Joan Holub and Leslie Patricelli, Please Share, Aphrodite
Please Share, Aphrodite! is one installment in the Mini Myths boardbook series written by Joan Holub and illustrated by Leslie Patricelli. This adaptation of the Judgment of Paris is situated in the present day and reframes the mythological contest as a set of negotiations undertaken by a boy who has a caramel apple and three girls who offer various items in trade for it. When the boy accepts Aphrodite’s wooden horse toy, Aphrodite initially exults, but when she realizes that she is alone in her victory, she shares her prized apple with the other two girls. Athena shares her puzzle and Hera her crown in turn. Holub and Patricelli transform and defuse a mythological episode that highlights female/female competition and privileges a male perspective. They refocalize the story on the female characters and cooperation, and the story ends with a celebratory image of the girls enjoying the pleasures of community.