Great Leaders and Thinkers of Ancient Greece

Gr 3–5—These attractive additions to Capstone's ongoing "First Facts" books offer introductory facts about life in ancient Greece. The books are divided into brief "chapters" that provide a paragraph of text about a topic, such as education or food, on one side and a full-page illustration on the other. Sidebars either define words or add brief information about related subjects, and the titles conclude with two fairly difficult Common Core critical thinking questions. Illustrations include a map of Greece (repeated in all but Gods and Goddesses, which has a map of temple locations); contemporary photos of artifacts, sculptures, and locations; and reproductions of contemporary and classical artistic depictions of Greek life. These books are adequate introductions to this ancient culture and its many contributions to world civilization, but they offer little that is new in either perspective or material, making them supplementary purchases.