‘Beasts of the Ancient World’ is a phenomenal illustrated book, which will appeal to any child who loves to learn about history, animals or mythology. The book contains an array of stories about monsters from all over the ancient world, while including facts and illustrations about them.

From the very beginning of the book, the content page taps into the reader’s interests, by including subheadings for each group of stories. Are you interested in terrifying monsters? Then look at the ‘Our worst fears’ section. Love to hear about epic wars? ‘Battles with monsters’ is for you! A bit of a scaredy cat? There is also a section titled ‘Kind beasts’, which would suit the less brave!

The stories throughout claim to remind us that ‘things are never really as simple as brave human defeats monster’. They have been carefully selected from around the world and allow readers to learn about the creatures within them, as well as the cultures they came from. There are many unique features within it to help gain a breadth in children’s learning about mythology and cultural legends from around the globe. For example, there is a world map with a key, which explains where each of the mythical creatures was created by ancient storytellers. Interwoven through the stories are fact pages with beautiful illustrations of different creatures. There are snippets of non-fiction fact files, which include anything from beasts that fly, great guardians and creatures from under the sea. There is something in this book for everyone!