Giants, Monsters, and Dragons: An Encyclopedia of Folklore, Legend, and Myth

This book was above all else an incredibly comprehensive mythical bestiary. No other single volume I've seen to date can compare to the sheer breadth of creatures referenced in these pages. It gives a truly global perspective to the term monster. In my case, this book was everything I had hoped it would be -- a thorough encyclopedia on the subject. If you're looking for a children's book with colorful illustrations and a sentimental tone then you won't be as pleased as I was with this purchase. This book serves to introduce the reader to the various imaginary creatures of the world, many of which will surely be new to the average enthusiast, and hopefully inspire them to further investigate those they find particularly intriguing.

This book is exactly what it says it is. It’s literally in the title. While some people complained about the shortness of some of the entries, I thought they were of a decent length. The purpose of this book is to help you get a start on where you’d like to focus your research. It introduced me to several creatures I wasn’t even aware existed in folklore. My only complaint was that it wasn’t categorized by region. Other than that, I like this and would recommend it to anyone who is interested in folkloric or mythological creatures.

Encyclopaedias have always enjoyed favour as a means of presenting subject matter in a condensed and accessible form. There are a number of books that treat giants, monsters and mystery animals none however seems to cover the entire lot in one book including symbolic elements. In alphabetical order giving basic descriptions of each creature as well as its activities, region, culture and historical period. In addition to the basic description and explanation of the origins the author explains parallels to other cultural icons, common heritages and manifestations pertaining to modern popular culture. My only disappointment in this book would be the pictures although there were a number of sketches they were all black and white a bit of colour would have improved the visual effect of this encyclopaedia greatly. We have after all grown accustomed to artistically drawn and designed books.Mythical creatures have always generated popularity of immense proportion in literary works, film, t/v and the most basic beginning story telling. They are legendary creatures believed at one point in our past history to be real beings. Mythical creatures can easily be divided into two groups ones that actually existed ones that are a composition of imagination gone wild in a time where imagination played a large part of existence. Over time these stories become legends they are then transferred into modern day mythological beings or creatures through film and majestic art work. Each country has their own mythical and magical creatures, monsters and legendary heroes brought to life in a continuum. We are constantly searching and wanting to know more about these myths, they are forever haunting our imagination and will forever continue to run along the imaginary mind. Movies, books on superheroes are forever bringing these mythical beings back to life.

What this book is NOT: A simple little picture book of dragons and fairiesWhat this book IS: An extensive encyclopedia of every kind of creature or humanoid you can imagine. Creatures from every corner of the globe, from all time periods ranging from ancient to more modern. Though the pics are in black&white there are enough images to keep you entertained and imaginative while you research. Those who are giving this book a bad review over the lack of images need to get real. For it would not be possible to illustrate so many occult creatures. Includes an extremely useful index and references. Seems like a lot of hard work went into compiling all the citations within. Worth every penny. Bought it used but not a crease in the spine nor a wrinkled corner.

I bought this book hoping and expecting an illustrative encyclopedia. It is not. It is mostly just text with a few bizarre black and white creepy images.

It was a favorite when I was growing up and still is. It is an exhaustive book containing all of the information you would ever want. Just know that there are no pictures other than on the cover.

Mostly small paragraphs on each creature, not many picture references; yet can give you a starting point for creature ideas for storytelling.

I was surprised with the extensive amount of listings within the book. There is a lot of otherwise hard to find information. I would have given this book 5 stars if it weren't for one thing; there is no index. A book like this should really contain an index for those looking for particular traits, or words within a creature's definition. However there are listings in the back based on different characteristics it is not as exhaustive or all around helpful as a simple index would be. Don't get me wrong though, this book is still well worth the purchase. Besides you can search through the book for keywords on this webpage by clicking "Search Inside".

This is a good resource to have on hand for authors looking to spice up a story. Creatures from myths, legends and folklore are all present as well as creatures from famous fiction like Lord of the rings, hobbit, etc.the entries have good detail and references for further reading should a particular monster take your fancy.

I love this book so much, if you have heard of any beast it is probably in this book! Every monster is based on folk lore and all the tales are in this book! It is so interesting, but the only issue I have it normally turns a 2 minute toilet break into about 10 minutes as I am too busy reading up on how Black Shuck terrorised East Anglia in days gone by.

Good details but the I was very disappointed by the illustrations.

a very welcome addition to my library

This book met my expectations and then went way above them! I got it for my boyfriend, who is an illustrator and is doing an alphabet book of mythical creatures. Not only is there creatures from every corner of the world, it's alphabetised like a big index, which was VERY useful to him. We also love all the illustrations. He takes it everywhere with him and spends hours looking through it, constantly calling me over so that he can read me some.