Ancient Rome

An interesting new approach to history, the ‘Tales of the Dead’ approach enlivens the traditional information book with a strip-cartoon story running along and around each spread. One’s first impression is that the pages look dense and intimidating, but the ‘graphic novel’ story line, involving two children captured and sold into slavery, is well thought-out with enough drama and simple dialogue to draw in less confident readers. No surprise then to discover that author Ross has plenty of teaching experience. Bonson’s evocative artwork scenes are packed with detail, and one can learn a great deal about Ancient Rome from the pictures alone. Individual spreads explore different facets of Roman civilization, from Roman childhood and education to the contrasting lives of rich and poor, each one introduced at appropriate points in the story. Combining all these different elements – cross-sections, cartoon story, maps, artwork scenes – could have been a risky undertaking, but happily the creative team has successfully pulled it off. A valuable resource for topic work and highly recommended for the classroom library.