This was just as good as Hercules . I would love for my kids to learn about myths and legends in this fashion. I think it is a great way to connect current day kids with these ideas about the myths and legends of days gone by.

I’m really enjoying this series. It is a quick, lite version of Greek mythology. The characters stumble through this story with smarts and heart. I can’t wait for the next installment.

Hera’s Terrible Trap follows on immediately after Here Comes Hercules! Which is perhaps a good thing as it keeps the momentum going and you don't have to start wondering what heroes get up to when they're not on adventures.
 
To cut a long story short, the mysterious vase from Book One has through part enigmatic means and Hermes trying to steal it, transported Tim to ancient Greece.
 
Tim keeps his cool and fortuitously his wits about him as he goes on another journey with Hopeless Heroes.
This time however, Hercules takes a backseat in this adventure and it's his daughter Zoe, with the help of a self-involved Theseus that helps Tim to outsmart Hera and retrieve the magic vase.
 
This is another enjoyable tale with such fun personalities, each with attributes that help and sometimes hinder in the quest: Theseus is vain and self-absorbed, Zoe intrepid and resourceful, Perseus skillful and knowledgeable despite his retirement.
 
We and Tim come to the realisation that heroes are not all their cracked up to be, sometimes their reputations don't accurately represent who they really are and when push comes to shove, you've got to try yourself.
 
If you've ever wondered what Medusa's (the Gorgon's) sister was like, are interested in how to successfully escape a maze and would like to know how to best peacocks then this is the book for you.
 
My thanks to Netgalley and Sweet Cherry Publishing for a copy of the book in exchange for a candid review.

 
3 Stars - Liked it

Tim Baker thinks his adventures are over until he hitches a ride to Ancient Greece on a stolen vase. Soon Tim finds himself trapped with an army of peacocks and a hero who can’t stop admiring himself.
Put that mirror down, Theseus!

Thank the gods his new friend Zoe is there to help. Just don’t tell her dad…

Thank you to Sweet Cherry Publishing and NetGalley for this advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

Anything Greek Mythology and you have my attention. This is the 2nd book of the "Hopeless Heroes Series"- Hera’s Terrible Trap. In the first book Tim Baker meets Hercules when he breaks his mother’s antique Greek Vase, which breaks a curse that Hera had Hercules trapped in.

Fast forward, the the 2nd book. After repairing the vase, Tim is guarding it as best he can, but Hermès still manages to come and steal it but Tim jumps to stop him, all the while pulling him up with him back to Ancient Greece. Tim is introduced to Hera, who he makes an escape from, while running, bumps into Hercules. He becomes friends with his daughter Zoe and together they are off to recover the vase if they can, going through a series of events, from being trapped in a maze with Theseus, to hiding in a cave to stay clear of Medusa the famous Gorgon. Head full of snakes, if you look at her you turn to stone, and hopefully find a way for him to get back home. As you read more into the story, we are introduced to more famous Mythological Characters.

I highly recommend this to the younger readers, it was a lot of fun, and I'm definitely excited to read the rest of the Series.

I enjoyed this book, I don't think I could ever tire of mythology featured in children's books. Sometimes they like to over-explain it, but I realize that I'm not the intended audience.

As a Greek mythology fan and as a person who works with kids, this was an amazing find! I can't wait to use it in the classroom, sharing the adventures of Tim Baker is sure going to be fun.

I'll be sure to keep the other Hopeless Heroes books in mind!

We loved it, good story that's not too quickly or easily solved but also not boring for the kids. Will definitely be reading the rest of this series!

Thanks to the publisher for the release of this through NetGalley for review.

This was a very cute middle grade. I think kids would love the stories these books have. They are great teachings also. I highly suggest that parents even read these to their younger children.

