When choosing bedtime reading for my 7-year-old twins, I will often look for books of age-appropriate mythology, which I hope will get them hooked on tales of gods and heroes at an early age, much like I was. The Hand of Zeus, written by the mother-daughter team of Katerina and Aegea Barclay and illustrated by just Katerina, failed to spark their interest.

The story purports to tell the tale of why Greece looks like an outstretched hand. But, while certainly most stories of Zeus are not appropriate for young children, this tale goes out of its way to recast the father god as a wise, noble and generous benefactor of mankind -- a far stretch from the actual figure drawn from Greek and Roman myths.

The plot involves Zeus's gift of magic to the mortal Greeks, and the greed of 1,400 Greeks who tried to steal more. They fail, of course, and Zeus punishes them with "a lesson they would never forget" -- transforming them into the 1,400 islands of the Aegean Sea. Oddly, the story tells us that these greedy mortals "became smaller and smaller" before becoming individual land masses, so one has to wonder if they were giants before their punishment.

The artwork is garish and unappealing. My kids, who are usually absorbed by the art of whatever book we are reading, let their eyes wander. The ornate font used throughout the book is hard to read.

This book sat for years in a box, unreviewed. Recently rediscovered, I decided to give it a try ... but I wish this one had stayed in its box.