Opinion on extra books and history

[Aquila]

My eleven year old daughter is a voracious reader and loves history. She has read the Story of the World Books a couple of times and is now ready to branch out. I have been looking for some other similar history books that aren't too dry, but are written a little more in-depth. I was hoping to get them for her, for Christmas (yes, that time of year is soon approaching). Any recommendations out there? I stumbled across the works of Charlotte Mary Younge. She wrote a couple of works, 'The Young Folks History of England' among others. Has anyone looked at these or have any other suggestions? American History textbooks? Anything? Winter is coming and I think it will be a cold one. We need something when the wind starts howling.

[DiannaKennedy]

Re: Opinion on extra books and history

My eleven year old daughter is a voracious reader and loves history. She has read the Story of the World Books a couple of times and is now ready to branch out. I have been looking for some other similar history books that aren't too dry, but are written a little more in-depth. I was hoping to get them for her, for Christmas (yes, that time of year is soon approaching). Any recommendations out there? I stumbled across the works of Charlotte Mary Younge. She wrote a couple of works, 'The Young Folks History of England' among others. Has anyone looked at these or have any other suggestions? American History textbooks? Anything? Winter is coming and I think it will be a cold one. We need something when the wind starts howling.

Is she interested in a particular period?

Candlewick Press has some LOVELY Greek Mythology books that my kids ADORED. We also reviewed some Medieval History books from Beautiful Feet that might fit the bill. (They definitely have a pro-Protestant slant)

I loved Black Ships Before Troy and the Wanderings of Odysseus from Rosemary Sutcliff.

[Katie]

Re: Opinion on extra books and history

My 10 year old book lover enjoyed this series https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/...th#bookDetails

[GeorgiaMom]

Re: Opinion on extra books and history

If you want to browse through the Charlotte Younge books, Project Gutenberg has them available as a free download for your Kindle or tablet. This is the one on English history:

http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/4769

[bean]

Re: Opinion on extra books and history

I second the ones suggested so far.

For a slightly more advance series like SToW, Human Odyssey's 3 book series is textbooks, but in the same sense the Story of the World books are texts- the homework questions, etc are contained in separate workbooks, so these are fine to just read for pleasure.

My dd likes to read them for our academic reading time or if she is curious about a time period. She's read all three a little at a time over the last 2-3 years. The modern history is a nice complement to the MP Geography 3 set. Like SToW, much of it is about the people in the times, with bits about arts and inventors and such.

https://www.amazon.com/Human-Odyssey.../dp/1931728534

You can look inside here: https://www.christianbook.com/Christ...search=1&cms=1

I think I paid $10 or so for each of mine at a Black Friday sale from Better World Books four years ago.

HTH

[Girlnumber20]

Re: Opinion on extra books and history

http://www.catholictextbookproject.com/

I can't personally vouch for these, since we haven't bought them- but they sure do look intriguing for Catholics. I actually took the time and watched the video. No idea of this is the kind of thing you are looking for, but it might be worth looking into.

[Mary]

Re: Opinion on extra books and history

Are you looking for historical fiction or just plain history? And are you looking for a specific time period?

FWiW, we're working our way through "The King's Fifth" by Scott O'Dell (Spanish explorers/New Spain) and it's really good so far.

Other historical fiction suggestions from my kids (10 + 12):

"Ink on His Fingers", by Louise Vernon (mystery involving Johann Gutenburg)
"Falconer's Son", by Albert Mayer (Story of a boy, the Duke's messenger - 10th century central Europe)
"Black Fox of Lorne", by Marguerite de Angeli (Twin Viking boys arriving in Scotland on their father's boat - 10th century)
"Sing Down the Moon", by Scott O'Dell (Native American girl taken into slavery in the 1800s)
"A Single Shard", by Linda Sue Park (12th century Korean orphan who wants to learn to be a potter)
"A Cup of Cold Water", by Christine Farenhorst (True story of Edith Cavell - nurse in WWI Belgium)
"Mystery of the Roman Ransom", by Henry Winterfield (sometimes funny story about boys solving a mystery in Ancient Rome)
"The Pirates of Pompeii", by Caroline Lawrence (children investigate mystery at refugee camp outside of Vesuvius in 79 AD - right after eruption of Mt. Vesuvius)

The other historical fiction stories the kids liked are mostly on the MP listings for read-alouds or read-alones.