I was excited to read the second book in the Hopeless Heroes series, Hera’s Terrible Trap. In the first book Tim meets Hercules when he breaks his mother’s antique Greek Vase, which breaks a curse that had Hercules trapped.
After repairing the vase, Tim is guarding it as best he can, but Hermès still manages to steal it and pulls Tim with it back to Ancient Greece. Tim makes friends with Hercules’ daughter Zoe and together they are off to recover the vase if they can, and hopefully find a way for Tim to get back home.
Along the way they encounter many mythological characters, Stheno, Perseus and Theseus.
This book is just as fun as the first one! I highly recommend it for young readers! Thank you to Sweet Cherry Publishing and NetGalley for this advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.
This will be featured on my blog on Sunday February 10, 2019.
colecampfireblog.com

What a grand, fun, and simply illustrated introduction to Greek mythology. Having gone to school in an era where the classics and the mythology around them were shoved aside, I enjoy seeing them brought back in such a delightful way for kids that gently teaches readers the mythology by using a twist of sci-fi time travel and a moral or two snuck in here and there.

Can't wait to catch up on and read the rest of the series.

This was just as good as the first book in the series. This is a wonderful introduction to Greek mythology for young readers. My daughter loved it.

About: Hera’s Terrible Trap! is a children’s book written by Stella Tarakson and illustrated by Nick Roberts. It was published on 2/22/18 by Sweet Cherry Publishing, 208 pages. The genres are children’s book, mythology, and fiction. This book is intended for readers ages 6 and up. There are 2 books to this series so far: book 1 is called Here Comes Hercules! and book 2 is called Hera’s Terrible Trap!.

My Experience: I started reading Hera’s Terrible Trap as a bedtime story for my 6 years old son on 5/4/18 and we finished it on 5/16/18. My son enjoys Tim Baker’s adventures a lot. He likes that this time Tim stands up to defend himself against the bully, Leo. We both enjoy the humor Thesus provides. He likes to boast about his heroism and his good looks. My son memorizes Theseus’ line by the end of the book, “Hey, we may be trapped, but at least my good looks can cheer us all up.” I like that line too. I like the time travel portion. I like the peacocks.

This book is told in the third person point of view following Timothy (Tim) Baker as he continues to protect the broken ancient vase. A few days ago, (book 1) Tim caught the goddess Hera and her servant Hermes’ attempted to steal the vase. Tim overheard that Hera wanted to bring the vase back to Greece to trap Hercules in it again. These days Tim doesn’t leave the vase out of his sight much. Once again, he removes the cloth covering the vase to check if it’s still there, but Hermes appear out of nowhere and grab onto it. Tim grabs onto the vase to prevent Hermes from stealing but finds himself “swirling through the air at a great speed.” Tim ended up in ancient Greece, at the hometown of Hercules and Hera. Hera then take possession of the vase and Tim barely escapes her wrath. On his run away from Hera, Tim bumps into Hercules and got to meet his family. Zoe, Hercules’ daughter wants to steal the vase back before Hera use it to trap her dad again. Zoe and Tim then sneaks into Hera’s castle’s antechamber to look for the vase but was caught by Hera and without warning, they were sent to a labyrinth. Somewhere along, a hero, the Minotaur Slayer, Theseus came to their rescue. Then they run into Stheno, Medusa’s sister, a monster with snakes on her head with the power to turn whoever looking at her into stone. Tim and Zoe are trapped!

This book is very well written and entertaining to read. A great book for introducing kids Greek mythology, heroes, and Ancient Greece. I like how Theseus seems to be hopeless at rescuing the kids because he couldn’t stop admiring himself and seems to lack the abilities to think up strategies, but then surprise readers in the end. I like the hopeless heroes because they are less intimidating and are fun to be around. I like that Tim is smart to think up strategies. I like reading the adventures with the snake hair monster. This book’s hero is Theseus, but my son likes that Hercules and the bully Leo are brought back, especially Leo because it teaches him to deal with bullies. This story is an excellent read and I highly recommend everyone to read the series.

