Alicia Van Hecke

501 Latin Verbs Fully Conjugated in All the Tenses

Book cover: 501 Latin Verbs Fully Conjugated in All the Tenses
Author(s): 
Richard Prior
Joseph Wohlberg
This is a dream come true for teachers, like myself, struggling to keep up with a group of teenagers studying Latin. Quite simply the book devotes one page to each of 501 verbs. Each verb has all of its endings written out completely and includes the four principle parts. Some notes at the bottom of each page offer "compound and related words", "alternate forms", "usage notes", and a model Latin sentence using the word. (These are written by famous authors of old!) The format is very user-friendly and easy to read. The verbs are arranged alphabetically in Latin.

Railroad RushHour: Train Escape Game

Book cover: 'Railroad RushHour: Train Escape Game'
I can hardly say enough good things about this fun and thought-provoking game (which a good friend gave to my son for his birthday a few days ago). Each of the 50 playing cards presents a puzzle scenario which you set up on the gameboard with the train pieces. The object is to move the pieces around until you can get the red locomotive off the board. The puzzle scenarios gradually increase in difficulty, but all of them are fun and challenging (even for parents!).

How Many Animals?/Quot Animalia?

Book cover: How Many Animals?/Quot Animalia?
Author(s): 
Marie Carducci Bolchazy
Illustrator(s): 
Kristie Stock
What a great idea - simple Latin readers to introduce young children to the language. Big pictures are paired with large, clear print, just like an English easy-reader. This first book in the series is a simple picture book with very nicely drawn, realistic pen and ink illustrations. The format allows readers to intuitively figure out what some basic words mean by connecting them with the pictures. The text introduces 13 types of animals, offering each Latin word in the singular and plural.

What Color Is It?/Quo colore est?

Book cover: What Color Is It?/Quo colore est?
Author(s): 
Marie Carducci Bolchazy
Translator(s): 
Mardah B C Weinfield
Illustrator(s): 
Yana Igorevna Myaskovskaya
This title offers charming, child-friendly pen-and-ink illustrations to introduce the colors (in Latin) to young children. The text is quite a bit more complex than How Many Animals? Quot Animalia?, but would provide a good opportunity for young Latin scholars to practice their pronunciation by reading the book aloud to a younger sibling. Since the topic is "colors", I think this book will be best enjoyed if an artist in the family colors in the illustrations first. Translations and glossary are in the back.

What Will I Eat?/Quid Edam?

Book cover: What Will I Eat?/Quid Edam?
Author(s): 
Marie Carducci Bolchazy
Illustrator(s): 
Michelle Kathryn Fraczak
Lots of silly black-and-white pictures (which will likely appeal to certain funny-bones) and simple text introduce readers to the Latin words for many types of food. You'll find a monster eating pizza, a cow suggesting pork instead of beef, a hot dog enjoying a soda and... lots of good Latin content. Not my favorite book in this series, but perhaps not a bad way to introduce young children to some relevant Latin vocabulary.

Who Loves Me? / Quis me amat?

Book cover: Who Loves Me? / Quis me amat?
Author(s): 
Marie Carducci Bolchazy
Illustrator(s): 
Michelle Kathryn Fraczek
This book introduces names of family members - mother, father, sister, brother, grandfather, grandmother, fraternal and paternal aunt and uncle, cousins and God - through the eyes of a baby. I liked how small details on some of the pictures - like the words on a T-shirt - are written in Latin (and the translations are included in the back along with the rest of the text). The text is charming, but these pictures are a bit on the "goofy" side (very cartoon like and some weird proportions).

Latin for Beginners (Passport's Language Guides)

Book cover: Latin for Beginners (Passport's Language Guides
Author(s): 
Angela Wilkes
Illustrator(s): 
John Shackell
In the typical Usborne style, this book offers lots and lots of cartoon-like pictures with Latin dialogue and descriptions and quite a bit of grammar and other tidbits along the way. The pictures are a little goofy (I think they use the same pictures for all the different languages they have out in this series), but the book is packed with content (particularly for the price). This might make an especially nice supplement for grade school students studying Latina Christiana or another early Latin text.

Easy Latin Crossword Puzzles

Book cover: Easy Latin Crossword Puzzles
Author(s): 
Betty Wallace Robinett
Virginia French Allen
This will make a fun supplement to students in upper grade school or high school who have already studied Latin for a year or two. The words are fairly simple (requiring both English to Latin and Latin to English translations). One feature that makes it quite accessible is a list of words from which to choose the correct word. There are 50 crosswords in all, plus a complete answer key, and a brief introduction to Roman numerals, some common Latin abbreviations in use today and a list of the Latin mottoes of 19 states and the District of Columbia.

CHC Lesson Plans: Fourth Grade

Book cover: 'CHC Lesson Plans: Fourth Grade'
The overall format of these lesson plans is very similar to the 3rd grade lesson plans. Basic texts for core subjects are: Saxon Math 5/4, God's Little Angels, Rare Catholic Stories and Poems, My Catholic Speller Level C, Language of God Level C, Faith and Life 4, A Year with God, My Temple of the Holy Spirit (included in appendices), Catholic Boys and Girls Health, Everyday Science Sourcebook, Our United States (included in appendices)and 1001 Facts for Your Catholic Geography Bee.

Pages