Our first book is here!
Hello, classicists! Robert here, and I’m delighted to announce that The Classical Workshop’s first book is available now. Prepare to visit an ancient dreamscape with The Mountains Are Sleeping: A High-Contrast Bedtime Book! Translated by Dr. Robert Carpenter and illustrated by the divinely talented Ally Frame (https://allyframe.com/).
Cover of The Mountains Are Sleeping, illustrated by Ally Frame
Let these calming natural scenes, inspired by red-figure pottery, ease your baby into bedtime!
A new translation of an ancient poem
I first had the idea for this book way back in 2019, when I encountered a fragmentary ancient poem lovingly titled “Alcman fr. 89” in a particularly difficult graduate seminar. Alcman was an ancient Greek poet who lived around 2500-2600 years ago. Not much is known for sure about him, and modern scholars argue about almost every aspect of his life, down to his hometown. The poetry that we have from him today is largely fragmentary, which means that it exists only in bits of pieces of degraded papyrus (learn all about early writing on papyrus from the Encyclopedia Britannica here: https://www.britannica.com/topic/papyrus-writing-material). Fragment 89 is an especially lovely poem that describes all the sleeping tribes of animals across the ancient Mediterranean-though there’s nothing to suggest that the poem was actually a lullaby or bedtime story in antiquity. Still, when I first encountered the poem, I thought that one day it would be delightful to see a translation published as a children’s book.
Why high contrast?
When babies are young, their still-developing eyes are particularly good at spotting sharp patterns in contrasting colors. Babies and infants can see and recognize these patterns better than illustrations meant for older children, which means that books using high-contrast patterns can hold their attention for much longer. Intentional patterns also help babies begin to see and think about different shapes. High-contrast illustrations are also helpful for parents. They are much easier to read in the low light of a baby’s nursery than books meant for older children.
Send your baby off to sleep with dreams of the ancient Mediterranean!
Choosing an audience for our first book
I founded The Classical Workshop in the hopes of exposing as many children as possible to the many benefits of early education in the classical humanities. My hope is to help these children establish an early love of learning in subjects like art, history, and literature, so that as they grow these subjects are sources of joy and pleasure rather than stress and difficulty. Some resources exist already to help older children discover the world of antiquity, but there are very few that intentionally and effectively bring these topics to the youngest readers. Early enrichment and exposure to new ideas and topics is essential to raising young learners, and this book is intended to start that process as early as possible.
Please look forward to more from The Classical Workshop in 2026
Our launch lineup is now fully available, but The Classical Workshop won’t be standing still in 2026. Please look forward to news about our next releases in the coming weeks and months!
