Adventures in Ancient Greece

Lisa Arsenault is an elementary-school teacher in Ajax, Ontario.

In this exciting series, the Binkerton twins, Josh and Emma, and their
little sister Libby are able to travel backward in time through the
auspices of the Good Times Travel Agency. In earlier volumes they
visited ancient Egypt, the Vikings, and the Middle Ages. In this
instalment they travel to ancient Greece to see the Olympic Games. They
spend time in Athens and Sparta, the two main city-states, and then go
to Olympia for the Games.

Bailey presents a great deal of information in a unique format. The
Binkertons’ fictional travel adventures appear in a comic-book style
(illustrations with exaggerated features, expressions, and actions are
accompanied by dialogue in bubbles), and these are paired with a
non-fictional “guidebook” provided by the eccentric owner of the
travel agency that offers factually accurate historical information
about ancient Greek daily life, theatre, religion, customs,
transportation, and government.

Adventures in Ancient Greece is a marvelous introduction to ancient
Greece for preteen readers. The format is deceptive: it’s hard to
believe how dense the hard information actually is when the reader is
also being entertained by the illustrations and dialogue. A particularly
funny, but enlightening, incident involves the Binkertons’ discovering
that females were not allowed at the Olympic Games, and how they get
around this prohibition. Highly recommended.