Would you mind sharing your favorite Ancients books for 1st/2nd grade?

[Dawn E]

My history plans are tentative as I have not yet settled on a spine, but we will either be using MOH 1, SOTW 1, Our Young Folks' Josephus or a mixture thereof.

What were your favorite additional books while studying Ancients? Are there any that could be used for independent reading for a child just starting chapter books?

Thanks so much for sharing.

[stephanie]

My history plans are tentative as I have not yet settled on a spine, but we will either be using MOH 1, SOTW 1, Our Young Folks' Josephus or a mixture thereof.

What were your favorite additional books while studying Ancients? Are there any that could be used for independent reading for a child just starting chapter books?

Thanks so much for sharing.

If you go to Sonlight's webpage they have a list of their read-alouds that you could check out at the library. We are doing ancients right now with SL and it's nice to have some books to read. Right now we are reading Usborne Greek myths and Little Pear. For their fun reading I let them pick from our book basket that has books off the Ambleside Online list. HTH a bit.

[Closeacademy]

We loved the book by Aliki on the Gods and Goddess of Ancient Greece. We probably checked it out 4 or 5 times during the semester we studied Greece.

[attachedto4]

My kids like this series they sell at Barnes and Noble called 100 Things You Should Know About... There is one on Ancient Rome.

Another fun series is Tales of the Dead; there is a book on Ancient Egypt, Ancient China, Ancient Rome, and Ancient Greece.

[mcconnellboys]

Here are some we liked at that age. They are basically in order by the topic chapters in SOTW I. Many, many of them are picture books and so you can easily pick and choose those that your children will read themselves vs. those you will read:


