Member Reviews
My younger students would enjoy this book, I think. It has detailed illustrations showing daily life for Romans, with accompanying text explaining more facts. Some of the facts may surprise students, such as Romans introducing chickens to Northern Europe (which I didn't know).
At the start there’s a cartoonish drawing that displays most of the clichés about Romans, like lying on a couch drinking wine and eating grapes while slaves wash their feet; all that was missing was the palm frond fans.
After some more drawings of kids both today and in the past there’s disparate facts, beginning with the army and how they liked to inspire fear so no one would want to fight them. There are also sections on how the Romans lived, going to the market, taking a bath, the various temples, and so on.
Even the kids drank wine. Slaves are treated as a matter-of-fact occurrence. The story of Romulus and Remus is told to the very gory end. There’s an elaborate street scene that looks beautiful despite the slightly goofy style. There’s even a test at the end to see if you’ve been paying attention.
There sure are a lot of blonde and redheaded people in these drawings! With the author being Dutch, there’s a last section on Roman antiquities found in the Netherlands.
Kind of a mishmash. Not at all sure if kids would go for this, since this book is thinly veiled as opposed to those that don’t look like they’re educational.
This was a cute book that teaches the basics of Roman life to primary grade students. Definitely something to use if you teach Roman history to grades k-2.
'Want to Know: The Romans' by Suzan Boshouwers with illustrations by Veronica Nahmias is a non-fiction instructional picture book for very young readers. It's a very well done project.
The reader is taken through different phases of ancient Roman life. The pictures fold out on some pages. Objects in the pictures are labelled so that readers can discover what they were called. The reader learns about Roman soldiers, the marketplace and what home life looked like. Festivals and Roman gods find their place too.
The pictures are detailed and filled with all kinds of objects. They are pointed out with text. I really enjoyed this approach to teaching young children about an ancient culture.
I received a review copy of this ebook from Clavis Books and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this ebook.
This is a cute little book that gives a surprising amount of information on the Romans. It covers daily activities that a rich child may have done, including religious rituals and explains the creation myth of Rome.the illustrations are adorable.
I'm sorry to say that neither me nor my boys were very impressed by this book. As a history-teacher for second grade I have quite a few books about the Romans that are adressed at children and that are much more the thing. Sorry.
Fine illustrations of life in ancient Rome with interesting facts and photographs of discoveries. The emperor Trajan is mentioned several times, but not other rulers. Why? Perhaps it is because of their reputations for slaughter and persecution of Christians and Jews. Trajan had a reputation for being less violent. Less being the operative word. Historical records reveal the executions and punishments he ordered. Naturally, this might not be the type of thing a publisher would want to include in a book for young children. That said, this book seems to make much of ancient pagan gods, highlighting their worship by ancient Romans. We have enjoyed a number of books from this publisher, but this is one we'll pass over.
I thought the way this book was so interactive was really good. The images are nice and bright and the folds to tell the different between then and now are a great touch. I liked the fact boxes too. 5 stars, a really enjoyable book and an excellent introduction to the Romans.
"Want to Know. The Romans" by Suzan Boshouwers and illustrated by Veronica Nahmias is an instructive picture book for ages 5 and up. Don't let the author's description fool you, it is so much more.
The Romans ruled a great empire by raiding villages. Soldiers wore cuirass (armor consisting of a breastplate and backplate fastened together). They fought in legions using "tortoise formation" (shields surrounding them and placed next to, in front and on top of the soldiers).
A fold-out picture of a Roman street completely numbered with an accompanying legend can initiate a discussion about a typical Roman market day. A visit to the bathhouse teaches that a mixture of olive oil and sand was used for washing in lieu of soap.
Despite the fact that this tome is only 32 pages, it is packed with extensive information for children and adults. Kudos to Ms. Boshouwers and Ms. Nahmias.
Thank you Clavis Books and Net Galley for the opportunity to read and review "Want to Know. The Romans".