Gilgamesh the King (The Gilgamesh Trilogy)

Age Recommendation: 8 - up; Around eight children start to develop a taste in historical books, such as legends. Gilgamesh is a not as well-known epic about the Mesopotamia region. The picture book is also part of a three book series.Summary: Gilgamesh was sent by the Sun God to rule over the city of Uruk. He was part god, and part man. He did not have any friends, and was a cruel king. He decided to build a wall around his city. The people in his city originally supported his wall, but eventually grew tired and frustrated. His people prayed to the Sun God, and the sun god sent Enkidu. Enkidu lived with the animals, and was a good man. Enkidu prevented a man from killing an animal with his god-like strength. The man told Gilgamesh about Enkidu's strength, and Gilgamesh was furious. Gilgamesh sends a beautiful singer to the woods to lure Enkidu to the city. Gilgamesh wanted to kill him in front of the city to reinforce his reputation. The beautiful singer and Enkidu fell in love. Enkidu left the forest and his animal friends, and went to the city to challenge Gilgamesh. Gilgamesh and En kidu fought, but were equal in strength. Gilgamesh tripped, and would have died if Enkidu did not save him. After Enkidu saved Gilgamesh, they became friends. Once Gilgamesh had a friend, he stopped work on the wall, and there was peace in the city.Critical Review: Gilgamesh the King is written and illustrated by Ludmila Zeman. Zeman begins the picture book in the expected, "Long ago in the land of... " which sets the stage for a traditional folktale (p. 1). The illustrations also support the folktale, by using `ancient' looking images. The colors also look gold based, which makes the images look older. The images bring the words to life. For example, when the story is talking about all the men in the city building a giant wall around the city. You can see the magnitude of people, and the height of the huge wall (p. 3-4). Without any words, it would still be very easy to tell the epic of Gilgamesh based on the pictures. Although this story is part of a trilogy, it can stand alone. It has closure, and tells a complete story. Also, some historical information about the epic of Gilgamesh is included after the story. I appreciate the use of rhetorical questions throughout the text. For example, after Enkidu sees a man killing an animal, he asks himself, "Why would anyone want to do that?" (p. 6). The text includes both more complex sentences. For example, "The earth shook and lightning flashed across the sky, as if the gods themselves were fighting for control of the world" (p. 16). The text also includes short, simple sentences. For example, "He was no longer alone. He had found a friend" (p. 19). The longer sentences tell an elaborate story, while the shorter sentences focus on the meaning of the sentences. The book kept me engaged as a college student, and I think an intermediate reader would definitely be interested in the historical significance of one of the first epics ever written down, and the action of the folktale itself.

This is part 1 of 3 in a series telling the story of Gilgamesh. The series is a wonderful version for children. I think it is a little pricey but it is written in language a child can understand, tells the story in age appropriate detail, and the illustrations are absolutely wonderful. I was worried about how Shamhat and the relationship between her and Enkidu would be presented. Yes the book says they explored the ways of love but that is as close to explicit as it gets and that doesn't really imply anything specific (a parent loves a child; Enkidu and Shamhat simply learn to love each other and enjoy a loving relationship which, for Enkidu whose had little contact with people, brings him closer to being civilized and wanting to go to Uruk). My child loves folklore stories and this is perfect - a great retelling with intriguing visuals!My copy took literally months to ship and i received this part 1 about 2 months after Parts 2 and 3 arrived. My copy also arrived with no dust jacket. It's worth the wait and the dust jacket isn't a huge issue. Happy buyer here.

The kids loved this trilogy and appreciated the message of friendship that it presents. I had bought all 3 thinking I would spread the story out over weeks, but ended up having to read all 3 within 2 days.This was used for the homeschooling of our two 9 years olds as we read the history of the Ancient World. As one of the first (if not the very first) pieces of literature ever recorded, it is important to read from a historical and messaging perspective as well as to give a glimpse into the universality of many stories found in religions.I hesitated buying this for 4th graders thinking it might be too simple, but actually it is not.Highly recommended version of the Gilgamesh trilogy.

Re "Gilgamesh the King": My long attention span 3 year old is smitten with this book and has requested it twice a day for a week. She loves the illustrations which are charming and not dark. This volume ends on a happy note -- good transforms evil thru the power of generosity and love. If this doesn't sound like the epic as you remember it, well, technically it is not, but the liberties the author has taken with the story make for better reading for the preschool set! I think age appropriate versions are an excellent way to introduce materials which can become increasingly complex over time. If you are aiming for a telling which is close to the original, this is not the book for you. THIS volume succeeds in reaching listeners who can tolerate a couple paragraphs of text per page with an uplifting message and visual imagry consistent w the art of the region. Quite an accomplishment!

This is a very well done series to make the Epic accessible to elementary children! It was a great supplement for our “ancient history study” this year (we home school).In this first book of the series, note that there is one page of Enkidu (an animal like man who never saw another human until now) and the woman kissing and the line reads “they explored the ways of love with each other”. I found that to be more explicit than just saying they liked each other or even that they fell in love. We chose to black that line out.Other than that, we can highly recommend all 3 of this trilogy!

First, a review of this book, then a comment about the series.We ran into this book about twelve years ago. We were doing a homeschool unit on the Sumerians, and this was a very welcome addition to our curriculum. The kids loved the beautiful pictures, well-researched detail, and delightful story. At the time I thought "too bad this artist doesn't do the rest of the epic".Foolish us -- it would have taken just a little digging to find that she did! So don't stop here, get the rest of the series. This is a masterpiece of both art and boiling a long story down to its essence.

Lo compré con la intensión de tener por fin los 3 tomos. La calidad es muy buena, las imágenes, ni qué decir, hermosas.Lo que no me gustó es que sí son muy delgados, son tipo cuadernillo. Aunque estoy consciente de que es para niños. Yo lo compré ya que lo leí cuando era puberto y me encantó, junto las imágenes,las imágenes me hicieron volar mi imaginación y hoy ya adulto me animé a comprarlo junto con los otros dos tomos.

I wasn’t sure about picking this book as a bed time story for a 4yo and 2yo but wow! They both sat with wrapped attention and were completely captivated.They were absolutely not ready for the story to be over. My 2 yo loved it so much he didn’t want to let me put it away. He wanted to enjoy the lovely illustrations over and over on his own.Glad I bought the sequel for tomorrow night.

Conozco este libro de la colección (son una trilogía) y es una preciosidad. Los dibujos son impresionantes y el texto, basado en la historia de Gilgamesh es muy bueno (en inglés). Se trata de un libro (cuaderno ilustrado) difícil de conseguir, muy caro o de segunda mano. Pedí los otros dos que llegaron sin problemas, pero este último viene de otra tienda, no de Amazon, a la que he comprado varias veces otros libros sin problemas. Esta vez no hubo suerte, se envió por Royal mail...nunca ha llegado. Voy a pedirlo a amazon.com para ver si lo consigo. Me han hecho un reembolso sin problemas. El servicio de Amazon, como siempre impecable.

It was enjoyable to read Zeman's interpretation of Mesopotamian myths. She did a great job retelling the story in an interesting yet child-appropriate way. We got all three books in the series and read them all on evening. The illustrations are beautiful. A hardcover would make a beautiful gift if they were not so expensive and hard to find.

This is a great read for children, not only for they're enjoyment but as a part of the ancient history of greek or roman history. As I see it this is book #1 to follow the next book on Gilgamesh (his quest for eternal life). It's well illustrated as well.