The Children's Book about Greece
The Children's
Book about Greece
Victoria Sandels
(2009) Colour
Pages: 41
Price: 9,50E
Whether a child has been to Greece or not, this book will fascinate and entertain for hours. It is packed with stories: history, mythology, legends and lore and it has lots of fun facts about the country. The books includes learning a little bit of Greek, many games and puzzles, a huge crossword with a chance of winning a prize. Who said education can't be fun!
Athens
The capital of Greece is called Athens and it got its name from a very special story. A long time ago, the people of this great city wanted one of the gods to protect them and two gods ended up figng over this honour. One was called Poseidon and he was the god of the sea and the other was Athena, the goddess of wisdom. To make the people vote for him, Poseidon struck the ground with his trident and a well was created. When the people ran to drink from the well it turned out to be sea water so they spat it out. Athena then gave the city a big olive tree and this was a much better present, as the people could eat the olives, make olive oil and soap from them, use the oil for their lamps and use the wood to light fires. This made them all vote for Athena and so she became the protector of this city, which was named Athens after her.
Chapters
Greece
Map of Greece
How it All Began
The Greek Alphabet
Zeus - the King of the Gods
The Twelve Gods
Athens
The Olive Tree
Some More Greek
The Minoans
The Centaurs
Getting Sick in Ancient Greece
Jason and the Golden Fleece
Children in Greece
Theseus - a Different Kind of Hero
The Olympic Games
Heracles
Dancing and Singing
Is Your Name Greek?
Medusa and Perseus
The Greek FLag
Meandros - the Greek Design
The Komboloi
The Evil Eye & Flowers on Doors
Easter Crosses
Christmas in Greece
The Puzzle of the Twelve Gods
The Trojan War and Odysseus
Pirates
Star Constellations: Stories in the Sky
Crossword Competition
Answers
The
Minoans
On ancient
Crete a great civilisation called the Minoan was born thousands of
years ago. The Minoans worshipped the Bull as a holy animal and they held
special and very 
dangerous
sporting events where young men and women would jump on bulls. The men and
women on ancient Crete wore beautiful and colourful clothes and there were
also very fond of music and dancing.
The Greek Flag
The
Greek Flag is full of symbols. The Colour white
represents freedom and the blue represents the Greek sky and sea and also
offers protection against the Evil Eye. The first Greek flag was hoisted on
the island of Skiathos in 1807 but it did not yet have stripes then. The nine
stripes were added some years later and the reason they are this number has
to do with the battle cry the Greeks shouted when they fought for their freedom.
They used to shout E-LEF-THE-RI-A-EE-THA-NA-TOS, Freedom or Death, and in
this battle cry there are nine syllables.
Christmas
in Greece
Christmas is not as important as Easter in Greece, but the Greeks still celebrate this holiday. Instead of the Christmas tree, the traditional decoration is lighted boats, which are placed in the streets and squares all over the country. Santa is different in Greece as well! Instead of St. Nicholas, it is St. Basil who brings the gifts and he does not bring them until New Year's. When Greek children write to Santa they put St. Basil's name on the envelope and the letters still reach him. The mothers in Greece also bake a special yummy pie to him, Vasilopita, or Basil's pie, and they hide a coin in it. Whoever gets the coin in his or her piece, gets good luck for the coming year.
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