Adventures in Ancient Greece (Good Times Travel Agency) [Hardcover]

Linda Bailey (Author), Bill Slavin (Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 8 and up | Series: Good Times Travel Agency

Join the Binkertons -- twins Josh and Emma and their little sister Libby -- as they head to the Good Times Travel Agency hoping to visit the next Olympic Games, but end up in Ancient Greece instead! Adventures in Ancient Greece is an exciting mix of adventure and historical information about life in Greece in the fifth century BC. Kids will learn about the Greek gods, the birth of democracy, Greek home life -- and much more. They'll love the book's contemporary comic-book look, while parents, teachers and librarians will admire the well-researched story line and solid factual information.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Gr. 3-5. One in a series of Good Times Travel Agency cartoon-style peeks at ancient cultures, this humorously illustrated picture book takes kids on a brief trip to Greece at the time of the inception of the Olympic Games. The story line is cursory; it's the text at the bottom of each page that provides the important details about daily life, the role of women, how democracy worked in its founding society, the structure of Greek warships, and so on. The adventure aspect of the book is well pitched for the intended audience, but there is some needless editorializing, including the presumption that kids will find philosophy an inherently boring topic. Page layouts are effective, and the cartoon panels are handsomely painted, making this an inviting book to browse and a likely candidate for casual readers to consume willingly. Francisca Goldsmith
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review

Page layouts are effective, and the cartoon panels are handsomely painted, making this an inviting book to browse and a likely candidate for casual readers to consume willingly. (Booklist )

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 8 and up
  
• Hardcover: 48 pages
• Publisher: Kids Can Press (August 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1550745344
• ISBN-13: 978-1550745344
• Product Dimensions: 11.3 x 8.7 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,211,497 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Comic book style, a bit of sarcasm, son loved it, February 25, 2004

By 

christinemm - The Thinking Mother (Houston Texas USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Adventures in Ancient Greece (Good Times Travel Agency) (Hardcover)

Another homeschooler recommended this book to us as one book to read for our study of Ancient Greece. When my 6 year-old son saw the cover he begged for me to read it immediately. He loved the book and is asking if there are others available (which there are because this is one in a series).

We had just finished "Growing up in Ancient Greece" by Chris Chelipi which I thought was a bit boring. "Adventures in Ancient Greece" duplicated the same information and included additional information. So if you are wondering if this comic book style book (less serious tone) is lacking in content, I can assure you that it is not.

The format of the book is comic book style with sidebars that read more like a regular text. The storyline is that a boy and his two sisters enter a time travel-travel agency and request to go to the next Olympic games in the future. By mistake they are transported to Ancient Greece. A boy gives them a tour of Athens and explains daily life in Ancient Greece. They experience daily living such as the role of women, slaves, and foreign visitors vs. men, voting, worship, parties, and common foods eaten. They also find themselves in the middle of a war that is called to a truce before casualties occur, at the Olympics, and finally on a warship that is engaged in a war before coming back home, magically. There is some sarcasm and some silliness. Some of the sarcasm borders on disrespect, such as when the boy gives them olives to eat, and proclaims they are the best in the world and the boy thinks, "this is a treat?" The girl is annoyed that women lead subservient lives and makes some sarcastic comments. I chose to skip over some of the silly and sarcastic comments. In the end I know my son learned important content from this book, which is the goal!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A fun way to learn history, December 29, 2008

By 

Leslie S. (New Hampshire) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Adventures in Ancient Greece (Good Times Travel Agency) (Paperback)

This series is designed for the 4-6th grade audience and as such has a lot of silliness between the characters. It is this fun approach that makes the book a drawing read and lets this age group learn a lot about history without feeling the pain of a text book. My kids have learned a lot from this series and love to read them over and over. We have been able to get a couple of the books in this series in French and they are great easy readers for those learning French as well.