The Celts

See Through History

by Hazel Mary Martell, Various (Illustrator)

A history of the ancient Celtic civilization, its rich culture, and its people includes see-through plastic overlays that reveal the inside of a tribesman's homestead, a noblewoman's and a prince's tombs, a broch tower, and a Celtic Christian monastery

Genres: History, Nonfiction

48 pages, Hardcover

First published January 15, 1990

About the author

See: Hazel Martell

Reviews

[Amalie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is one of the See Through History series intended for children as introductions to children about different Cultures and Civilizations.

I love to read about the Celts because we know very little about them. The modern world learned about them through the writings of other cultures who fought and traded with them and most of these writers were biased. Romans historians had written them as barbarians.

Since the Celts didn't have a written language, the truth about them is only discovered through excavations. This book provides detailed illustrations and information about the long history of the Celts in a nicely organised manner.

[Pamela Powell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic book to introduce historic people groups to elementary students. Wonderful illustrations, including "see-through" pages to see inside buildings. Even though the book was published in 1994, it is still valid today.

[Jbondandrews · Rating 2 out of 5]

While the illustrations were interesting, Hazel M Martell did perpetuate some of the stereotypes that the Romans and Greeks had about the Celts. More fond of war and drink than much else. Didn't sail much and very few roads. All of which have been proven false.

[Tanner Mendelson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This picture book does a pretty good job of answering the important questions when a social studies teacher is covering the Celts. This picture book uses color photographs and detailed illustrations of archaeological objects so that the students can ask questions and draw their own conclusions from the evidence. Some of the questions the book covers are the following: Who are the Celts? Did the Celts go shopping? Who ruled the Celts? Did the Celts write books? What happened to the Celts? And Did the Celts have an army?

[Sara Kirby]

This book has some decent information about the key points of Celtic history, but it fails to put most of that information into context. Many of the statements are extremely general and do not specify when or where the statement is relevant. The term "Celt" applies to many different civilizations across most of Europe over thousands of years. The myths included are extremely condensed and pretty badly paraphrased. It's a good reference for a casual glance at European history, but it's not a very reliable source for information.

[Ledys · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved the concept of this book: you would find a Celtic legend told on one spread, followed by another spread that had factual information about Celtic life and times related to the preceding story. Topics discussed were Celtic geography, trading and commerce, religion and funeral rites, art and crafts, food, social organization. It was a fascinating glimpse into Celtic history.

[Jill · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was a follow-up to a history lesson about Julius Caesar's encounter with the Celts. It asks questions I hadn't thought to wonder about and them answers them using text and pictures of artifacts. My seven-year-old and I enjoyed the tea without feeling overwhelmed with too many details.

[Michelle · Rating 2 out of 5]

I expected more myths that weren't so biased towards Christianity. I wanted celtic myth, not biased Christian myth mixed up with Celtic Myth. Even the book says that there aren't a lot of celtic writings because most of them are biased by christians. I found it to be disappointing.

[Kathleen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great kids books.

[Kimberlee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really great, informational childrens book.