Month: August 2017

“Skippyjon Jones in Mummy Trouble” by Judy Schachner

Meet Skippyjon Jones – a Siamese cat with large ears who loves adventures!

Znalezione obrazy dla zapytania skippyjon jones
Skippyjon Jones [source]
The book series about this crazy little pet is wrtitten by Judy Schachner, and it has about 20 volumes already.

Few books about Skippyjon Jones [series]
In “Skippyjon Jones in Mummy Trouble” (Puffin Books, 2008) Skippito’s mom (Junebug) found him reading about “The Curse of the Cat Mummy” in “National Leographic”. She told him that he shouldn’t read such scary stories. But the kitten didn’t want to listen to her lecture – he ran into his room, locked himself in a closet and moved to… Ancient Egypt.

Znalezione obrazy dla zapytania skippyjon jones mummy
The cover of the book [source]
See more:

  • Skippyjon Jones’ website: www.skippyjonjones.com
  • Judy Schachner’s official website: www.judithbyronschachner.com
  • Skippyjon Jones Mummy Trouble webisode: https://youtu.be/zyhj48IY6E0
  • ImSkippyjonJones canal on YouTube: www.youtube.com/user/ImSkippyjonJones

Found by Elizabeth Hale – the founder of the Antipodean Odyssey blog about the explorations in children’s culture and Classical Antiquity.

Let’s Build the History with Playmobil!

For all the fans of the bricks! We found the Playmobile sets inspired by the Ancient History! 🙂

http://media.playmobil.com/i/playmobil/5390_product_box_back
[source]
The series is called History and it refers to the history and culture of the Ancient Rome and the Ancient Egypt. It is intended mostly for children aged 6-12.

In Plamobile History we find many famous figures from Antiquity, like for example Roman soldiers, gladiators, Pharaoh, Caesar and Cleopatra.

http://media.playmobil.com/i/playmobil/5394_product_box_front
[source]
Here you will find all the sets connected with Ancient Rome:

  1. 3 Roman Soldiers
  2. Roman Tribune
  3. Roman Family
  4. Roman Warriors’ Ship
  5. Roman Troop
  6. Gladiator Arena StarterSet
  7. Caesar and Cleopatra
  8. Roman Tent
  9. Roman Chariot
  10. Legionnaire with Ballista
  11. Quadriga

and here with the Ancient Egypt:

  1. 3 Egyptian Soldiers
  2. Leader of the Egyptian Soldiers
  3. Sphinx
  4. Egyptian House
  5. Nile Ship
  6. Pharaoh Treasure
  7. Egyptian Chariot
  8. Egyptian Family
  9. Pharaoh’s Pyramid
  10. Caesar and Cleopatra
  11. Tomb Raiders’ Camp
  12. Egyptian Troop with Ballista
  13. Egyptian Warrior with Camel

See more:

  • Playmobil Curse of the Pharaohs – The Movie
  • Playmobil Website: http://www.playmobil.co.uk/onlineshop/products/history
  • Playmobil History Build Review by Australian Playmobil Fan: https://youtu.be/Ifjvf1E0M1U

Found by Dorota Bazylczyk, Karolina Kulpa, and Katarzyna Marciniak

Learn about Mythology and Hubris While Watching Netflix!

Recently, a new movie production appeared in Netflix Poland offer. It turns out that it is related to the world of mythology – are you curious how? 🙂

Before I Fall (2017)

Director: Ry Russo-Young

Age range: 13+

Genre: Drama, Romantic Drama

World premiere: January 21, 2017

The movie is based on Lauren Oliver’s novel with the same title (published in 2010). It shows the story of popular high-school student Sam, who has to re-live over and over the same day (February 12 – Cupid Day) in which she dies in a car accident.  Living in a “time-loop” every day Sam wakes up, goes to school, spends time with her cocksure friends and… dies. When she finally realizes what’s going on she is trying to avoid the car crush by changing the events.

While watching the movie, it is worth to pay attention to the details. After a deeper analysis of the film you will be able to see that every day during the same lesson at school, Sam’s teacher tells the class about… the myth of Sisyphus.

syzyf.png
“All right, back to Sisyphus. What’s his character like? Does he learn from pushing that boulder…”
Read more

Reminding the real meaning of the myth and its message about hubris, guilt, and punishment, you will be able to understand Sam’s fate… No more spoilers. 🙂

See more:

Found by Dorota Bazylczyk

 

Ancient Guests in the Old Orangery (The Royal Łazienki Park, Warsaw, Poland)

Recently we have found an innovative Polish publication, created by Aleksandra Pawlińska (author) and Wojciech Pawliński (illustrator). The book is entitled “A King, the Muses and Some Oranges: the hiddden delights of the Old Orangery”  [“Król, muzy i pomarańcze, czyli co się kryje w Starej Oranżerii”] and it was published for the first time in 2015 by Dwie Siostry Publishing House.