[Mary]

Re: Opinion on extra books and history

I was hoping to get them for her, for Christmas (yes, that time of year is soon approaching).

I laughed when I read this - I ordered my Christmas cards last month and have started addressing them (I like to send them the day after Thanksgiving) and most of the (small) gifts we're giving the kids have already been ordered and are tucked away upstairs in the guest room closet. It's never too early - and the best sales are way ahead of time!

[pickandgrin]

Henty?

I laughed when I read this - I ordered my Christmas cards last month and have started addressing them (I like to send them the day after Thanksgiving) and most of the (small) gifts we're giving the kids have already been ordered and are tucked away upstairs in the guest room closet. It's never too early - and the best sales are way ahead of time!

Mary Kaufman! I scoff at your preparedness! Where's your sense of procrastination...(cough, I mean)...adventure?!

Aquilla,
Have you taken a look at anything G.A. Henty? He's written enough books to keep your daughter set for years. They are free on Kindle from time to time (public domain). More here: https://www.amazon.com/Complete-G-He...70_&dpSrc=srch

[Aquila]

Re: Opinion on extra books and history

You gals are all awesome. Those are all excellent choices. I have spent the last day going through all the titles and making a list. I realized early on that my daughters and I are both saddened by our library. The choices for American History are abysmal and the ones for Canadian are even worse. And so I will need to fill my shelves with books for them to read and re-read. Even our education library, which homeschoolers are allowed to use freely, has a terrible collection. What does Cicero say but, "whoever has a library and garden has everything they need." I am not sure what he would think of the content of our public library or the weeds in my garden. Sigh. I like to wait until at least after Remembrance day before I even start mentioning Christmas prep, but I also know that I am a woman with limited time and sales won't wait for me to be ready! Now, back to researching....

[Mary]

Re: Henty?

Mary Kaufman! I scoff at your preparedness! Where's your sense of procrastination...(cough, I mean)...adventure?!

Yeeeeessss... I lack the both the "adventure" and "procrastination" genes. *cracks up laughing*

Aquilla,
Have you taken a look at anything G.A. Henty? He's written enough books to keep your daughter set for years. They are free on Kindle from time to time (public domain). More here: https://www.amazon.com/Complete-G-He...70_&dpSrc=srch

Yes! Henty! We've started collecting some of his works in beautiful cloth-bound covers when I have coupons for HPB (not sure if you have Half Price Books in Canada, though). Although, um, being completely devoid of the aforementioned adventure gene, I simply can't read Henty on Kindle. I prefer stone tablet, especially when reading "The Cat of Bubastes".


Aquila, your comment about your local library sums up tidily the experience we have at ours. Not much meat, but lots of fillers.

[Miah]

Re: Opinion on extra books and history

I really enjoyed the Genevieve Foster books George Washington's World, Abraham Lincoln's World, World of Christopher Columbus and Sons and a few others I am missing, I think. MP does a better job of connecting historical events than my public school did, but These books may still help with those connections. Who was composing when these famous lived? Who was making art or building buildings? Who else was alive at the same time? I really liked these books myself, but they are written on a probably middle school level.

[serendipitous journey]

Re: Opinion on extra books and history

I know this is an old thread, but just realized that the Oxford University Press World in Ancient Times series -- and their Medieval and Early Modern world series -- might fit in here. My older child recently used a chapter from "Ancient Greek World" to round out his understanding of a Trojan War chapter in his literature, and the Medieval and Early Modern "An Age of Science and Revolutions" is his favorite history book right now.

If your child is sensitive, some chapters of the Medieval/Early Modern series may be too violent (these books include the Crusades and the slave trade). My older child is sensitive and I just preview before I assign something, and/or ask him to let me know if he doesn't think it is a good reading for him.

[Aquila]

Re: Opinion on extra books and history

Thank you Ana. I will take at look at those also. I think she has had issue with the violence described in books about the Middle Ages and even some of the fiction books that I given her to read. History can be brutal.