Category Archives: Children’s books

Abraham Hannibal

Children's books, Children's fiction, History, History Books, , , , , , , , , , , , ,

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Abraham Hannibal and the Raiders of the Sands 

by Frances Mary Somers Cocks

Abraham Hannibal and the Battle for the Throne

by Frances Mary Somers Cocks

“My name is Abraham, and my father is a noble lord of Africa”
Based on a true story, these two books tell the adventures of a young boy’s travels in the 1700s.
Aimed somewhere between the Sparks and My Story series reading level, the straightforward, accessible style belies the depth of detail, and geographically breadth. It is well written and very different to anything else we have come across – with plenty to keep adults enthralled too.
Uniquely covering people and places seldom touched upon in literature.
Accompanied by intricate black and white illustrations, the vivid descriptions give fascinating glimpses of a multitude of people, cultures and faiths, all bound up in an exciting, and touching adventure story.
A story of mixed fortunes, loss, bravery, slavery and determination.
Raiders of the Sands
Follows Abraham’s journey from Christian Ethiopia, to Arabia and the Mediterranean, inspired by tales of tribal Africa and the French court of the Sun King.
Battle for the Throne
Abraham continues his journey to the palace of the Ottoman Sultan and beyond, on to the cold north of Peter the Great’s Russia and war with Sweden.

 

 

The Secrets of the Stonehenge

Children's books, Children's fiction, History, History Books, ,

The Secrets of Stonehenge, by Mick Manning (Author) and Brita Granström (Illustrator) (Frances Lincoln Children’s Books)

This is a factual picture book aimed at older children charting the history of Stonehenge. Starting from the Mesolithic nomadic hunter-gatherers, through the first farmers to Stonehenge as a modern tourist destination. It examines how the henge was built, how it changed over time and what it may have been used for.

Each page bursts with movement and Brita Granstrom’s characteristic lively illustrations dominate each page. An information packed paragraph starts each page, and annotations, and speech weave through the pages. Packed with information, and theories about Stonehenge, but without overwhelming or being boring in way that factual books often are.

Side panels on each page clearly separate out the background information. The multi-layered illustrations and writing mean that this book can be used on many levels – as a simpler picture book by focusing on the illustrations and annotations, right up to a summary of Stonehenge for adults.

My only gripe is that I would have preferred to see the dates in the very attractive timeline at the back use BC/BCE as well as years ago. This would make it easier for younger readers to put Stonehenge into wider historical context.

secrets of stonehenge

  Find Secrets of Stonehenge on Amazon…

 

World History – our approach

History, History Books, Home education, ,

A couple of years ago after a quick run through of British history we started looking at world history.
Many home educators use The Story of the World as a basis for world history, so we began by investigating this.

Story of the World

sotw

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The first story grabbed my then eight year old daughters attention, but we soon discovered that these books didn’t work for us. We found the layout and writing pretty boring. Past the first story the tales lacked characters and everything lacked enough variation to make things interesting. The Activity book didn’t really work for us either, as we’ve found conversation and story telling to be more useful. The slight Christian bias also didn’t suit us.
I was however quite taken with the idea of the four year cycle of ancient, medieval, early modern, and modern.

Well-Trained Mind, The Story of the World

Our approach

Rather than use The Story of the World I decided on a research it ourselves and collaborate with friends approach. Here is a bit about what has worked for us.

Monthly time period

I assigned a time period to each month (around eight per year) focusing on ancient history for the first year, then this last year we have moved on to medieval history.

1. Ancient History (Up to approx 400AD/CE)

  • Prehistory
  • Ancient Mesopotamia
  • Ancient Egypt
  • Ancient China
  • Other ancient peoples
  • Ancient Greece
  • Ancient Rome

2. Medieval History (approx 400 to 1400AD/CE)

3. Early Modern
A bit about how our approach is developing this year…

  • Renaissance Europe
  • Islamic Empires
  • Russia
  • Africa
  • Asia
  • Australia
    • pre-Contact Australia
  • Americas
  • England
  • British Isles

4. Modern

The schedule can also be easily changed to include times and places of particular interest or significance to your family

Resources

Rather than use a bought curriculum we have researched ourselves.
We have used lots of different resources along the way. reference books, websites,  historical fiction, children’s factual books, websites,  TV documentaries, children’s TV, board games, music videos and more. Sometimes I read adult books and shared my findings with my daughter through conversation.