5
The cover of the book [source]
“A King, the Muses and Some Oranges” is a creative guide designed for the youngest ones. It takes the readers on a tour to the Old Orangery (built in 1785-1788) – a magical place in the Royal Łazienki [Baths] Park in Warsaw, where we can find a lot of mythological motifs.

The Old Orangery, Royal Łazienki Park, Warsaw, Poland [source]
phpThumb_generated_thumbnailjpg1
“A King, the Muses and Some Oranges”, page 21 [source] 
The book is full of interesting tasks and different activities that take the kids to the world of Ancient Greece and teach them some facts about the times of Stanisław August (the last King of Poland) and his marvellous residence.

Here are the examples:

phpThumb_generated_thumbnailjpg
“A King, the Muses and Some Oranges”, page 10 [source]
4
“A King, the Muses and Some Oranges”, page 94 [source]
“A King, the Muses and Some Oranges” is available in two language versions – Polish and English.

 

If you are planning to visit Warsaw in the near future, we recommend you to see the new exhibition in the Old Orangery (open until the 30th of November, 2017). It is entitled “Jan Bogumił Plersch. Works by the royal painter on exhibition in the Royal Łazienki”. You’ll find there two famous works of the artist: a plafond where Stanisław August is shown as Apollo and the design of a lost artefact – the curtain entitled “Muses on Mount Helicon”.

See more:

Found by Dorota Bazylczyk

 

“Pre-Civilization: Marble Age”

Finally we have something for the fans of the strategy games! 🙂

“Pre-Civilization: Marble Age” is an old-school designed game, developed by Clarus Victoria (Russia). It’s available for PCs, tablets, and smartphones (Google Play and AppStore).

unnamed.png
The main game icon presents Athena [source]
Pre-civilization: Marble age

The action of the game starts in 3000 B.C. and it lasts 4000 years. Every next round is a small step into the future. The player’s task is to expand a small Greek village into a new powerful civilization:

“It is your responsibility to manage aspects of your civilizations such as material production, cultural growth, trading and military forces.” 

(read more here)

During the game you have to raise the population, create new buildings, trade goods, conquer new cities, lead the wars, take part in historical events, etc.

If you are interested in this kind of historical simulation strategy games, we also recommend you  “Bronze and Stone Age“ and “Predynastic Egypt“ created by Clarus Victoria.

See more:

Found by Przemysław Kordos (Faculty of “Artes Liberales”, University of Warsaw)

 

“Mia and Me” – the Klimt-inspired World Full of Mythical Creatures

“Mia and Me” is a TV animation series for kids, created by Gerhard Hahn. The series had its world premiere in 2011 (“Mia and Me” was produced by Lucky Punch, Telescreen, Hahn Film, Rainbow S.p.A., and March Entertainment).

The animation tells the story of a girl (Mia) who – thanks to some magical items – can travel to the fantasy world of Centopia.

Znalezione obrazy dla zapytania mia and me
Mia as an elf [source]
The design of the enchanted land and its inhabitants is inspired by the works of the famous painter – Gustav Klimt (1862-1918).

Mia-and-me-Familie
Royal family [source]
In Centopia we can find many interesting characters (also those related to Greek mythology), for example: elves, unicorns, fauns (the famous one is called Phuddle), hippocampi, a gorgon (Polytheus), the evil queen Panthea (the name Panthea can mean: All the Gods).

Mia-and-me-Pane
Fauns from Centopia [source]
politheus
Polytheus [source]
Water_Unicorn
Hippocampus [source]
Panthea [source]
Perhaps you know other examples of the reception of Antiquity in this animation? We are sure there are many more to be found in Centopia! 🙂

See more:

Found by Dorota Bazylczyk

Pandora Became a Fox!

“Pandora” (Clarion Books, April 2017), a picturebook by the British author and illustrator Vitoria Turnbull, does not seem to have many connections to Antiquity, apart from the title.

9781847807496
The cover of the book

After all, it is a story about the lonely fox that finds a friend in a blue bird.

Znalezione obrazy dla zapytania pandora book victoria turnbull
Pandora and a blue bird

However, if we get a closer look, we discover that it is actually a metaphor for many issues concerning womanhood, including depression and hope that constitute the core of Pandora’s myth. Sometimes it is good to dig a bit deeper… 🙂

Sources of illustrations: 1, 2.

See more:

Found by Anna Mik

 

 

“Moonlighters #3” with the Figures of Medusa and Cerberus

“Moonlighters” (Space Goat Productions) is a new comic written by Katie Schenkel, illustrated by Cal Moray. It talks about a girl who becomes a werewolf  (Renee) and joins the Moonlighters team. In the third episode of the comic (digital release date: July 26, 2017) the team receives an order from Ms. Scaleson – it turns out that her dog Cerb is Cerberus and her daughter is Medusa!

511031._SX1280_QL80_TTD_
The cover of Moonlighters #3 [source]
1bb0316565e25c3e6684457c26c22b0d._SX1280_QL80_TTD_
Ms. Scaleon’s dog – Cerb [source]
Renee and Medusa [source]
 

See more:

Found by Dorota Bazylczyk