Ancient Greece: Books to accompany your Ancient Greece Unit

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Studying Ancient Greece was a big hit with many of my students. Ancient Greece has so many great topics: gods and mythical creatures, democracy, interesting food, the philosophers and more.  But part of the enthusiasm, I think, also came from some great books that were on hand around the classroom. Here's some of our favorites:

 D'Aulaire's Book of Greek Mythology:  this is hands down the best book of Greek myths I have encountered. The stories are rich in detail and the illustrations are simple but lovely. Plus there's a good family tree at the front that keeps it all in perspective.
The Stickman Odyssey. This is a two part book set that uses stick figure graphics to tell the story of The Odyssey.  While not completely accurate, it is engaging and the students loved it.






The Odyssey (children's version). For students who are not quite ready for the language of the original Odyssey, this is a decent retelling.  
The Adventures of Odysseus and the Tale of Troy also shares the stories well.








In the You wouldn't want to series there are two books: 

You Wouldn't Want to Be a Greek Athlete!: Races You'd Rather Not Run  and You Wouldn't Want to Be a Slave in Ancient Greece!.  This nonfiction series finds the humor in social studies and science topics and are a great in for students.


If you can get your hands on the Groovy Greeks was quite possibly my students' favorite.  My students love the obscure facts and connections all told with humor

 If incorporating vocabulary, grab a Greek roots vocabulary book.  I love Wordkin, but it is out of print now.  Just for fun,  I pulled out a few roots and had a word detective activity to connect Greek roots with modern English words. Of course who doesn't like to play detective? Great for those higher order thinking skills.

 Have other Ancient Greece book ideas?  Please share them in the comments below.  We can all benefit from each other's knowledge.

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