Posted on 2 Comments

Alpha is for Anthropos – Review

AlphaisforAnthropos-covers
Alpha is for Anthropos (Affiliate link)

I ran across this book in looking for ancient Greek resources for the boys, it seemed so beautiful! I finally dug out from under my mountain of work to reach out to the author, Therese Sellers who in turn connected me with her publisher, Ascanius. Long story short, the twins and I have been enjoying several books from Ascanius, not just Alpha is for Anthropos so there are a few more reviews on the way.

Alpha for Anthropos is gorgeous. Illustrated by Lucy Bell Jarka-Sellers in the red-figure vase style, each page is rich and inviting. The matching coloring book is just like the hardbound book, minus the color, and my “we’re too big to color in coloring books” boys even wanted to color in some of the images doron(the Trojan Horse was the first to catch their eye). You can also order the teacher’s book which offers suggestions on how to teach your kids. It’s a complete set for learning the Greek alphabet and its pronunciation.

Each page contains a letter of the Greek alphabet and has an original song or nursery rhyme to go with it. They help teach and reinforce the pronunciation, some are sung according to children’s songs like, “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star” and others have their own rhythm. Something I noticed a while back about ancient Greek is that there are a lot of parallels to music in the pronunciation. One accent makes the pitch go up while another does the opposite; another accent makes the duration of the sound a bit longer. So to me, the rules make perfect sense, but hearing it pronounced and sung makes all the difference! With that in mind, Therese _MG_2736has a website where she has recordings of each of the songs, using both the modern pronunciation and the ancient. It turns out that ancient Greek is beautiful to hear. Given what I know about music and learned about the pronunciation, I am not surprised in the least, but had never heard someone singing or speaking it. We love to listen to the audio, and sing along with it. The songs aren’t difficult, and the twins often sing them to themselves.

Alpha is for Anthropos is a wonderful introduction to ancient Greek, in a format that makes it accessible to younger students, but students of all ages will love this. It’s available via Amazon.com and the Ascanius Store.

Congratulations!
“My oldest loves his new book! One of his goals in life is to learn Biblical Greek. Thank you!!” from Audria Story, winner of the Alpha is for Anthropos contest

 

Disclaimer: This book was given to us at no charge in exchange for our honest opinions, we have endeavored to be fully honest and thorough in the review. We are NOT required to give a positive review. There are affiliate links which pay us a small commission on purchases of items when using those links, but they do not affect the cost of the products you purchase. See our full disclosure policy.

Comments are closed.