Europe - Greece (modern)

I was surprised when we got to Greece with Torchlight, as most of it involves ancient Greece, but previously studied countries were all modern day.  After a little research, I am guessing that this is because it is ridiculously hard to find books on present day Greece.  It's like everything stopped with the mythology and the marathon.  However, my first grader was upset by the Persephone myth, and most of Greek mythology is not terribly appropriate for young children, in my opinion.  Zeus's antics can wait.  So here's what I was able to find and what I would recommend for a unit on Greece.

• I have an olive tree - Eve Bunting.  We liked the illustrations in this one, and the story was wonderful.  A grandfather gives his granddaughter an olive tree, located back in his native Greece.  After his (non-traumatic) death, the girl and her mother fly to Greece to visit the olive tree.  It's a nice representation of village life.

• Let’s Visit Greece - Susie Brooks.  This is friendly and well-written with large print and interesting pictures.  Great for my first grader.

• If you were me and lived in Greece - Carole Roman. My kids love these books.  The child in the book teaches the name for their father and mother, talks about Name Days, and goes through a day in the life.

• Mikis and the Donkey - Bibi Dumon Tak. A chapter book about a boy and the donkey he befriends He lives with his grandparents, who feel strongly that the donkey is a working animal, not a pet.  Mikis works hard to make life good for the donkey and his family.  For each area we study, I try to have a chapter book told from the perspective of a young child that focuses exclusively on the child's daily life experiences, much like the Little House books.  This was our chapter book for Greece.

• My Uncle Nikos - Julie Delton.  This is a very sweet story about a little girl who visits her uncle a few weekends a month, and what their time together is like.  There is a wonderful vegetable garden that she helps water.  She brushes her teeth at the pump, as there is no running water.  Her uncle cooks dinner and they leave the dishes until morning.  She's very happy.

• Greetings from Somewhere: Mystery of the Secret Society- Harper Paris.  I have a lot of feelings about the parents in this book, and most of them aren't good.  The parents in this one strike me as very irresponsible, which makes the book a good opportunity to talk about tricky people, trusting your gut feeling, stranger danger, etc. Nothing bad actually happens to the kids, but if this situation was real life, grandpa likely wouldn’t have arrived to save the day.  Still, the kids really enjoyed the story, and I would recommend it with reservations.
• Count Your Way Through Greece - James Haskins. Interesting exploration of Greece by teaching the Greek numbers from 1 to 10, with descriptions of various things from Greek life.  A little wordy for my first grader, but he liked it.
• KeeKee's Big Adventures in Athens, Greece - Shannon Jones. This one was a big hit with my first grader, who liked the manga style illustrations, the hot air balloon, and the friendly story.

Older kid extensions

• Greece - Kim Etingoff. My fourth grader enjoyed this one.  It has lots of information about the interactions between different groups of people, the Euro versus the drachma, the status of the economy, etc. Too wordy for K, but excellent for an older kid.

• Echo Echo: Reverso Poems About Greek Myths - Marilyn Singer.  These reverso poems are so much fun, especially if your child already has a good handle on Greek mythology.  You read them as normal, and then read them in reverse order.  The combination reveals a conversation.  It's very fun.  I had my son write his own, and he chose to base it on the Native American Thunderbird myth, which was fun.

• What's Your Angle, Pythagoras? Julie Ellis. This is a natural one for an extension, and lends itself to all kinds of mathy exploration. 

As always, there is a long playlist, intended to be watched in stages throughout the week.  We also got a package of Greek mountain tea, which no one really enjoyed, but was interesting to try.  We made a ton of Greek food - souvlaki and spanakopita and pita and hummus and lemon rice and dolmas.  I used this Greek salad recipe, and the kids ate buckets of it.  We went out for gyros a few times, and we read the recommended Torchlight books as well. We particularly liked If You Lived Here.