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Topic: Ancient Civilizations

Chapter book

Featuring wonderful new illustrations from Peter Bailey this beautiful fairytale is perfect for readers young and old.

Lila doesn’t just want to be a Firework-Maker’s daughter, she wants to be a Firework Maker herself. But although she’s learned a lot she still must get through the most difficult and dangerous part of her apprenticeship – and her father won’t tell her what it is.

In search of this final Firework-Making secret, Lila heads off alone on a journey. It is a journey filled with dangers beyond anything she could have imagined, a journey on which she will learn so much more than the one secret she set out to find . . .

Non-fiction

This book explores what life was really like for everyday people in Ancient Sumer. Using primary sources and information from archeological discoveries, it uncovers some fascinating insights and explodes some myths. Supported by timelines, maps and references to important events and people, children will really feel they are on a time-travelling journey when reading this book.

Short story collection

The Spirit of the Silk Road is your guide as you journey through this book from Chang-an to Samarkand, following one of the arterial caravan routes of the silk traders. As you travel across treacherous deserts and through lonely mountain passes, you will learn about the importance of silk as a commodity, see some of the distinctive customs of the peoples of Central Asia, and join in many storytelling sessions at starlit oases and campfires.

Picturebook

Gilgamesh, half-god and half-man, in his loneliness and isolation becomes a cruel tyrant over the citizens of Uruk. To impress them forever he orders a great wall to be built, driving his people to exhaustion and despair so that they cry to the Sun God for help. In answer, another kind of man, Enkidu, is sent to earth to live among the animals and learn kindness from them. He falls in love with Shamhat, a singer from the temple, and he follows her back to Uruk. There, Enkidu, the uncivilized beast from the forest, shows the evil Gilgamesh through friendship what it means to be human.

Non-fiction

How were the cities of the Indus Valley built? What were homes like? What food did people eat? What gods were worshipped?

This book helps children at Key Stage 2 discover the answers to these and other fascinating questions. It also recommends sites on the Internet and sources in your local library where you can find out more about the Indus Valley. The detective shows readers how to create your own project about daily life in Mohenjo-Daro, make Indus Valley-style figurine and interview the rulers of the Indus Valley.

Packed with fascinating information, The History Detective Investigates series inspires children’s curiosity to find out more about the past. A great tool for readers age 8+ or teachers looking for books to support the new curriculum for 2014.

Non-fiction

Shang Dynasty China looks at one of the most fascinating and advanced ancient civilisations. Through structures as imposing as the tomb of a warrior queen or objects as beautiful and complex as a decorated bronze vessel, readers aged 9 and up gain a picture of who was who in ancient China and how the civilisation in which they lived worked.

Perfect for Key Stage 2, each book in Great Civilisations approaches its subject through a scene-setting spread Who/where were the… then introduces the achievements of the chosen civilisation through 12 structures or objects, each of which illustrates a key aspect or theme. Writing, architecture, industry, warfare, transport and learning are all covered in the same simple, colourful and engaging way. Fact boxes and panels present incidental information and point the reader to the importance of parallel developments in other parts of the world.

Short story collection

This collection of Chinese stories begins with the great legends of how Earth and Heaven came into being, and of how the archer Yi rid the Emperor Yao of the menace of the ten suns. There are folk-tales too, about ghosts and rain-makers, poor students and magicians, and the man who was nearly made into fishpaste. Throughout all these stories the author has kept the subtle oriental flavour of the originals and brings to life all the magic and mystery of China.

Picturebook

Any child who has ever imagined a journey into a two-dimensional expanse will be carried away by the passion Drummond brings to the subject. An IRA-CBC Children’s Choice. NCSS-CBC Notable Children’s Trade Book in the Field of Social Studies. American Bookseller Pick of the Lists. Full color.

The National Curriculum for history states that pupils in Key Stage 2 should learn about the achievements of the earliest civilizations, including an overview of the first civilizations and a depth study of one of the following: Ancient Sumer; The Indus Valley; Ancient Egypt; or The Shang Dynasty of Ancient China.

While many schools are familiar with the topic of Ancient Egypt (see our separate booklist here), the other ancient civilizations listed tend to be less well-known to teachers. We’ve put together a list of recommended children’s books to support the topics of Ancient Civilizations, with a focus on the Ancient Sumer, the Indus Valley and the Shang Dynasty. 

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