Parthenon

by Lynn Curlee

The Parthenon. It was ravaged by the early Christians, occupied by the Turks, and looted by the British. Wars were fought all around it. Plato and Socrates, Phidias and Pericles contemplated philosophy, art, drama, and democracy on its steps. And today its proud, ruined columns stand high above the city of Athens, Greece, the last sentinels of what's often considered to be the most important architectural achievement in the world. The Parthenon is without rival in regard to its beauty, purity of design, and tumultuous history. It grew out of war and strife, political uprisings and financial difficulties, and remains a symbol of what humanity -- at its very best -- is capable of accomplishing.
Lynn Curlee, who won a Robert F. Sibert Informational Honor Book award for Brooklyn Bridge, explores the tremendous history behind one of the most recognizable buildings in the world, the Parthenon.

Genres: History

40 pages, Hardcover

First published July 6, 2004

Reviews

[Sarah Fitzsimmons · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Parthenon is a good book! It goes into detail about how the Parthenon was built and why. It talks about the culture and mythology that were prevalent during the prime of the Parthenon's days.
This book was ok. It was very wordy. More wordy then I liked. The illustrations were good though!!!
I definitely want a book about the Parthenon in my classroom, but not this version. My students would find it extremely boring as I did.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a great book to read with my 1st grader about the Parthenon. It’s a long-ish picture book so we just read a couple of pages a day so that he didn’t get too bogged down by it. The vocabulary is fairly advanced, so we sometimes stopped so I could clarify what what’s being said or define a word, but it was not too much him to grasp with help. I learned some new things as well! And he is now very excited for our visit to the replica of the Parthenon in Nashville, TN!

[Marie Summers · Rating 3 out of 5]

As one looking forward to visiting Athens, I found this very interesting. It has a very mature vocabulary and is not appropriate for early elementary children. The illustrations are wonderful.

[Claire Binkley · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought this book had useful information worth possibly coming back to review when I have more time to consider it.

I seem to harbour a stray interest in building construction (especially considering what I had been thinking when reading the first or maybe second of Caro's Lyndon Johnson series - um, The Path to Power or Means of Ascent), besides of course ancient Grecian history, which has treated me semi-well.

So I'm glad that I decided to pick this book off the shelf when I was putting things on the one across from it this morning!

[Jeanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't think I've ever come across a children's book with so much information in it, especially on a historical site. Saying that though, I don't think this would be a good read for younger children as there is a lot of information to process. The illustrations were rather lovely as well.