Legendary Ladies – All About Gaia

This morning I’m thrilled to be taking part in a blog tour with a twist! Legendary Ladies is a beautifully illustrated book which covers 50 different goddesses from mythology – From Greek and Egyptian to Native American and Celtic and everything in between!

Legendary Ladies is split into several sections, categorising the Goddesses into Creativity and Manifestation, Love, Power, Protection and Reinvention. But here’s where this blog tour differs from others – I’m not reviewing the whole book today – although I will cheat and say the hardback is beautiful, all the illustrations are stunning!

Now I can hear you all asking – Sarah if you’re not reviewing the book, what are you doing this morning? – Well I’m focusing on just the one Goddess – Gaia

When I received the email from Faye asking me if I’d like to take part in the blog tour it was an instant yes, it was such a beautiful cover how could I possibly turn it down?! Faye’s email contained a list of 13 goddesses to choose from – and Gaia jumped out at me straight away.

So who is Gaia? And why did I choose to write about her? To answer the second question first it all leads back to a book series I absolutely adored when I was a teenager and briefly spoke about last year when I was talking about some of my favourite childhood books. I loved a series called Fearless by Francine Pascal, it was a series about a girl born without the fear gene, and she was called Gaia. I knew she was named after a goddess, her uncle was known as Loki so there was definitely a mythology theme running through it, but I knew nothing about the goddess herself so what a perfect opportunity!

Born of the universal chaos Gaia has her origins in Greek mythology where she was known as the mother goddess who created all life. She was considered the embodiment of Mother Earth and created the mountains, the sea and the sky. The sky was known called Uranus and Gaia took him as a lover, they had a number of powerful children who were known as The Titans and their relationship certainly had an interesting end, but you’ll need to pick up the book to find out more about that!

I found reading about Gaia to be so interesting, and I love the idea that it was a goddess that began everything, Gaia predated all the other Greek gods – Zeus was her grandson – and the accompanying illustration was beautiful. I’d definitely recommend Legendary Ladies to people!

About The Book

Title: Legendary Ladies: 50 Goddesses to Empower and Inspire You

Author: Ann Shen

Release Date: 3^rd April 2018

Genre: MG Non-Fiction

Publisher: Abrams

Format: Hardback

Throughout History comes this lushly illustrated book of goddesses from around the world. Aphrodite, the Greek goddess whose love overcame mortality. Mazu, the Chinese deity who safely guides travellers home. Lakshmi, the Hindu provider of fortune and prosperity. These powerful deities and many more are celebrated in gorgeous artwork and enlightening essays that explore the feminine divine and encourage readers to empower themselves. Ann Shen’s signature watercolours make Legendary Ladies a unique, gift-worthy homage to the mighty women within.

This book was received from the publisher in return for an honest review

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About The Author & Illustrator

Ann Shen is an illustrator and graphic designer and is the author of Bad Girls Throughout History. She lives in Los Angeles.

Connect With Ann

Website // Twitter // Tumblr // Instagram

Thanks for stopping by this morning! If you’ve enjoyed learning a little bit about Gaia and want to find out about some other Goddesses make sure to check out the other stops on the blog tour!