Alexander the Great (Whats Their Story Ort Stage 13) [Paperback]

Andrew Langley (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 24, 1997 | Series: Whats Their Story Ort Stage 13

A wonderful new series of well-told, beautifully illustrated biographies, for children aged 6-9 years, featuring great leaders, heroes, pioneers, inventors and scientists from the past. Each biography tells an exciting story about a real person, that can be read either alone or by a parent or teacher. The colourful artwork will stimulate the imagination and linger in the memory. The biographies link in with National Curriculum KS1 and KS2, History, English, science and other subjects. Young children love a good story. What better way to introduce them to the giants of our past than through these delightful books?

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 3-4-Considering their subject matter, these are two surprisingly boring books. Alexander is portrayed as an intelligent, often kind man whose only fault was that he murdered people who resisted his efforts to take their land and money. Cleopatra is depicted as a beautiful dreamer who only wanted an empire to call her own. These titles are superficial to the point of being confusing. Most of the pages are taken up by lifeless, full-color illustrations, and what little text there is paints history with a very broad brush. The subject matter (bloody battles, adultery, treachery) is actually quite mature for easy readers. Children interested in these historical figures should be steered toward Frederic Theule's Alexander and His Times (Holt, 1996) and Diane Stanley and Peter Vennema's Cleopatra (Morrow, 1994).
Christine A. Moesch, Buffalo & Erie County Public Library, NY
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

"Highlighting dramatic moments and adventurous deeds as well as clarifying the cultural context of each story, Alan Marks expressive line drawings with watercolor washes add greatly to the books' appeal. Because the writing does not talk down to young readers, the books would also serve slightly older students looking for brief biographical accounts of individuals."--Booklist

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 32 pages
• Publisher: Oxford Up Childrens (April 24, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0199101965
• ISBN-13: 978-0199101962
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 6.1 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.5 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,231,481 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars more of these, please!, March 15, 2004

By 

"zmcgill" (Vancouver, WA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Alexander the Great (Whats Their Story Ort Stage 13) (Paperback)

My first grader read this book as part of his history curriculum. He quite liked it though for him it was not easy. He was already familiar with Alexander the Great. Since he is also familiar with stories from mythology and the bible the content did not seem too mature for him. It would be difficult to give any sense of history while steering clear of violence but this telling is not overly gruesome or detailed and does give an overview of Alexander's life which younger readers can read for themselves. I didn't find the illustrations wonderful but he was quite interested in them and the maps were very helpful. Overall, I will certainly be interested in others in the series as they are relevant and hope there are more as time goes by.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Alexander, February 17, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Alexander the Great: The Greatest Ruler of the Ancient World (What's Their Story?) (Paperback)

This book was very basic, but easy to follow. It was used in the classroom as an introduction to the life of Alexander the Great. The students were able to follow the story and wanted to learn more based on the brief discriptions of the places introduced in the story. I would recommend this book for a basic introduction to the life of Alexander the Great.