First Facts about the Ancient Greeks

School Library Journal

Gr 4-6Factoid books like these seem to serve a good purposeto introduce children to a certain subject without intimidating them with a lot of text. The "Eyewitness Books" series seems to have this approach down to a science while others merely imitate it. These two books fail miserably. In Ancient Greeks, chapter titles, presented as "Facts," are superficial: "Married Women Stayed Home," "Greek Clothes Needed No Sewing." One caption reads, "Athletes Raced in the Nude," apparently to grab attention for the information about the Olympic games. Middle Ages offers nothing more worthwhile. "Monks Went to Church in the Middle of the Night" precedes information about churches and religious life. "Fact" chapters include "Peasants Were Dirty," "Armor Was Expensive," and "The Plague Killed Millions of People." The illustrations do not offer any points of praise either. The expressions on some of the people's faces are strange, while others are too blurry to discern. The overall writing style is choppy and unimaginative. With so many better books on the market, these titles are unnecessary at best.Carol Fazioli, Cardinal Hayes Library, Manhattan College, NY