You Wouldn't Want to be a Roman Soldier by David Stewart

I found this book to have a bit too high of a vocabulary level for us, for some reason.  I've tried other books in this series before, but I felt frustrated that what was supposed to be a more "fun/light" book had me stopping 2 or 3 times a page to explain words. 

Also, it was less interesting to us than others in the series.

Savitri: A Tale of Ancient India by Vera Rosenberry

Kind of  darker book, I thought.  A princess finds a man she wishes to marry, and is told he will die in a year She decides to marry him anyway, and when the time come for him to die, she follow the man who comes to take his soul as best she can on her way to the afterlife, and tricks him into releasing his soul.  I found the whole concept rather disturbing for young children, personally. 

Exploring Ancient China wiht Elaine Landau

A fun book with lots of pictures of some interesting finds and tidbits from the past, and a bit of a peek into the past, but not overly detailed so as to make it difficult to read aloud. 

The Great Wall by Elizabeth Mann

Another great wall book.  :)  This one had a bit more of the story about the empires before and after Qin, and how the wall led to the creation and the destruction of dynasties.  Kind of a fun book, even after doing so many great wall stories. 

Confucius: The Golden Rule by Russell Freedman

I'm still looking out for a book that has a shorter, less detailed accounting and more easily read-aloud book on Confucius.  If you happen to find one, let me know. :)

Anyway, this book is a bit more detailed than I wanted to go into, and something about the font gave me a headache.  Also, looking through it, it didn't really hold my interest that well.  I don't know why.  So, we didn't do this book at all. 

The Emperor's Silent Army by Jane O'Connor

A bit less detailed and easier to read aloud, as well as a bit shorter than Emperor Qin's Terra Cotta Army. This book also has a bit of history about the emperor, the history of china, the great wall, the soldier, and a bit of culture of the time. 

Emperor Qin's Terra Cotta Army by Michael Capek

A fun but rather detailed book of a bit of history behind the emperor, his army, both real and terra cotta, the great wall, and china itself.  Some nice photographs throughout. 

Confucius and Ancient China by Theodore Rowland-Entwistle

Confucius and Ancient China (Life and Times Series)
A combination book of the life of Confucius and the times he lived in, this book has both a rather detailed history of the man and the culture in general. 

The Lost Horse: A Chinese Folktale by Ed Young

A very short tale that I was rather disappointed in.  A wise man from China would caution every good event with the phase "Perhaps it is not such a good thing" and every bad event with "it might not be such a bad thing." The whole story has about 2 sentences per 2 page spread, and about 10 spreads in the whole book.  However the book is somewhat redeemed by its four puppets that come with to play out the story.  I think we enjoyed those much more than the story itself. 

Ancient China by Brian Williams

Well, honestly, I'm about all China'd out by now (I have a few more books I haven't gotten around to listing yet), and this seemed to be mostly review of what we've learned already, so we chose not to go with this book.  We did look through it a bit and talk about it.  There are three clear plastic layovers that show inside different structures, but I didn't really find this book remarkable. 

The Dragon Prince by Laurence Yep

The subtitle tells a lot:  A Chinese Beauty and the Beast Tale.  I'm not a huge fan of dragons, myself.  Actually, I don't like them at all.  So, I don' recommend this book.  But if you happen to think dragons are great, here's a review.
Girl is youngest of seven daughters.  A dragon comes one day and tells her father to give him his daughter or else he will be eaten.  Father tries to convince each of the seven daughters to go with the dragon, but each refuses until he comes to the youngest (frankly, I find that even more disturbing than the dragon, the father's behavior, that is), who agrees to go with.  Dragon takes her away, and turns into a prince, and she becomes a princess.

She gets lonely, and wants to go visit her family.  Sisters get angry and make her go away, and daughter three takes her place, pretending to have been ill to cause a change in behavior, memory and appearance.  Prince isn't fooled and searches until he finds his princess. 

Da Wei's Treasure: A Chinese Tale by Margaret and Raymond Chang

A mythical Chinese story about a boy whose father dies, leaving him a rock with a house on top.  The rock lights up one night, and creates a cart, which leads the boy on a journey through the seas, which part for him, where he finds a woman disguised in a kitten skin, who brings him blessings. 

Lord of the Cranes by Kerstin Chen

Another Chinese mythology book, this time with the God of the cranes, who disguises himself as a beggar and gives rewards to the man who treats him well without asking for anything in return. 

Ten Suns: A Chinese Legend by Eric A. Kimmel

A mythical retelling of the time a Chinese god had ten sons, each of whom was a son who took turns walking across the sky.  One day, they all decided to go out together, and caused chaos on the earth. 

They wound up being shot down to earth. 

Prince Siddhartha: The Story of Buddha by Jonathan Landaw

A longer text book about Buddha, it would make a good reader for a 2 adv. level child. 

Also, there is a Prince Siddhartha coloring book if anyone is interested in further activities. 

Long is a Dragon by Peggy Goldstein

Long Is a Dragon: Chinese Writing for Children

Despite the name and the big picture on the front, we did do some selections from this book.  It is mostly how to make different words and numbers in Chinese calligraphy.  Next time, though, I will be trying to find one without the dragon.  :)

The Empty Pot by Demi

Another story about the boy from China who was given a seed and told whichever boy could grow the most beautiful flower would become the king.  However, his seed just wouldn't grow. 

Stories from Inida by Vayu Naidu

This book has too much darkness and gods and things like that in it for our tastes.  On the front cover here you can see the woman is riding a tiger wand has 10 hands, one of which is carrying a severed head, and many of the others carrying various blades.  She is also wearing a necklace of skulls.  Stories include demon who try to inhabit bodies of children, a man who makes some disciples put their noses in cow dung, and a man who wants to beat his wife for no reason.