Ancient History for Littles
A recommended reading list for the younger years
While I have used heavily the suggested readings and studies on Ambleside Online, I knew that as a mom of four I would not be able to keep up with doing four different eras in history at once. While I do like many things about their approach of tying what era of history you study specifically to your grade, I knew that realistically I would never be able to keep up with all those readings for four children. When I was a student, my mom used a four year history cycle, and all of us studied the same era together, joining in first grade on whatever era everyone else was already doing, reading books appropriate to our level. In this way, if you were studying the Ancient era, your elementary students would be reading Rosemary Sutcliffe and your high school students would be reading Homer, but everyone would be studying the same thing, and be able to use similar core overview books together. I wanted to replicate this four year cycle, but by choosing a good group of living books that would bring the time period alive, a la Charlotte Mason’s approach. Thus I combed through recommended reading lists and put together my own Ancient History program, which I am happy to say worked very well for us. In case any of you are considering doing a similar approach, here is my recommended Ancient History reading list for the first time through the four year cycle of history:
Term 1: Ancient Egypt and her neighbors
Overview book: Ancient Egypt and Her Neighbors by Lorene Lambert is what we used this year. However, I think I would in the future use Guerber’s The Story of the Ancient World, as my daughter and I both preferred the Guerber books to this one.
The Story Bible by CPH
The Gilgamesh Trilogy by Ludmilla Zeman. These are a very well adapted version of the Epic of Gilgamesh for children, with beautiful illustrations, and skipping over the inappropriate parts of the original.
Tales of Ancient Egypt by Roger Lancelyn Green, selections.
Boy of the Pyramids by Ruth Fosdick Jones. A delightful story of a little boy and little girl and a mystery they have to solve.
Pyramid by David Macaulay (another option for this would be The Great Pyramid by Elizabeth Mann, which I considered but didn’t get)
Pharoah's Boat by Wetizman
Gift of the Nile by Jan Mike
The Scarab's Secret by Nick Would
Mummies Made in Egypt -Aliki
Tutankhamen -Demi
Term 2: Ancient Greece
Overview book: The Story of the Greeks by Helene Guerber and Christine Miller. This is written for a an older level than first grade, but was still accessible to young ones. I plan to read this again to her in four years, as she will get even more out of it then.
Black Ships Before Troy and Wanderings of Odysseus by Rosemary Sutcliffe, illustrated by Alan Lee. The illustrated versions are hard to get but so worth it if you can. I can’t overstate how much fun these were to read together.
Theras and His Town by Caroline Snedeker A story of a young boy and his life in Athens and Sparta.
Gods and Goddesses of Olympus by Aliki or D’Aulaire’s Book of Greek Myths
The Librarian Who Measured the Earth by Lasky
Cupid and Psyche by Charlotte Craft
Pegasus by Marianna Mayer. I read this at a friend’s recommendation after the school year and it was wonderful, so I’m adding it to the list.
King Midas and Alexander the Great by Demi
Term 3: Ancient Rome
Overview book: The Story of the Romans by Helene Guerber and Christine Miller.
In Search of a Homeland by Penelope Lively. The illustrations in here aren't as good as the Alan Lee ones, and the story isn't as well told as Rosemary Sutcliffe, but if you can find it, it’s worth reading. Unfortunately it too is very hard to come by.
City by David Macaulay.
Romulus and Remus by Anne Rockwell. A beginning reader book that your child could read for him/herself.
Pompeii, Buried Alive This is another beginning reader book, at a more advanced level.
Cleopatra by Diane Stanley
Escape from Pompeii by Christina Balit
The Roman Colosseum by Elizabeth Mann.Â
Trial and Triumph by Richard Hannula, selections
And there you have it! I thought the balance of having a well written core history book, supplemented with a few retellings of the epics, a few chapter story books, and a few picture books, worked very well. At the end of each term, we made a little book of things that my daughter remembered from that period of history, and she remembered a lot of great things. It was just the right balance as far as a time commitment as well: history every day took on average about 20 minutes. We were usually done by the time she lost interest. Doing narrations after every reading was a great habit, as it allowed her to remember a lot of what we read.
There are a few other books I considered for this year, including Herodotus and the Road to History, My Little Athenian Cousin of Long Ago, etc., but we opted to save those for next time instead of stuffing them in this year. If you have any questions about specific things we read, or have any recommendations for the list, let me know in the comments!