Sacred River: The Ganges of India by Ted Lewin

Only about 1-2 sentences per page, a quick look at the traditions tied into the Ganges river.  Includes a few sentences about cremation of bodies and sprinkling the ashes on the river, it shows cultural life in illustration along the river itself. 

Buddha by Demi

A shorter than most, but more mythological view of Buddha's life.  Includes some "impossible" events (such as his mother only had to touch a tree, and not only became pregnant, but a child sprang forth at the same moment).  It does explain the 4 truths and the 8fold path. 

The Life and Times of Buddha by Mona Gedney

We started reading this one, and it was pretty good. We skipped the final chapter when we found another source we liked better, but this one presents a bit of the prophecy, history, and teachings of Buddha and why he was important to the country at the time, as well as how he became more than a prophet. 

Buddha Stories by Demi

See the front cover there?   Gold on black?  Well, the whole book is that way, which really hurts my eyes to try to read. 

Sort of like an Aesop's, but based on Buddhistic (is that a word?) teachings.  Each page has a story, with a moral at the end.  Most of the stories are about animals.  To be perfectly honest, we only read a couple pages, because just looking at it gave me the beginnings of a migraine, so I don't know if there are any cautions in this book or not.

The Servant and the Water Princess: A Story of Ancient India by Jessica Gunderson

The Servant and the Water Princess (Read-It! Chapter Books) Hmmm. . ., strange that this one didn't pull up.  It's copyright 2009, so not too old and not too new. 

Anyway, about a level 2 int. chapter book exploring life in Ancient India.  The main character lives inside the palace and attends one of the princesses.  She is a part of the harem, which is described in the book solely as the women of the palace.  She helps the princess get ready for the day, and they also do some sneaking out without getting caught.  This is the second book in this series that I've read, and I liked the other one better, but it is very hard to find appropriate historical readers for children, and this series is one of them. 

The Sea Traders by Maitland A/ Edey

Now this is an older book, with TONS of text, but WOW! We are definitely going to have to come back to this one.   Detailed information, diagrams of the ships, even visuals on Solomon's Temple.  This book has a lot of interesting information. 

The White Elephant by Sid Fleischman

Run Run is a boy who is trained to work with elephants clearing the jungle.  One day, while at the river, his elephant sprays the prince with water.  The Prince becomes angry and threatens the boy with a "gift."  A gift that is "a curse."  This gift comes in the form of a white elephant.  White elephants are held to be sacred, and can not be worked, yet eat more than one hundred pounds of food each day. 
After a while, the boy and elephant get to be friends, and the boy disguises his old elephant with white powder, and the new elephant with red mud, and takes him out to work.  But, when the prince finds out, he is furious.  But, at that moment, the white elephant saves the prince's life, and he wants his elephant back again. 

My children didn't want me to put this one down. 

Ancient India: Land of Mystery by the Editors of Time-Life books

Too detailed for what I am interested in at this point, but full of fascinating detail and interesting pictures.  There is simply too much text to consider doing it in a shorter time span with this age group. 

Passport to the Past: Ancient India by Daud Ali

Ancient India (Passport to the Past) Since this is a newer book, I'm surprised Amazon isn't carrying it yet.  A bit too detailed for a read-aloud (at least in our limited time span on the subject), I am including this book because of the Ancient India crafts found at various points throughout the book.  From making a clay seal (that rolls) to making a garland of flowers, this crafts in this book require a bit more work, but they don't look childish when they are done, they look like the real deal (or fairly close). 

They Lived Like This in Ancient Mesopotamia by Marie Neurath

They Lived Like This in Ancient Mesopotamia I'd be surprised to find this book still in print, it is a bit outdated, but very appropriate for 6 year olds, with no need to stop and explain a lot of details.  A lot of line drawings copied from actual items found during excavations, this little book gives a really nice overview of the time period.  We really enjoyed it. 

Ancient India: Archaeology Unlocks the Secrets of India's Past by Anita Dalal

A National Geographic book detailing the interests and discoveries found in and around Ancient India.  Offers a newer look at the excavations with more of the details unravelled.  We sort of picked and chose our way through this book, but the parts we did read were very interesting, with a lot of photography. 

The Ancient Greek Olympics by Richard Woff

I like this book because it walks you through each of the 5 days of the Olympics and what was done on each day, in addition to other factoids about Greek athletes and Greek lifestyles.  Very appropriate for this age group. 

Stonehenge by Harriet Abels

A rather outdated look at Stonehenge.  We looked through this book, but most of it is covered  by the videos we watched, and in greater detail, so we skipped this book.

The mystery of Stonehenge by Nancy Lyon

The Mystery of Stonehenge
Again, a rather dated view of Stonehenge.  We opted to skip this book in favor of the video material which was more interesting and offered more detail. 

Stonehenge by Harriet Abels

A rather outdated look at Stonehenge.  We looked through this book, but most of it is covered  by the videos we watched, and in greater detail, so we skipped this book. 

The Persians: Warriors of the Ancient World by Katherine Reece

Fun, but interesting look at the ancient Persian empire, this book has about 5 chapters of information about various aspects and is written nicely for the elementary aged child.  Bright illustrations. 

A Picture History of Ancient Rome by Richard Erdoes

A Picture History of Ancient Rome
Not quite what I was expecting of a "picture history" book, but still a pretty good overall book.  Oversized, it walks through about a 2nd/3rd grade level history of ancient Rome, with illustrations, but not exactly like I was expecting.  I was expecting a book that was more "graphic novel" or "Usborne" style, and what I got was classic illustrations of a children's book.  However, that being said, it is a pretty good and interesting children's book with a fairly easy to follow storyline considering how much history it covers.