Eleanor says: I liked when Annie pretended to be a soldier. It made me sad that girls couldn’t go to the olympics. I loved Pegasus. I liked how he rescued them.

A Review In Eight Words

Percy Jackson is always better (and more educational).

I pre-read this book for use in my first and second grade classroom. Scholastic book wizard marks this book at a Fountas and Pinnell level M (DRA 24). I think the rating for the story is pretty accurate. There are some higher vocabulary terms related to ancient times in this book, but I think students at this level (especially those with an interest in ancient civilizations and/or the Olympics) would be able to use context clues to determine meaning.

The story itself was put together in an easy to follow format. Jack and Annie, our two main characters, travel back to the times of Ancient Greece during the Olympic Games on a mission to bring back an ancient text. While in Ancient Greece, they learn about the first Olympic Games, some facts about daily life, a little about the government, and about different injustices of the time. Our bold little Annie is arguably upset about the different treatment of girls than boys. This leads to a little bit of problem and some action (though not the same amount of action that they had during their trip to Pompeii).

After reading, I'm happy with level, structure, and content to incorporate this book in my classroom with guided reading groups during our social studies unit on ancient civilizations.

rip plato you would have loved thomas ceccon

I haven’t read magic tree house since middle school. I forgot how fun these books are! Absolutely loved it. Fast little read to bring back childhood comfort :)

Excerpt from a longer review on my blog, Dragon Bite Books.

I have serious problems with the portrayal of ancient Greece in Hour at the Olympics.

1) You can’t conflate all the Greek city-states when talking about the place of women or the education of children. Upper class women in Athens were barely allowed to leave the house; Spartan women were given public education and expected to be athletic. If Pope had even added a “most” in front of her sweeping depiction of women’s lives in ancient Greece, I might be satisfied.

2) The Olympics website and the Penn Museum say that unmarried women could attend the men’s games and that the priestess of Demeter would be in attendance. Annie is definitely an unmarried woman.

Spoiler

Whether unaccompanied minors were allowed or whether there was a punishment for impersonating a soldier, I don’t know.

3) Some Greek women were definitely allowed to be poets. Sappho is among the most famous of the Greek poets and was in her own time too.

Plato, a character in this story, lived roughly between 429-347 BCE. Plato is an old man in this story, so this is set probably in the latter part of his life (40+).

I felt like this one was shorter than others in the series I have read. It felt rushed and like it didn’t have much of the adventure aspect. It gave a brief insight into the development of the Olympic Games and an introduction to Greek gods/mythology. Overall it wasn’t bad.

fight the man annie!! and fuck you plato!

This one was fun - Jack & Annie visit the Olympic Games in Ancient Greece (well, Jack does - girls not allowed! But Annie sneaks in too, a bit!). They meet Plato and a mythical creature . . . cool stuff!

I liked it Owen