PANDORA

The myth of Pandora is told in compelling free verse with striking, colored-pencil and watercolor illustrations. Burleigh sticks fairly close to his sources, choosing the jar, rather than the box, as the thing-that-must-not-be-opened. It’s made clear that Zeus seeks to punish humankind for receiving fire from Prometheus; it is Prometheus’ brother who receives Pandora (her name means all-gifted) as his wife. She’s beautiful and has many skills, but is obsessed by the jar that she must not open. Why, she reasons, would the goddess Athena give her “the power to think and wonder—And order her not to use it?” She opens the jar, and all manner of evil escapes. Only hope is left behind. Colón uses his colors lightly to show the texture of the paper, creating wonderful, almost iridescent effects: rich purples, golds, blues, and greens. Very different in tone and effect from the lyrical Dora’s Box (1998), this is darker but still accessible, though it may have trouble finding its audience because of its mature treatment. (cast of characters) (Picture book/nonfiction. 6-9)