Wonder Woman's Book of Myths is a book written for elementary school students, explaining the major figures of Classical Mythology, as told from the viewpoint of Wonder Woman. The fare is in most ways what you would find in a standard mythology book for students in the 3rd or 4th grade- a few paragraphs explaining some of the Greek deities less complicated adventures, together with a good assortment of big pictures of classical art. (Some of which, such as the Aphrodite sculpture, would have been very interesting to my elementary school self). This book has been written many times, and has helped many a generation of child learn about their cultural heritage, and/or get glimpses of nudity.
What is different about this book is that it is written from the viewpoint of Wonder Woman, and all of the information on classical mythology is surrounded by side bars with information about characters from the DC Universe. Is this a clever strategy to get kids interested in mythology through something they might be interested in already? Or is this a sneaky way to get kids interested in purchasing an endless array of trade paperback collections, via introducing them to the cast of DC characters? The motivations notwithstanding, the effect does come off a little awkward in places. It is almost as if someone had written this only they meant it seriously, and aimed it at young children. The mixing of non-fiction (as much as myths are non-fiction) with fiction is a tricky combination, when I read that "Batman first learned of the powers of bats from ancient North American folklore.", I wondered on what level that was true-it seems a bit hasty to paint Native American culture with such a broad brush to burnish a piece of comic book history that, as far as I know, wasn't even important inside of that history. I have read a lot about Batman, and the link to Native American myths is something I have yet to hear of.
However, it is not at all a bad book, and might actually serve to interest some child in mythology. And it also serves the all important purpose of being a conversation piece for comic book geeks obsessed with the obscure.