I Am Pan by Mordicai Gerstein (review)

Gerstein describes Pan as the “silliest” of the Greek gods and therefore the “perfect deity for kids, because, though fully grown, at heart he was one of them.” Culling the customarily consulted mythology sources, from Ovid through Graves, Gerstein limns Pan as a noisy but good-hearted sower of confusion, who both delights and irritates his Olympic superiors, and years later, is still wreaking “panic” among us on especially “bee-buzzing, bird-singing spring mornings.” Short chapters cover episodes ranging from the Battle of Marathon to Pan’s “marriage” to Echo; rendered mainly in sequential panels, they are narrated by Pan himself with zesty, boastful, but childlike naiveté. Artwork is pleasingly zany, with particularly spot-on caricatures of Greek gods and comically beleaguered humans. This will be a strong addition even to the bulging mythology collections, as well as a good readaloud choice for any young listeners who delight in chaos.