Nonfiction Monday: Ancient Celts: Archaeology unlocks the secrets of the Celts' past by Jen Green and Bettina Arnold

This was one of the nonfiction titles I added my first few months at work, and I mainly purchased it because I saw the popularity of the Ancient Egypt and Ancient Greece titles in the series.

I finally got around to reading it, as I'm looking over the history section in preparation for some weeding/replacing next year.

I was interested to discover that this isn't so much a history of Celts, but an exploration of that history through archaeology. The author blends the history of the Celts in Europe into the archaeological discoveries that provided the information. So we learn not only about the bog bodies, but about how their discovery continually changes the way people think about history and the process of inspecting, dissecting, and preserving them.

There are plenty of photographs, some fun references to popular culture, and a nicely broken up layout with bold paragraph headlines, captions, interviews, and more.

Verdict: This is a great series for middle grade kids interested in history. While the Egyptian, Greek, and Roman titles are more popular, this is a compelling read and kids who have tried the others will want to pick this one up as well.

ISBN: 9781426302251; Published 2008 by National Geographic; Borrowed from the library; Purchased for the library