History News: The Greek News - Softcover

Powell, Anton; Steele, Philip

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0763641979 ISBN 13: 9780763641979

Publisher: Candlewick, 2009

Synopsis

"These entertaining, deftly organized books will make terrific light-hearted additions to curriculum units on ancient civilizations." — Publishers Weekly

Stop the presses! What if ancient civilizations had daily newspapers? And they were amusing and compellingly informative? They might just look like this innovative series of historical nonfiction, presented in a unique, kid-friendly format. 

Read all About it! In The Greek News life in ancient Greece is presented in the form of a daily newspaper written at the time. As accessible as your morning paper. The Greek News will give young readers the unforgettable sense of actually being a citizen of an ancient nation.

Back matter includes a time line, an index, and an explanation of Roman and Greek spellings.

About this title

About the Author

Anton Powell is a leading author of books on the ancient Greeks for young readers. "Building glistening temples or warring with Sparta was not always 'ancient history.' It was once breaking news—and that is how it is told in THE GREEK NEWS."

From School Library Journal

Grade 5 Up. Browsable reads to whet the appetite. The "editors" (authors) of these two volumes have hit upon a unifying theme to chronicle the accomplishments of the ancients?a newspaper style. The Roman News and The Greek News are not exactly major city dailies; their format is more suggestive of a news magazine or at least a Sunday section highlighting fashion, sports, trade, food, and the military. Each page presents readable articles complete with headlines, boldface, column breaks, illustrations, and, often classifieds: instruments for sale; racing chariots built to order; reusable wax tablets. The front page (book cover) suggests a scope of approximately 1200 years, and the rise and fall of each empire is explained. A publisher's disclaimer also cautions that the ancients did not have newspapers (of course, they didn't even have paper!), but if they had, "they would have been reading...." Similar comments dart in and out of the news stories so that the entire tone is more human interest than ready reference. Such editorializing, however, only slightly distracts from the facts, which are accurate. Significant dates and events are all newsworthy. "Olympic Games Spoiled," "Caesar Stabbed," and "Hannibal Invades" are typical stories. The slightly oversized pages with decorative borders, sidebars, ads, and cartoons create an interesting layout. Many teachers would probably rejoice with the delivery of The Greek or Roman News as a project for a social-studies or whole-language unit. Kids can adopt this highly readable, albeit slightly sensationalized journalistic style. All in all, serviceable reporting.?Harriett Fargnoli, Great Neck Library, NY
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Candlewick
• Publication date: 2009
• ISBN 10: 0763641979
• ISBN 13: 9780763641979
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 32
• Illustrator: Various