Customer Reviews

Life in Ancient Greece Coloring Book (Dover History Coloring Book)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I am using this resource with homeschool Pre to 2nd grade children. This coloring book helps Greece come to life with pictures of markets, shipping, a wedding, several different tradesmen at their trade, children playing, senate, theater, school, ect...

One warning, four pages (out of roughly 45 pictures) have nudity: two of Olympic games and one gym (tastefully covering the front, but showing male backsides) and then one of a topless dancing/acrobatic girl at a party. I choose to scan them, in order to give them clothing.

Other content: there are solider scenes with weapons bristling, but only two battle scenes (one on water and one on land). For battle scenes both are tasteful, even for younger dc. It also includes about four pages of religious ceremonies/scenes, including the oracle at Delphi.

Overall an excellent resource; very well done!!

I use the Dover coloring books often as I home school. The kids are busy, quiet AND they listen. It really helps to reinforce the lessons when they color the same things that they are learning about. There is a Dover book for most major subjects!

I like this coloring book for children because it will help bring lessons on Ancient Greece to life and reinforce basic facts. It is organized primarily by chronology, has fairly complex drawings with enough detail and background for interest, and most significantly contains a brief historical note at the bottom of each picture. It includes highligts like Solon introducing reforms, Hipparchus being assasinated, Socrates being found guilty and condemned to death and Aristotle tutoring young Alexander. It also includes more general topics like weddings and funerals, the market, shipping and more. There is some male nudity (not frontal) like at the Gymnasium and Olympics. There is some incorporation of Greek mythology (like sculpting of a statue of Hermes, and consulting an oracle at Delphi.) Note, however, the art is not done in Ancient Greek style, but rather more realistic, scene by scene.

This is good for any grade schooler or even a high schooler who still likes to color. The covers and inside covers have art which are the colored scenes of ones found in the book, so there is also some direction or incentive to make the art come to life.

Useful alone or with a curriculum.

As coloring books go, this belongs in my most favored group. I like this particular series of coloring books as they are not only entertaining, but quite informative at the same time. There are over 40 full page drawings in this particular work, all are quite detailed and as far as I can tell, quite accurate.
Each picture is accompanied by at least one rather lengthy paragraph explaining the picture and how it relates to life in ancient Greece.

There are a couple of things to be noted about this, and indeed, other of the books in this series.

First, I would strongly recommend the use of colored pencils rather than crayons. The pictures are just too detailed and parts of the pictures are simply too small to be used with crayons. A sharp colored pencil is needed to render the drawings completely effective.

Secondly, the paragraphs of explanation accompanying each picture are done in a very small font and the information is quite detailed. The younger child most likely will not have the vocabulary nor reading skill to get much out of the information. An adult will be needed to read this information and possibly paraphrase.

Third, there is some mild nudity found in this book. This nudity is not as blatant as that found in Life in Ancient Egypt Coloring Book (Dover History Coloring Book) as there is no frontal nudity and bare breasts, but nudity is never-the-less there. It is manifested in this work as the author shows nude wresting and other sporting events. There is no frontal nudity and the picture is quite historically accurate. These pictures are easy to alter after scanning them if the adult so wishes. I personally had no problems with it but can well see how some parents might and most certainly teachers dealing with a large class.

Forth, this book is ideal for working with kids who have problems with fine motor skills. (That is what I use it for). Even though the kids I work with have little or no concept of this time era (They cannot read), they never the less enjoy it because they have seen such of T.V. and at the movies and can relate via those movies. I discuss each scene with them - some of the information sticks; other does not.

Fifth, the pictures in this book may be reproduce for graphic and craft applications, free and without special permission, provided you include no more than four in the same publication or project. This works out quite fine in my case as I only work with one to three children at a time. This book would be ideal for home schooling. The pages are easy to reproduce and you can get a lot of mileage out of this book.

Sixth, if you are a overgrown child like I am, then you, the adult, will find that coloring from this book is actually quite therapeutic.

Highly recommend this particular work and the others in this series from Dover Press.

Don Blankenship
The Ozarks

This book is best for older kids to color in with colored pencils. They colored in it while I read aloud books of Ancient Greece.