From School Library Journal
Grade 2-4 This basic vocabulary treatment presents the Trojan War on a scale that is less than epic. The plodding present-tense voice and pedestrian style are almost definitive in the way in which they bland the story out. "The chariots race around the battlefield. The Greeks chase the Trojans. The Trojans chase the Greeks." Little's fall of Troy has all of the excitement (and none of the tension) of being stuck in traffic for two hours. A much better treatment of the destruction of Troy, both in text and illustration, is James Reeves' The Trojan Horse (Watts, 1968; o.p.). Reeves maintains the Homeric narrative in a less edited form: including, for example, the death of Laacoon, which Little omits. Reeves' first-person voice creates the vivid, immediate, and dramatic effects so suitable, even necessary, to the epicand so glaringly absent from Little's bleached, textbook prose. The illustrations are representational but bland, done primarily in shades of brown, buff, and gold with touches of blue and red. The bare bones of Homer's epic is here, but it is not presented in a style that will inspire young readers. Ann Welton, Lake Dollof Elementary School, Auburn, Wash.Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Card catalog description
Recounts how the Greeks used a wooden horse to win the Trojan War.
From the Inside Flap
Illus. in full color. "An ancient history lesson emerges from this account of the way the Greeks tricked the Trojans and rescued Helen of Troy. The book is well tailored to younger readers with careful explanations and short sentences; a pronunciation guide is appended. Drawings portray the story's main events. A nice supplement to units on ancient Greece or mythology."--Booklist.
The Trojan Horse: How the Greeks Won the War (Step into Reading Books Series: A Step 4 Book) ANNOTATION
Recounts how the Greeks used a wooden horse to win the Trojan War.
FROM THE PUBLISHER
This series of affordable paperbacks offers an appealing variety of fiction and nonfiction by such popular authors as Jean Marzollo, Joyce Milton, Richard Scarry, and Joanna Cole-all carefully geared to the particular reading level of the reader. Using large, bright, full-page pictures and repetition to reinforce word comprehension, the Early Step Into Reading level is perfect for the just-beginning set. While Step 1 uses the same large type, this level offers greater story lines and more words per page. Step 2 moves into more complicated stories with an expanded vocabulary, and in Step 3, readers encounter paragraphs of text and a denser plot line. By Step 4, the books have chapters and feature many thrilling nonfiction topics. Grade 2 - Grade 4.
SYNOPSIS
Trouble is brewing between Greece and Troy. The Trojans control a waterway important to the Greeks, and demand a toll every time the Greeks use it. When a Trojan king kidnaps the Greek queen Helen to be his son Paris's wife, this means war! After ten years of fighting, the Greeks play the greatest trick in military history - using the Trojan Horse. This fascinating tale, full of heroes, is based on truth and forever immortalized in Homer's Iliad.
FROM THE CRITICS
School Library Journal
Gr 2-4 This basic vocabulary treatment presents the Trojan War on a scale that is less than epic. The plodding present-tense voice and pedestrian style are almost definitive in the way in which they bland the story out. ``The chariots race around the battlefield. The Greeks chase the Trojans. The Trojans chase the Greeks.'' Little's fall of Troy has all of the excitement (and none of the tension) of being stuck in traffic for two hours. A much better treatment of the destruction of Troy, both in text and illustration, is James Reeves' The Trojan Horse (Watts, 1968; o.p.). Reeves maintains the Homeric narrative in a less edited form: including, for example, the death of Laacoon, which Little omits. Reeves' first-person voice creates the vivid, immediate, and dramatic effects so suitable, even necessary, to the epicand so glaringly absent from Little's bleached, textbook prose. The illustrations are representational but bland, done primarily in shades of brown, buff, and gold with touches of blue and red. The bare bones of Homer's epic is here, but it is not presented in a style that will inspire young readers. Ann Welton, Lake Dollof Elementary School, Auburn, Wash.
Art & Photography
Book Info