Pro: fast paced, page turner, time travel, ancient Greece, mythology, humor, actions & adventures

(Side Note: I actually learned from this book that the publishers called Minotaur and Pegasus have both taken their name from Greek mythology! haha.. Definitely read more to learn more, and don’t need to read a non-fiction book to learn new knowledge haha..)

Con: none

I rate it 5 stars!

***Disclaimer: Many thanks to the author Stella Tarakson, publisher Sweet Cherry Publishing, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review. Please be assured that my opinions are honest.

xoxo,
Jasmine at www.howusefulitis.wordpress.com for more details

This is a great story for the lower end of MG readers. This is the second book starring young Tim Baker, who has accidentally released Hercules from imprisonment in a vase, thus earning the anger of the goddess Hera. This tale follows Tim as he finds himself on Olympus and with a lot of help from Zoe (Hercules' daughter) attempts to retrieve the jar, which he needs to return home. A brilliant look at Greek Myths and a truly funny read for younger readers.

Hopeless Heroes is a great little story with full of adventure and humour. Think Who Let the Gods out for younger readers.

We first met Tim Baker when he accidentally broke an antique Greek vase while dusting to help his mother, who struggled to work two jobs to support herself and her son, in Here Comes Hercules!, the first book in the Hopeless Heroes series.

Hercules had been trapped inside the vase by his evil stepmother Hera, and upon his release Hercules decides to ‘help’ Tim complete his chores. Hercules’ brand of help tends to end in disaster and ruins the garden in the process.

With Hercules safely returned to Ancient Greece, Hera’s Terrible Trap! begins at the outdoor garden centre with Tim and his mother shopping for plants to replace those Hercules destroyed while ‘helping’ in the first book.

Tim has taken it upon himself to protect the newly mended vase. Evil Hera and her servant Hermes have already attempted to steal the vase to recapture Hercules so Tim is on guard. Despite Tim’s best efforts Hermes manages to steal the vase, along with a stowaway. Tim grabbed hold of the vase as Hermes made his escape and is now stuck in Ancient Greece.

In this book Tim reunites with Hercules and meets his wife Agatha and daughter Zoe. Against overprotective Dad’s wishes Zoe decides to steal the vase from Hera so she can’t use it to recapture Hercules. Unable to talk this determined little miss out of her plan Tim follows Zoe and the kids wind up on an adventure.

Together they come across other mythological figures including vain Theseus (who Zoe, despite how smart she is, hero worships), one of Medusa’s sisters Stheno and Zoe’s Grandpa Perseus. Along the way they encounter a labyrinth, weaponised fruit and guard peacocks! Yet even if they make it out of their adventure alive Tim has no idea if he will ever find a way to return home to present day England, where his Mum is no doubt frantic that her son is missing.

In this book we get a glimpse at one of Leo the bully’s family members and it becomes clearer why Leo is a bully in the first place, which I liked and look forward to getting to know him better in future books. I wasn’t, however, a fan of Tim getting back at Leo for tripping him by then tripping Leo. During this scene I heard my dreaded adult voice chiding Tim for his actions. Thankfully my adult voice shut up for the rest of the book.

Whereas the first book obviously needed more time to set up of the story and mythology, there was more action and adventure in the sequel. I did find the first book funnier although that’s probably more a reflection of how much fun I found Hercules’ bumbling attempts to help Tim to be. I thought that Zoe, being a strong and independent girl, would have been somewhat immune to Theseus’ alleged charms. It turns out that even smart girls can become groupies to doofus types.

Overall I enjoyed the sequel more than the first book and plan to continue reading this series. If you haven’t read the first book you could get away with starting the series with this one as it begins with a recap of the first, but to get the most out of it I’d recommend you read them in order.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Sweet Cherry Publishing for the opportunity to read this book. I’ll be looking out for Tim’s next adventure in Arachne’s Golden Gloves!

My eight year old daughter loved this book. She learned a lot about Greek mythology from it. It's well-written and engaging and she's already asking if there are other titles in the series.

