Religion and the Gods

Children's Literature

Part of "The World of Ancient Greece" series, Robert Hull's book presents a useful overview of the religion and gods of an ancient people. Creating a book to help younger children understand such a varied part of an ancient culture is not an easy task. Yet, Mr. Hull, using easy to understand language and a tremendous number of images is able to capture the spirit of this different belief system. The arrangement of the book is useful and lends itself to the classroom. The presentation of the various gods is done in their respective areas such as Earth, Home, City, etc. Moving on Hull explains the temples, customs, rituals, festivals and celebrations ending in games. Including the games give the classroom a good connecting point with students because of the information regarding the Olympic games and their origin. The format of the book is small informative paragraphs intermingled with numerous images of artifacts and the Greek countryside. This is an excellent addition to any elementary classroom library. 1999, Franklin Watts, and $6.95. Ages 6 to 12. Reviewer: John D. Orsborn