Children's Books discussion

Odyssey part of the Usborne series is good.

For older children, I suggest Gods and Heroes of Ancient Greece (with a caveat that I have only read this in the German original, so I have no idea how the translation works).

I would tend to recommend this book for children above the age of twelve, although I was nine or ten when I read the German original Die schönsten Sagen des klassischen Altertums. However, some of the themes covered and mentioned in the book are rather heavy, the author does mention clearly that Agamemnon was stabbed by his wife, and that Iphigenia was sacrificed to the gods etc. It is a wonderful book of myths and legends though, for both older children and anyone interested in classical mythology.

Chandra,

That is a great and very comprehensive list. A few on there are new to me but we will check them out. One thought is that if you're looking for an historical overview you might check out:

The Story of the World: History for the Classical Child: Volume 1: Ancient Times: From the Earliest Nomads to the Last Roman Emperor, Revised Edition (Story ... History for the Classical Child

It's a pretty basic overview of the history in case you're looking for something like that.

Atalanta's Race: A Greek Myth if you want to add another female story.

For teens - - A retelling of the story of the Trojan War illustrated with collages featuring newspaper clippings of modern events from World War I through the War on Terrorism.

Chandra -
I happened to find this book called "The Beautiful Stories of Life: Six Greek Myths, Retold" by Cynthia Rylant (ill. Carson Ellis) yesterday. I was at the library getting some of her other chapter books and saw this one shelved near. I am really not up on my greek myths so I don't know how her stories compare - but they seem pretty decent from a glance. If you are still looking for any of these stories - you might check this out. The stories are of Pandora, Persephone, Orpheus, Pygmalion, Narcissus, and Psyche.
The Beautiful Stories of Life: Six Greeks Myths, Retold

When you're dealing with Ancient Greece you either can focus on the myths (gods) or actual Greek history. For history, The Book of the Ancient Greeks by Dorothy Mills is excellent and written in a very engaging manner. It gave me an interest in Greek history that I never had before!

Chandra wrote: "Okay, so I've compiled a pretty good list of books on this topic.

Trojan War:

Early reader: The Trojan Horse: How the Greeks Won the War

Older readers: Black Ships Be..." ...

Chandra, your list includes many great titles. For ages 10 to 14, I would add the fascinating novel-length retellings of Greek myths by author:Geraldine McCaughrean|1631]. She wrote Hercules, Perseus, Odysseus and Theseus.
Another great read-aloud is Hugh Lupton's The Adventures of Odysseus, which is available with or without the CD with him reading the exciting chapters aloud.