  • World History reference books
  • Factual books
  • Historical fiction
  • World History websites for adults and children
  • TV documentaries
  • Children’s TV shows
  • TV drama
  • Music videos
  • History craft books
  • Board and card games

Over time I will blog about resources we found and used along the way.

Special Interests

Although this approach does require more research it has also enabled us to tailor history and has the advantage of allowing us to incorporate special interests. For us this meant focusing on mythology for some of the ancient time periods and then later on famous women in history. All sorts of interests can be incorporated in this way, from animals, transport to warfare depending on what excites the child. .

History Groups

We have really enjoyed tackling much our history as part of history groups. It helps us focus on the history and gives a deadline by which to produce something to share.
We are part of a Facebook group where home educators can share resources and ask for help and ideas. https://www.facebook.com/groups/historyhomeeducation/

Minnow and the Bear

Books and Magazines, Children's books, Children's fiction, History, History Books, Nature Books, , , ,


Minnow and the Bear, by Benedict Blathwayt (Red Fox Picture Books)

A beautifully illustrated children’s book, but disappointing as historical fiction.

Minnow, the caveboy longs to be old enough to go hunting with the men, but instead he accidentally falls into the river and gets washed down river. Minnow and his new friend the bear cub survive in the wilds, until the depths of winter draw him back home.

The outstanding thing about this book is the illustration. Exquisite, detailed, studies of the natural world, laid out in full pages and smaller cartoon strip style, gentle action through the pages.

Despite this it failed to impress us as historical fiction. The words feel slightly disjointed, but most of all the characters and culture feel all wrong.

Whilst the boy appears perfectly capable of gathering food and looking after himself on his adventures the women of his community are completely useless. They are seldom seen to move from their cave, don’t gather foods or do any productive work and are unable to relight the camp’s fire when it goes out. With each re-reading these parts feel more and more patronising and unrealistic as a portrayal of a time when the whole community had to work together to survive. The sharp division between the adult male hunters and the one lone boy also grates. Rather than showing the way hunter gatherer children learn by immersion in the every day life of their community, it feels like a twenty first century boy’s day dream.

In summary a good picture book for a child that loves visual elements and tiny details, but best avoided as a means of learning about the stone age. If you want a children’s picture book that exudes the feel of the time and people then we recommend Stone Age Boy.

Find Minnow and the Bear on Amazon…

References:

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/freedom-learn/200808/children-educate-themselves-iii-the-wisdom-hunter-gatherers

 

 

Not so free of the National Curriculum ?

History, History Books, Learning, ,

As home educators we don’t have to study set subjects,  use particular methods or follow the National Curriculum. So the National Curriculum should surely be irrelevant to us unless we choose to follow it, or keep a vague eye on it as a comparison?

For most of the things we learn about this is true – we happily get on with it without a backward glance at the National Curriculum. But there comes a time when it steals into our world. It creeps into our education in subtle ways, often precisely because we aren’t following it.

As soon as you step outside the officially sanctioned topics, at the designated key stage it suddenly becomes much harder to find resources. Resources such as the BBC are, not surprisingly, geared towards the National Curriculum. Perhaps more surprisingly so are children’s book publishers, to a frustrating degree.

For our family this is especially noticeable when it comes to history. My eldest and I love history. We spend a lot of time reading and talking about it. It is the core of our child-led learning experience, because E is always looking for interesting historical tit bits, and I am always scouting ahead in order to find resources and information to feed her (and my own) appetite for more. The deeper we delve the more frustrating the droughts and the deluges become.
Some historical periods have almost nothing published for children. Try finding more than one or two books on Bronze Age Britain or the highly influential Phoenicians. Books become impossible to source from libraries, and increasingly difficult even through Amazon. Gems surface,  but are often out of print or only available from US, which has more of an emphasis on world history. Online it is a little easier as gaps can be filled in by resources created for other countries, but generally even children’s resources are wordy, and often aimed at the wrong level.

Even the favoured periods laid out in the National Curriculum are not with out problems. Here it turns from famine to feast, the kind of feast that leaves you stuffed, yet unsatisfied and regretful. The overwhelming numbers of resources and books, and the publishers’ desire to knock out more to meet the curriculum mean a flood of often poorly illustrated, incoherent and quite frankly boring books. Finding the gems is hard work, like finding the proverbial needle. And that is before we have dared to tackle a period outside the designated key stage.

