Be Patient, Pandora!

Joan Holub, illus. by Leslie Patricelli. Abrams Appleseed, $6.95 (24p) ISBN 978-1-4197-0951-7

In one of two titles launching the Mini Myths series, Goddess Girls author Holub presents less a retelling of the story of Pandora than a modern (and entirely delightful) twist on it. Instructed by her mother not to open a neatly wrapped box, Pandora grins mischievously at readers. “I am not opening the box. I am only touching it.” Luckily, after bouncing on the box causes it to fly open, it isn’t the evils of the world that pour out. Patricelli’s preschool-age Pandora couldn’t be cuter, and an endnote explains the original myth in greater detail. Genuinely funny and sweet. Simultaneously available: Play Nice, Hercules! Ages 1–3. Author’s agent: Liza Pulitzer Voges, Eden Street Literary. Illustrator’s agent: Rebecca Sherman, Writers House. (Sept.)

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