Herodotus and the Road to History

by Jeanne Bendick

Best-selling author Jeanne Bendick takes us for another informative—and amusing—journey into places and events of long ago.  Herodotus and the Road to History , written in the first person, details the investigative journeys of Herodotus—a contemporary of the Old Testament prophet Malachi—as he takes ship from Greece and voyages to the limits of his own ancient world. His persistence, amidst disbelief and ridicule, in the self-appointed task of recording his discoveries as "histories" (the Greek word meaning "inquiry"), means that today we can still follow his expeditions into the wonder and mystery of Syria, Persia, Egypt and the "barbaric" north. Jeanne Bendick's lucid text, humorous illustrations and helpful maps entertain and instruct as they open the way for readers young and old to once again join Herodotus . . . on the road to history. Illustrated.

Genres: History, Biography, Ancient History, Nonfiction, Childrens, Juvenile, Biography Memoir

79 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 2009

About the author

Jeanne Bendick was born February 25, 1919, in New York City. When she was growing up, her grandfather taught her how to draw. He often took her to the American Museum of Natural History in New York to see the different kinds of art.

In her books, Jeanne Bendick liked to make her drawings very simple. In many of her books, she helps her readers see how science is a part of everyday life. With her words and pictures, she takes things that are complicated and makes them easy to understand.

Jeanne Bendick wrote over 100 books and also wrote filmstrip and television scripts.

Reviews

[Denise Aubuchon (DaubieBooks) · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the way to introduce yourself to an otherwise involved and "grown-up" text: read the kids version first. Much less painful, much more fun. Now I'm ready for the real thing.

[Jovi Ene · Rating 5 out of 5]

Foarte instructive și inspirat ilustrate cărțile lui Jeanne Bendick. Prima carte pe care am citit-o din serie, despre Herodot, ne poartă prin mintea și împrejurările în care a apărut prima operă istorică a omenirii. Herodot, părintele istoriei, născut la Halicarnes (Turcia de azi), a petrecut o mare parte a vieții călătorind (în Samos, în Marea Marmara și Marea Neagră, la Babilon sau în Egipt), pentru ca apoi, pe baza celor văzute sau auzite, să își scrie Istoriile.
O carte de informare, făcută pe înțelesul tuturor, despre o mare personalitate a lumii antice, despre al cărui nume știm cu toții, dar despre care cunoaștem prea puțin.

[Minte · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good history introduction to Ancient Greece and the surrounding areas for a child. Interesting illustrations and maps.

[Sandi · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book aloud to my 10 year old son for homeschool and our study of Ancient Greece. So my rating of the book is based upon my usage of it for homeschool curriculum. I appreciated that this book was an interesing read about Herodotus presented in an understandable manner at a reading level that my son could comprehend on his own (he has a very average reading level).

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read aloud for our history unit on Ancient Mesopotamia and Phoenicians. At least 3 times it correlated exactly to the lesson we had just finished so it definitely fit with the time period. We really enjoyed it, I feel like Herodotus' voice has humor or at least he speaks with feeling. I didn't find him a dry or boring historian :) I was frustrated to find the names pronunciation at the end of the book after I had already butchered half of them reading aloud. Some are written phonetically in the text but it is hit and miss. Tons of drawings which made reading aloud slightly harder as I kept pausing to look at them and show them and I hadn't always reached where it talked about whatever it was. Overall it was written in a very approachable style and makes history interesting, at least to us.

[TheCatholicBook · Rating 5 out of 5]

Although awkward in some places, Jeanne Bendick's Herodatus and the Road to History has great information on ancient history, and, of course, Herodatus. I was surprised at the abrupt yet clever ending. It was a short and sweet read!

[Michael Huang · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think it's a good, approachable little book for kids. I'll have to see if the kids do like it to decide whether to get more in the series.

[Rebecca · Rating 5 out of 5]

*HOD World Geography* This is a thoroughly enjoyable, short read about the father of history, Herodotus, who was the first Westerner to try to record what has come before. Bendick always writes engaging stories with interesting illustrations. I highly recommend this book as part of history or geography studies since it lays the foundation for why we study history and how our studies came about - through curiosity and questioning.

[Anna Mock · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was really an excellent introduction to Herodotus for kids. I'm not reading the Alfred Church versions of Herodotus's histories, but we started with this one so the kids could kind of place who this person even was before reading what he wrote. I highly recommend it. It was kind of sad that it was so short, though.

[Sare · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5

[Josh Hamon · Rating 4 out of 5]

A child friendly romp through the 5th century, almost a G-rated intro to this snapshot of the ancient world.

[Elisabeth Ensor · Rating 2 out of 5]

Homeschool read aloud for world history- didn't love it. Was grateful when it ended.

[CWHill · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was part of our homeschool curriculum. A great introduction to an important character in history which would probably have been overlooked otherwise in our education.

[Michelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Excerpt -- Spoken by Wanderers All Over the World
I was still in Halicarnassus, but now it seemed too small. It seemed more of an outpost than the center of the world.

[Israël Egan Haines · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really like how they wrote it and the travel he went through!!!!

[Tracy Reed · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great living history book! We used it in our homeschool for a seventh grader and a fourth grader. Highly recommended!

[Annie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Written in first person, this is a short sweet account from 30,000 feet, so to speak, of Herodotus and his journeys that inspired his "histories".

[Colin · Rating 5 out of 5]

A kids' biography of Herodotus . . . really good! I used it with my kids (9 & 10)

[Lauren Hicks · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read with Sadie

[Shannon · Rating 4 out of 5]

12/10: previewing for the boys. Enjoyed. Clean, easy-to-read copy, nice font, white space. Cute, clear history.

Amazon Book Description:
Best-selling author Jeanne Bendick takes us for another informative and amusing journey into places and events of long ago. Herodotus and the Road to History, written in the first person, details the investigative journeys of Herodotus a contemporary of the Old Testament prophet Malachi as he takes ship from Greece and voyages to the limits of his own ancient world. His persistence, amidst disbelief and ridicule, in the self-appointed task of recording his discoveries as histories (the Greek word meaning inquiry ), means that today we can still follow his expeditions into the wonder and mystery of Syria, Persia, Egypt and the barbaric north. Jeanne Bendick's lucid text, humorous illustrations and helpful maps entertain and instruct as they open the way for readers young and old to once again join Herodotus . . . on the road to history.. Ages 9-12
Bethlehem Books

[Ruth Barone · Rating 5 out of 5]

A nice introduction to Herodotus and the writings of his histories. My six year old read this book aloud to me as part of our Greek history booklist. It has simple drawings on nearly every page and the chapters are about 10 pages each, perfect for getting through in a sitting. Probably fourth grade reading level.

[Betsy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A solid book about Herodotus, how "history" was first being recorded, and the world of ~ 400 BC in Greece/surrounding areas. Bendick uses first person, acting as Herodotus, so this blurs the lines of "nonfiction" and "fiction." Short, sweet, and engaging for kids who have some familiarity already with this time period.

[Karen · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was such a vague book, just an overview. Boys found it boring.

[Selvi]

And other books by the same author look interesting

[Hamilton · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book, it was a very quick read. My favorite part about the book was how the author made it seem so accurate. It was a nice light book to give a little insight on the Greeks.

[Melora · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reading this to the kids as an introduction to White's The Boys' and Girls' Herodotus.

[Stephanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Short & sweet, so it doesn't go very deep. But overall a good overview of Herodotus. Could definitely give to a 2nd - 7th grader to just read by themselves.

[Julie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read as part of our homeschool study of Ancient Greece.