Me and My Family Tree, Sweeney
Archaeologists Dig for Clues, Duke
The Magic School Bus Shows and Tells, Posner
I can be an Archaeologist, Pickering
It’s Disgusting and We Ate It! Solheim
How People First Lived, Jaspersohn
Mik’s Mammoth, Gerrard
One Small Bead, Baylor
The First Dog, Brett
Who Were the First People?
Living in Prehistoric Times
The Golden Sandal, Hickox
The Three Princes: A Tale from the Middle East, Kimmel
Arabian Nights: Three Tales, Lattimore
Seeker of Knowledge: The Man Who Deciphered Egyptian Hieroglyphs, Rumford
Flash, Old Dog of Egypt
Growing up in Ancient Egypt
The Nile River, Meister
Egyptian Myths, Morley
Growing up in Ancient Egypt, David
Ancient Egypt (Ms. Frizzle’s Adventures), Cole
Look What Came From Egypt
Secrets of the Mummies
Mummies Made in Egypt, Aliki
Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Egypt
I am the Mummy Heb-Nefert, Bunting
Look Inside: An Egyptian Tomb, Moses
Macaulay Pyramid Video
Kids Discover: Pyramids
Theseus and the Minotaur, Hutton
Greek Myths, McCaughrean (on tape)
Atlantis: The Legend of a Lost City, Balit
Rama and the Demon King
Monkey Bridge
Just So Stories, Kipling
Jataka Tales, Kipling
Gilgamesh books, Zeman
The Rules, Marty Kelley
The Tale of Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves, Kimmel
Abu Ali: Three Tales of the Middle East, Van Woerkom
Hathepsut, His Majesty Herself
Hatshepsut and Ancient Egypt
Mystery of King Karfu
World in the Time of Tut
Tut’s Mummy, Lost and Found
Science in Ancient Egypt
The Prince Who Knew His Fate
Nefertari
Tutankamun: The Life and Death of the Pharaoh
Tut, Tut
Egypt, the Culture, Bobbie Kalman
Cat Mummies
Seeker of Knowledge
Remains to be Seen: Exploring Ancient Egypt
Mysterious People From Greece
Black Ships Before Troy
Trojan Horse
Myths and Civilization of Ancient Greeks
In Search of Ancient Troy
Pegasus, the Flying Horse
Fiona Macdonald has several titles available on Greece, as does John Malam
The Trojan Horse: How the Greeks Won the War, Little
The Trojan Horse, Hutton
Trojan Horse: The World’s Greatest Adventure, DK reader
Greek Gods and Goddesses, McCaughrean
The Robber Baby: Stories from Greek Myths, Rockwell
Hercules, Burleigh
Medusa, Lattimore
Max and Ruby’s First Greek Myth: Pandora’s Box, Wells
Max and Ruby’s Midas: Another Greek Myth, Wells
The Illustrated Book of Myths: Tales and Legends of the World, Philip
Dance, Sing Remember: A Celebration of Jewish Holidays
Moses in Egypt w/tape, Rabbit Ears Productions
Exodus from Egypt, Auld
Moses in the Bulrushes
Story of King Saul and King David
Exodus, Wildsmith
When Solomon was King
King Solomon and his Magic Ring
Israel (Countries of the World), Fisher
Eyewitness: Bible Lands
Moses, Fisher
The Passover Journey: A Seder Companion, Goldin
Exodus, Chaikin
The Seven Voyages of Sinbad the Sailor, Yeoman
DK’s Great Wonders of the Ancient World
The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, Cox and Morris
Cobblestone: Stonehenge
They Lived Like this in Ancient Britain
Growing up in Ancient China
They Lived Like This in Ancient China
Ancient China Treasure Chest
Ancient China, J. Simpson
Maples in the Mist
The Story About Ping, Flack
Tikki Tikki Tembo, Mosel
Books on the orient by Demi
Opossum and the Great Firemaker
Nature Company Native Americans
Take a Trip to India
Tiger and the Brahim
Blue Jackal
Seven Blind Mice
Magic Cooking Pot
Gifts of the Wali Dad
Continue with mythology from earlier, i.e., D’Aulaire, etc.
Tales of Ancient Persia
The Wanderings of Odysseus, Sutcliff
The First Olympic Games, Richards
I Wonder Why Greeks Built Temples and Other Questions About Ancient Greece, McDonald
Count Your Way through Greece, Haskins
The Original Olympics, Ross
She and He Adventures in Mythology, Weiss (audio)
Galileo and the Stargazers, Weiss (audio)
Flower of Sheba
The Story of Esther
Queen Esther, Morning Star
Queen Esther Saves Her People
The Persian Empire, Zinert
The Persian Empire: World History Series, Nardo
Esther’s Story, Wolkstein
The Legend of the Persian Carpet
The Persian Cinderella
The Red Lion: A Tale of Ancient Persia
Hannibal and His 37 Elephants
Hannibal vs. Rome
Battle of Zama
Battle of Marathon
Odyssey, McCaughrean
Olympians, Fisher
Pomegranate Seeds, Geringer
DK Eyewitness Ancient Greece
Paper through the Ages, Cosner
Continue D’Aulaire
Mr. Semolina-Semolinus: A Greek Folktale
Bright-eyed Athena
The Greek Hoplite
The X-ray Picture Book of Big Buildings of the Ancient World
The Aesop for Children, Winter
Cupid and Psyche, Craft
Apollo and Daphne, Barber
Buried City of Pompeii
Golden Days of Greece
Pompeii: Buried Alive
This is Greece
Alexander the Great and Ancient Greece
The Great Alexander the Great
Perseus, Hutton
Greek Myths, McCaughrean
Alexander the Great: The Greatest Ruler of the Ancient World
Alexander the Great: The Legend of a Warrior King
Archimedes Takes a Bath
Ancient Greece Treasure Chest
Aesop’s Fables
Eratosthenes: The Librarian who Measured the Earth
Science in Ancient Greece
Aristotle and Scientific Thought
Long is a Dragon
Ancient China, Williams
Growing up in Ancient China
The Incredible Story of China’s Buried Warriors
The Magic Tapestry: A Chinese Folktale
Ten Suns: A Chinese Legend
The Dragon Prince
The Ch’I-Lin Purse
The Great Wall of China, Mann (also one by Fisher)
Science in Ancient China
Seven Chinese Brothers
Ballad of Mulan (not the Disney version)
The Empty Pot
Exploration into China
Long-haired Girl
Lon Po Po
Growing up in Aztec Times
You Wouldn’t Want to be an Aztec Sacrifice!
Anasazi, Fisher
Who Were the First North Americans?
The Two Mountains: An Aztec Legend
Jabuti the Tortoise
Thirteen Moons on Turtle’s Back
Dancing Drum: A Cherokee Legend
Ka-Ha-Si and the Loon: An Eskimo Legend
Technology in the Time of the Maya
Why there is no Arguing in Heaven
Why Spider Spins Tales
The Hunterman and the Crocodile
Anansi, w/ tape, Rabbit Ears Productions
Misoso: Once Upon a Time Tales from Africa
Zomo the Rabbit
Too Much Talk
Rhinos for Lunch and Elephants for Supper!
Exploration into Africa
Anansi’s Feast
Anansi and the Moss-covered Rock
Golden Deer
The King’s Drum and Other Stories, Courlander
The Prince Who Ran Away
The Prince Who Became a Beggar
The Cat who Went to Heaven
Our Most Dear Friend
One Grain of Rice
Fat Gopal
The Sacred River
Buddha, Demi
Prince Siddhartha: The Story of Buddha
My Friend’s Beliefs: A Young Readers Guide to World Religions
World Religions, The Great Faiths Annotated and Explained
India, Countries of the World, Dahl
Buddha Stories, Demi
The Ringdoves
What do we Know About the Celts?
Names Upon the Harp
Myths and Civilization of the Ancient Celts
English Fairy Tales, Steel
The Celts, Martell
Myths and Civilization of the Ancient Romans
Gladiator, Watkins
The Roman Colosseum, Mann
City: A Story of Roman Planning and Construction
Roman Roads and Aqueducts
The Roman Colosseum, Nardo
Classic Myths to Read Aloud, Russell
Androcles and the Lion, Nolan
The Roman Twins, Gerrard
Asterix the Gladiator
See You Later, Gladiator (Time Warp Trio)
Gladiators’ Treasure Chest
Detectives in Togas
Living in Roman Times
Science in Ancient Rome
The Story of Clocks and Calendars: Marking a Millennium
The Roman Army, Wilkes
A Roman Fort, Macdonald
The Romans, Hicks
Roman Numerals I to MM
Cleopatra, Stanley
“Julius Caesar” from Tales from Shakespeare, Williams
Shakespeare Stories II, Garfield
Cleopatra: The Queen of Dreams
Rome Antics
The Parables of Jesus, dePaola
The Miracles of Jesus, dePaola
Behold the Trees
Israel in Pictures, Feinstein
Jason’s Miracle
Shabbat, Nerlove
Journeys with Elijah, Diamond
Miriam’s Cup, Manushkin
I Wonder Why Romans Wore Togas?
What Do We Know About the Romans?
Ancient Rome Treasure Chest
Pompeii…Buried Alive
Heroes, Gods, and Emperors from Roman Mythology
Mystery of the Roman Ransom
Ancient Rome, Simpson
Celtic Fairy Tales, Jacobs
Bronze Bow
Aeneid
Jesus, Dickens
Wendy Becket’s Book of Saints
Jesus’ Special Friends, the 12 Apostles
A Pirate’s Life for Me, Thompson
The Legionary
The Rotten Romans
Science in Ancient Rome
Ancient Japanese, Odjik
Sho and the Demon of the Deep
Spring: A Haiku Story
Exploration into Japan
The Biggest Frog in Australia
Exploration into Australia
Wandering Girl
The Flying Emu and other Australian Stories
The Giant Devil Dingo
Tales Told to Kabbarli: Aboriginal Legends
Rainbowbird: An Aboriginal Folktale
Rainbow Serpent
Waltzing Matilda
The Woman on the Moon
Kon-Tiki

