The Last Quest of Gilgamesh (The Gilgamesh Trilogy)

Bought for 5- and 7-year old boys who are studying Sumerian civilization, and enjoyed immensely by both. The writing is evocative but not too course, and the last page of each of this series has an overview of historical and thematic aspects of the story and time that were very useful for home study. We used these in concert with an online interactive archaeological excavation program out of the University of Chicago, and I think the fact that the illustrations evoked the kinds of artifacts the kids found really made concrete that this story was not just like the other fictions books my kids have, but a story that functions as a window into a long-gone time. We also really enjoyed discussing how themes in this story (such as the flood and the serpent and immortality) would come up later, both in Greek mythology and in Christian mythology. Altogether a fantastical account of an already interesting story with evocative illustrations. The only negative is that I wish something like this existed for general Sumerian mythology, as the author is adept at referring to otherwise non-child-friendly themes in ways that suggest but do not elaborate.

At first I wasn't big on this series. It was highly recommended, but to be honest I'm just not into the whole fantasy/ancient world stories: the monsters and bulls from heaven, the Ishtar goddess who turns into a serpent, the whole mythical thing. Sorry, I know that's really anti-educational of me to say. I think my biggest concern with this series, however, was that it would be too dark. Mesopotamia is. I was a little afraid that the tragedy would be too weighty for the kids, and the whole color scheme, descending into hell, being smited by the gods for the purpose of revenge, etc, would just be too much for my lower elementary kids. And yet I caved into the pressure. To be honest, there's not very much in this genre of Mesopotamia for kids--at least not in literature. And my kids are too young for the other popular Epic of G resources out there. So we dove in. And I changed my mind. It is dark and tragedic, but it is tastefully done and ends on a happy enough note/good moral lesson. There are some fantastical elements that I'm not sure my kids know what to do with (i.e. the souls of the dead people come back as birds and sometimes can be seen by those who are alive, and sometimes cannot)... but even my five year old really liked the whole series. You can't argue with that. They have asked for it over and over again. So I still wish the author had a more conservative view of the subject, but she is an expert who did well in replicating the story for kids. She didn't tamper with the details or ideology, which I really appreciated. And the part about Utnapishtam and the Flood controversy was handled well. I think I would have cut out the part about Shamhat and Enkidu "exploring the ways of love together" and maybe a couple other phrases, but it's hard to quibble on a larger level.

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.

Fantastic way to introduce ancient cultures. After reading the whole trilogy, we made our own clay "cuneiform" tablets. The story is simplified for young readers, calling the main female character a temple singer instead of a temple prostitute. The pictures are detailed and well drawn. I was quite impressed.

Great story and wonderful history lesson. My kindergartener and 2nd grader really enjoyed this. My 4th grader does too but the picture book format makes him feel like it’s babyish, but he sits to listen every time I read it to his brothers!

This is the third book in the trilogy. It is beautifully illustrated. I used it in school after showing a video on great literature in which the author explains her motivation for writting the books.

All three of my kids liked this version of the Gilgamesh story (This review counts for all three volumes) when they were young and continued to like after they grew and read/studied the original. We found it entertaining and the moral not intrusive. It's not entirely true to the original, but placed in a version appealing to children. I give only four stars because the current version is dumbed down from that published a few years ago----in the current text, Enkidu beats Gilgamesh in the fight and saves his life, so they can become friends. In the real story, Gilgamesh (who is 2/3 immortal) beats Enkidu---and they become friends. No need to change some of life's turbulent episodes into scenes from Mr Roger's Neighborhood. The first version of this well-done set is better, but this is still good.

Great books to introduce your kids to Gilgamesh. My kids enjoyed this series (3 books total) and it was easy enough to read to them in less than 20 minutes. The epic of Gilgamesh is fairly graphic but this book does a great job of making it interesting to kids without being graphic or scary. Highly recommend this for kids age 5-10

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 leí el tomo uno cuando era puberto y me gustó mucho.

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.

An excellent #2 read to the story of King Gilgamesh of how the true value of friendship and popularity really means. A good way of teaching children of good morals and having a good character.

The book became a favorite with our children aged 7 and 4 as soon as it was presented to them as additional reading for our study of ancient history of Mesopotamia. It is nicely retold, although I found it a little too modernized. The children found the illustrations amusing and they certainly help visualize the characters and the setting of this great epic.

Histoire (trilogie) illustrée destinée aux humains de tout âge