Recommendations for stories by Plato and Aristotle

[valeriefuchsmoineau]

Dear All,

I am looking for stories from Plato and Aristotle to read aloud to my third grader. Does anyone have recommendations?

Thanks a lot, Valerie

[Violet Crown]

"Once there were some prisoners chained in a cave, forced to watch shadows of puppets on the wall...."

I don't think there's much in the way of Platonic or Aristotelian stories to be had. And none of them are likely to hold the interest of (or be suitable for) a third-grader. But here's someone's attempt to scrape together various bits into stories.

[LostintheCosmos]

There's not much narrative in Aristotle, but there are some stories in Plato. Violet Crown's suggestion looks like it would probably cover them all, although glancing through the preview, I'm...not that impressed. For example, retelling Aristophanes' speech from the Symposium to be a lesson in saying "please"?  - um, no. This is a more accurate representation of the source material (and, as I recall, the original scene from the movie is about as appropriate for a 3rd grader, lol).  

The Book of Virtues, edited by William Bennett, actually does contain a few excerpts from Aristotle on topics like friendship and temperance - but those aren't stories, just little bits of discourse on what friendship means, etc. But they would have been chosen with a younger audience in mind. 

Edited October 1, 2020 by LostCove

[Lori D.]

Welcome! I see by your post count you are new. 

Plato and Aristotle did not write stories. Plato wrote philosophy and a series of dialogues about his metaphysical theory of forms. Aristotle wrote about a number of different nonfiction topics, including logic, ethics, metaphysics, politics, mathematics, various sciences, and even dance and theater. 

Were you looking for books *about* Plato and Aristotle? If so, here are a few children's books at grade 4-6 reading level that should work well as a read-aloud to a 3rd grader:
-  Plato (Lusted) -- junior biography from ancient civilization series
- The Great Philosophers: Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle  (Lives) 
- Tools of the Ancient Greeks (Bordessa) -- an overview of Ancient Greece (includes Plato & Aristotle), which would provide context
- Big Thinkers & Big Ideas: An Intro to Philosophy for Kids (Kaye) -- an overview book of both Western and Eastern philosophies/philosophers


Not about or by Plato or Aristotle, but some Ancient Greek stories for children:
- DK Treasury of Greek Mythology (Napoli) -- myths of the Ancient Greeks
- Aesop's Favorite Fables (Winter) -- fables written by the Ancient Greek, Aesop

Edited October 1, 2020 by Lori D.

[Little Green Leaves]

You could read Narnia -- especially the Silver Chair. If nothing else, it'll probably make it way easier when it comes time to read Plato later on.

Edited October 1, 2020 by Little Green Leaves

[valeriefuchsmoineau]

On 10/1/2020 at 7:47 PM, Violet Crown said:

"Once there were some prisoners chained in a cave, forced to watch shadows of puppets on the wall...."

I don't think there's much in the way of Platonic or Aristotelian stories to be had. And none of them are likely to hold the interest of (or be suitable for) a third-grader. But here's someone's attempt to scrape together various bits into stories.

Thanks so much for your reply and for sharing. We will continue greek myths and refer to Plato's biography for now. Thanks so much again for taking the time to answer, this is really appreciated.

[valeriefuchsmoineau]

On 10/2/2020 at 2:13 AM, Lori D. said:

Welcome! I see by your post count you are new. 

Plato and Aristotle did not write stories. Plato wrote philosophy and a series of dialogues about his metaphysical theory of forms. Aristotle wrote about a number of different nonfiction topics, including logic, ethics, metaphysics, politics, mathematics, various sciences, and even dance and theater. 

Were you looking for books *about* Plato and Aristotle? If so, here are a few children's books at grade 4-6 reading level that should work well as a read-aloud to a 3rd grader:
-  Plato (Lusted) -- junior biography from ancient civilization series
- The Great Philosophers: Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle  (Lives) 
- Tools of the Ancient Greeks (Bordessa) -- an overview of Ancient Greece (includes Plato & Aristotle), which would provide context
- Big Thinkers & Big Ideas: An Intro to Philosophy for Kids (Kaye) -- an overview book of both Western and Eastern philosophies/philosophers


Not about or by Plato or Aristotle, but some Ancient Greek stories for children:
- DK Treasury of Greek Mythology (Napoli) -- myths of the Ancient Greeks
- Aesop's Favorite Fables (Winter) -- fables written by the Ancient Greek, Aesop

Thank you for  your reply! Yes i am new and so glad that i wrote my post as your answer was very helpful. Indeed, i remember being introduced to Plato as i was in high school, probably at the age of 17 (I attended a french school). While there are so many wonderful resources available for younger children today, i thought there might be some available on philosophers and their work. THanks a lot for your recommendations.

[Lori D.]

1 hour ago, valeriefuchsmoineau said:

Thank you for  your reply! Yes i am new and so glad that i wrote my post as your answer was very helpful. Indeed, i remember being introduced to Plato as i was in high school, probably at the age of 17 (I attended a french school). While there are so many wonderful resources available for younger children today, i thought there might be some available on philosophers and their work. THanks a lot for your recommendations.

Hope that you find what is a good fit for your family, with the various ideas in the different responses, and glad to have you here on these boards! Feel free to jump into other threads, or post more questions as you would like input! 😄 Warmest regards, Lori D.

[Moonhawk]

On 10/5/2020 at 7:44 PM, valeriefuchsmoineau said:

Thank you for  your reply! Yes i am new and so glad that i wrote my post as your answer was very helpful. Indeed, i remember being introduced to Plato as i was in high school, probably at the age of 17 (I attended a french school). While there are so many wonderful resources available for younger children today, i thought there might be some available on philosophers and their work. THanks a lot for your recommendations.

Every few months my DH goes on a kick on wanting to introduce the kids to Plato and Aristotle and just philosophy in general, and we usually go online thinking *this* is the time we're going to find a good kid intro to their writings. Surely someone by now has put together an introduction to the Categories for kids, right? Or a group of the best kid-friendly Aristotle? Maybe 'On Friendship' and some other excerpts, annotated? We haven't found what we're looking for yet, and DH is already putting time into making his own curriculum on 2 other topics for them, so it falls to the wayside. But who knows, maybe our next search will find it!