesses reflect her passionate interest in ancient Greece, and are based on Greek material, re-imagined and retold. Orgel is currently working on a second volume about goddesses featuring the mothers and daughters Leto and Artemis, Demeter and Persephone.
Marilee Heyer comes to the field of children's book illustration with a hand that knows the feel of a fine fabric, the intricacies of stunning embroidery and rich brocade. For the past 15 years she has made her living in the fashion world and is currently a fashion illustrator for I Magnin. In the early days after completing school at the Art Center in Los Angeles, Marilee worked in the movie industry doing story boards and animation for Saturday morning cartoons. After seeing "Star Wars" a few years ago, Marilee had an urge to work for Lucasfilm and prepared a portfolio of strange bird-like creatures in a tightly-rendered watercolor technique. While she did end up doing some work for Lucas, those portfolio drawings looked like excellent material for children's picture books. New York publishers agreed. Ms. Heyer found a folk tale, The Chuang Brocade, that suited her purposes. She illustrated the story to become her first book, The Weaving of a Dream. It was followed by The Forbidden Door, a story which Marilee wrote to accompany those first portfolio drawings. Next came Iron Hans, a Grimms fairy tale, and The Girl, the Fish, and the Crown, a Spanish fairy tale. The Girl, the Fish and the Crown was recently chosen by the Bank Street Project of New York as a book of the year in its category. Marilee works in watercolor and pencil on bristol board of 100% rag. After laying in the watercolor washes, she overdraws and blends with col-erase colored pencils. Fine detail is added with opaque water color. She lives in Los Osos, California.
