Poppins Book Nook: Greek Mythology (aka. I love Percy Jackson)

It's the last week of January and that means that it's time for a new theme for Poppins Book Nook! The theme for November (we took December off) was all about Pets and Animals. This month our theme revolves around Greek Mythology. Now this is a more advanced theme so some of your children might not be ready to tackle this in any great depth. But I think there are still some great ways to introduce your children to this fascinating subject.

We have studied things relating to Greek Mythology before. I have ALWAYS been fascinated by the extensive realm of Greek (or Roman) Mythology! I always loved studying this subject in school. My husband also is fascinated with them, so we sheepishly admit that we love the Percy Jackson movies! I have read the complete Percy Jackson series by Rick Riordan, including his spinoff series (Heroes of Olympus) and his Kane Chronicles series (focusing on Egyptian myths). Yes, I am a Greek Mythology addict. I think it just fascinates me to think that this was a real religion going on at the same time as Christianity was getting off the ground and that the apostles (especially Apostle Paul) had to deal with it all the time.

Anyways...

Sadly our library does not have any good books on this written for the young reader. But we did pick a few to go through. Here are the ones that we had to work with:

Greek and Roman Mythology A to Z: A Young Reader's Companion

This is a very complete book with lesser and greater characters from both versions of the mythology. I didn't really like using this one overly well because it was more of a text book. It was great for me as an adult because I could read short concise summaries about each entry. But without the pictures it was very boring for the boys.

The next book we read was called Persephone: Bringer of Spring. This one is by Sarah F. Tomaino and our version had beautiful illustrations by Ati Forberg. It's very hard to find this version but it's well worth it! It tells the story (one of my favorites) beautifully! The ISBN #0-690-61448-9 if you want to seek it out. None of the versions I found online matched the edition we read.

Ironically the book that was the most useful was by Rick Riordan

Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Ultimate Guide

The photos are colorful and very kid friendly. The information relating to the major gods and goddesses is very well written and easy to understand. My Little Britches liked this book the most.

Now, as for our activity?

Well we watched Percy Jackson and the Sea of Monsters! Yes, I know that's lame as an activity. But it was what we did this month and it was enjoyable by us all. And it's an easy and gentle way to introduce the idea of gods/goddesses. Little Britches summed it up by saying they were like Superman, Spiderman and all the other super heroes. But more crazy.

I think that sounds about right, don't you??! LOL!

We've got a great book about Greek Mythology up for grabs as part of this months giveaway!

This month, one randomly drawn winner will receive a copy of D'Aulaires' Book of Greek Myths--an excellent resource for your classroom or just a great book for your shelf!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Want to check out what some of my Poppins Book Nook Co-Hosts did this month?

Enchanted Homeschooling Mom - 3 Dinosaurs - Monsters Ed - Chestnut Grove Academy - Growing in God's Grace - Life with Moore Babies - Teach Beside Me - The Usual Mayhem - Kathys Cluttered Mind - Adventures in Mommydom - Edventures with Kids - Learning & Growing the Piwi way - A Gluten Free Journey - Preschool Powol Packets - To The Moon and Back - Our Craft ~N~ Things - Fresh Farm Adventures - Are We There Yet? - Afterschool for Smarty Pants - Hopkins Homeschool

And remember--you can link up any of your OWN posts relating to Greek Mythology books or activities too!