I love history and literature! Combine them both into a fun children's book and you have a great combination!

A Fun Modern Adventure With Greek Myth Heroes

The first book in this series came out about a year ago titled "Tim Baker and the Ancient Curse", as part of a new series - "Gormless Gods and Hapless Heroes". It's been reissued as "Here Comes Hercules!", and the series is now to be called just "Hopeless Heroes". That's just fine by me because the first book was a fun and exciting adventure and I'm happy to see it getting a second life. And now we already have this second book, "Hera's Terrible Trap", and a third book, "Arachne's Golden Gloves" on the way.

It would probably be a good idea to start with the first book. In that one we meet Tim Baker and his Mom, set up the background to the tale, break a vase that releases Hercules from a trap that was set by Hera, and have a rousing adventure with poor dim Hercules, set in modern times. We come to know and like Tim and become rather fond of Hercules, who comes across as a well-intentioned but slightly goofy character.

This second book picks up where the first left off. Tim is bored and lonely at home and Hercules is back in ancient Athens. Tim ends up being transported to ancient Athens and his adventure involves mostly Tim and Hercules' daughter Zoe, with cameos by Hera, Theseus, a gorgon, and some other familiar figures. The plot revolves around keeping Hera from re-trapping good-natured and slightly gullible Hercules. If there's a problem with the second book, it's only that the author sort of assumes that the reader knows Tim, is familiar with the first book, and already has a grasp of the underlying premise. An effort is made to bring in new readers, but it really all works much better if you've read Book One.

In any event, Tim remains a clever, good-hearted and engaging kid. Zoe is a bit of a spark plug with some ancient Greek girrrrl power and she serves quite nicely as an appealing and fully realized second main character. Lively drawings add some extra personality and highlight the action. The adventure itself involves lurking, sneaking, escaping, finding one's way in a maze, and gorgon outsmarting, so there's plenty of action. The dialogue is fairly sharp, and there are a few sly or edgy lines to keep things a bit jazzy and pointed. This doesn't seem to be intended to teach a lot of Greek mythology; it's built more about borrowing Greek characters and introducing their stories to add color and interest to the festivities. Given that this seems aimed at a younger reader that struck me as a fine way to go.

The upshot was that this was fun and snappy, with an agreeable angle and engaging characters. I thought it to be an entertaining and nicely crafted find.

(Please note that I received a free advance ecopy of this book without a review requirement, or any influence regarding review content should I choose to post a review. Apart from that I have no connection at all to either the author or the publisher of this book.)

Tim is having another bad day. This time he is dragged to the garden centre by his mother, in order to buy some plants to replace those burned by Hercules. The ghastly Leo is there, and Tim feels that life is unlikely to improve, now that Hercules has left, and he is once again pretty much friendless, and definitely defenceless.
Back at home, he is just in time to catch Hermes trying to fly off with the ancient vase that had kept Hercules imprisoned. Quick thinking on Tim’s part, enables him to grab hold of the vase – but instead of keeping it in his bedroom, both Tim and the vase are transported to Ancient Greece. The upside of this, is that he gets to see Hercules again – and to meet Hercules intelligent and adventurous daughter, Zoe. The downside is, that Ancient Greece also contains the terrible Hera and her vicious peacocks.
Tim and Zoe have to get back the vase before Hera can use it to trap Hercules again. They are (sort of) helped out by two great Greek heroes – Theseus and Perseus – and discover that the vase is much more important than anyone had previously thought.
As with “Here comes Hercules”, this book is a great introduction to Greek myths and legends. The illustrations of all the Greeks, as they strike their poses, could have been copied directly from ancient Greek vases. Only Tim, and the people of modern times are drawn ‘normally’.
I loved the way in which ancient myths and heroes were woven into this story. And particularly liked the portrayal of the hero Theseus as a vain pop-star type, followed by myriads of adoring female fans.
I can recommend this book to children of all ages, and am really looking forward to the next ancient Greek instalment.