Hope you find some here you can use,

Regena

[siloam]

My history plans are tentative as I have not yet settled on a spine, but we will either be using MOH 1, SOTW 1, Our Young Folks' Josephus or a mixture thereof.

What were your favorite additional books while studying Ancients? Are there any that could be used for independent reading for a child just starting chapter books?

Thanks so much for sharing.

Time Traver is fun, and I like the Usborne readers on Egypt...now I can't remember if they have a Rome and Greece, but if they do I like their early readers, even if only used as RA's because they are so colorful.

Oh and don't forget Roman Ransom and Detectives in Togas, those are funny!

Heather

[Dawn E]

and a big shout-out to Regena for that HUGE list! :D Thank you, thank you, thank you. I look forward to looking into everyone's suggestions.

[Audrey]

My history plans are tentative as I have not yet settled on a spine, but we will either be using MOH 1, SOTW 1, Our Young Folks' Josephus or a mixture thereof.

What were your favorite additional books while studying Ancients? Are there any that could be used for independent reading for a child just starting chapter books?

Thanks so much for sharing.

My ds's fave was the Usborne Greek Myths. I read it to him a lot, and when he was more confident, he was reading it on his own. It's still in his bedroom on the bookshelf and he re-reads those stories often.

[chiguirre]

Thanks, Regena! That's a great list.

[momtolgd]

I know this post is old, but it is really helpful to me right now in trying to make a list of books for this year so I thought I'd bump it up in case anyone else could use it.

:D

[nestof3]

I used SOTW Vol. 1 when my boys were 1st and 2nd. The books I used are listed on my blog.

[ElisabethGrace]

Thanks momtolgd for bumping this up!

Thanks to Regena and Dawn for sharing their resource lists & to everyone else who listed their favorites!

Very helpful!

[Another Lynn]

Well, I haven't used it yet, but I just got Christine Miller's new Story of the Ancient World to use with two of mine this school year. It focuses on the Israelites and the O.T. and ends with the fall of Persia to Alexander the Great. (He is covered only in this context and is *really* covered in Story of Greece.) We will use other books to help us cover Egypt and other civilizations as much as we want. (Actually I'm going to refer quite a bit to CCH's 1st grade Ancient History plan.)

[SnowWhite]

This is great! Thanks for sharing, Regena.