Little Goddess Girls – Aphrodite & the Gold Apple

Joan Holub and Suzanne Williams's Aphrodite & the Gold Apple is a short, bouncy magic adventure for 7 year olds about a girl who always says exactly what she thinks.

What happens

Aphrodite knows people find her hard to like. She says whatever pops into her head, and it tends to hurt feelings. So she's walking the Hello Brick Road with her friends Athena and Persephone to ask Zeus, king of all the gods, to make her more likeable.

Sparkle City sits at the top of Mount Olympus, and they're hoping to get there before dark. But Medusa, a snake-haired meanie who wants Athena's winged sandals, has other ideas. When Athena and Persephone fall asleep in a field of enchanted poppies, it's Aphrodite who has to get them out.

How does she do it? By fibbing to Medusa, very cleverly. It's a fun twist, because the thing that usually gets Aphrodite into trouble (her mouth) is exactly what saves the day.

Then the girls meet Artemis, a new friend who is scared of pretty much everything, stuck up a tree with a bow and arrow. And Aphrodite finds a tiny apple made of real gold, no bigger than a walnut. She keeps it secret. Is that fair on her friends? She isn't sure, and neither is your reader, which is rather the point!

Parents who know The Wonderful Wizard of Oz will spot a few nods to it (the sleepy poppies are a giveaway). The authors own up to it in a note at the end, alongside a little bit about the real Greek goddesses.

The chapters are short and the sentences simple, with lots of sound effects (Stomp. Stomp. Stomp.) that are great for reading aloud. There's a word list and some discussion questions at the back as well, handy if you like chatting about a book together.

It isn't the first book in the series, and it picks up mid-journey. The girls mention adventures that have already happened, like the giant daisies that tried to keep Persephone as a friend forever. You can jump in here quite happily, though your reader might like to see the start of the road.

What to read next

So if they're hooked, go back to Athena & the Magic Land. It begins with a sparkly storm whisking Athena off her own street, and the little white dog from her tablet game turning out to be real.