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The Boys' and Girls' Herodotus Review by Diane Wheeler
By: John S. White, LL.D.American Home-School Publishing
P.O. Box 570
Cameron, MO 64429
1-800-684-2121
http://www.ahsp.com/
This retelling of Herodotus' Histories is an excellent resource for middle-school aged children. The story is shortened and simplified, but is in no way dumbed-down for children. The vocabulary is still rich, the sentence structure can be quite complicated in the best sort of way, and the lively feel of the story comes through beautifully.
In the introduction to the volume, the editor, John White, writes: "I have allowed Herodotus?to tell you his story in his own words, as closely as the English idiom can reproduce the spirit and flow of the Greek?I have discarded from the text only what is indelicate to the modern ear, or what the young reader might find tedious, redundant, or irrelevant to the main story. But so small a part comes under this head, that I am sure I can fairly say to you: 'This is Herodotus himself.'"
There are a handful of interesting illustrations, and helpful tables in the back that document the chronology of the events covered. Our oldest student took an online Great Books course this year, and one of the books studied was Herodotus' Histories. The Boys' and Girls' Herodotus would be the perfect companion for my next-younger student, who could read the same stories, rewritten for his comprehension level. It keeps the conversations lively around the table to have more than one student enjoying the same book, and this fine re-telling makes that possible. Highly recommended.
