Books about ancient myths or theories proven wrong by scientific discoveries

[Mostlysunshine]

My son who’s 5 is fascinated by stories about theories that people had in times past that have been proven wrong by science - the earth being flat, volcanoes caused by angry gods, etc. Can anyone recommend any books that we could look at together about these stories? I’ve tried searching for books about myths, history and scientific discoveries but no luck. Thanks!

Mr Archimedes Bath is great fun.

I also like Many Moons, where the various courtiers try to explain to a sick princess what the moon is like. It’s not quite what you’re asking for, being more of a fairy story, but it’s well worth a look.

Kevin Crossley-Holland wrote some good retelling of Greek, Roman and Norse myths, though I think they’re aimed at slightly older kids.

We also have the version of How The Whale Became with illustrations by Jackie Morris, which are stunning.

Thanks!

Arthur and The Golden Rope is really good, my five year old loves it. It's a picture book but not too young for this age group and features Norse mythology and a boy that uses his wits to save his town. There's another by the same author that's about Egypt, can't remember the title. Usborne do some myth story collections too.

So you're interested in specifically disproving what people believed? That's a tricky brief!
I can think of lots of good books about myths (ds is fascinated by them) but none about debunking (aimed at young readers).
I'm stumped!

We have Arthur and the Golden Rope, and it's lovely, btw.

Things like horrible histories (they have geography ones too, including vulcanology) are probably the right thing... but they're not really suitable for 5yos- I know my DS wouldn't have coped with the content then, as he was pretty sensitive.

It is indeed a tricky brief! I’ve run out of answers when he asks “tell me more about what people used to think a long time ago that was wrong, mummy.” He may soon realise I don’t know everything, and that will be a sad day.

Maybe start with myths then?
We have various usborne myths books- Greek, Norse, etc, also Marcia Williams does superb cartoon-style books, and she's definitely done Greek, Roman, Egyptian,. English (king Arthur, robin hood) myths (there's usually a box set on the Book People.
We also have a superb set of Greek myths by Geraldine McCaighrean and Tony Ross, but probably for 7+
There's also the Anansi tales, but I haven't seen a good version recently.
You could also get a book of bible stories?
There's lots of books about the Hindu creation myths, and Rama and Sita etc.
There are some gorgeous books about Scottish legends- by Theresa Breslin.
I didn't see one about the Welsh legends when my children were small, but now they're juniors, we're doing the Chronicles of prydain books by Lloyd Alexander, which are based on the Mabinigion.