In 2014 the current National Curriculum is to be replaced. One set of frustrations will inevitably be replaced by others. So publishers will fill in gaps for Bronze Age Britain, but other areas will remain or may even become poorly covered.

National Curriculum:

Primary National Curriculum until 2014 – History 
Secondary National Curriculum until 2014 – History

Changes to National Curriculum

Follow the discussions, and the controversy over changes to history curriculum

http://the-history-girls.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/the-case-of-disappearing-victorian-and.html

Other Curriculums

British History Basics – reference books

Books and Magazines, Children's books, History, History Books, Learning, ,

We started with a run through British history and have really appreciated the chronological backbone this has given us for our current world history.

A good reference book forms the backbone for studying history, not only do they provide information but they also provide a starting point from which to branch out in search of other books, Youtube videos, documentaries and crafts.

british history

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Our favourite British History reference book is:

British History: From the First Human Inhabitants to the New Millennium

Philip Steele and Fiona McDonald, Published by Miles Kelly

This book has beautiful illustrations, and the text reads and flows well, so that it can be read aloud. The text is concise, and evocative, managing to bring the important facts to life.

It has a smaller format that many of the history reference books and we find that helps keep the amount of information on the page to a manageable amount.

Each of the seven eras starts with a chart to show what is happening in other parts of the world at the over the same time. It ends with mini biographies of important historical figures.

You might also try:

I would really love to hear about your favourite British History reference book.
Which one do you use and what do you like about it?

 

British Bronze Age – Children’s Historical Fiction

Children's books, Children's fiction, History Books, , , , ,

Historical fiction is a great way of finding out more about history.
But some places and times are harder to find books on than others. Where as there is lots of historical fiction for children on the stone age which could be set in the British Isles, I have found very few books on bronze age Britain, and nothing for younger children.

Both of the books featured examine the possible impact of the introduction of objects of new metals on a community.

Mini reviews of the ones we have read:

  • boybronzeaxeThe Boy with the Bronze Axe by Kathleen Fidler
    Kali and Brockan live in the village of Skara Brae on Orkney.  Their’s is a stone age way of life, but when a boy with a bronze axe is washed ashore everything changes.
    This is a good read, which despite its age doesn’t seem stilted. The story vividly depicts stone age life on Skara Brae and wrestles with the issues that arise when new technologies and ideas are introduced.
    It is a more approachable read than Warrior Scarlet.
  • warrior scarletWarrior Scarlet by Rosemary Sutcliff
    Drem is born with a withered arm. Follow his story as he faces the obstacles this poses for him in proving himself and becoming a warrior. Will he be able to overcome his disability?
    A story of friendship, persistence, and harsh realities.
    Rosemary Sutcliff’s descriptive, more complex style makes this book a harder read than The Boy with the Bronze Axe.

 More children’s historical fiction set in the bronze age (we haven’t read these yet)

View Children’s Historical Fiction: Bronze Age Britain on Amazon Listmania

Do you have any comments on these or any other historical fiction set in the bronze age?

Nature Storybooks

Children's books, Learning, Nature Books, , ,

Our favourite series on animals is Nature Storybooks.
Each one of these picture books is the life story or an homage to a different animal and each has a distinct character of its own.
These books succeed in a way so few others do because they read like well-written fiction, combined with the most beautiful illustrations. And indeed the authors include such well-known names as Nicola Davies and Dick King-Smith.
The stories flow through the book, and are accompanied by extra information on the animal. As an bonus you can buy some of these books with a CD giving you audio book and picture book in one.
The choice of animals is well balanced, from the well-known – horses and tigers – to the more unusual seahorse and eel. The more unusual ones are particularly captivating because of their novelty. This is one of those series that just keeps us coming back for more.

Click on a picture to see on Amazon:

Dolphin Baby, Nicola Davies (Author), Brita Granstrom (Illustrator)

Buy Dolphin Baby on Amazon

Dolphin Baby, Vivian French (Author), Jessica Ahlber (Illustrator)

Buy Yucky Worms on Amazon

Bears in the Forest Karen Wallace and Barbara Firth

Buy Bears in the Forest on Amazon

White Owl, Barn Owl Nicola Davies and Michael Foreman

Buy White Owl, Barn Owl on Amazon

Bat Loves the Night ,Nicola Davies and Sarah Fox-Davies

Buy Bat Loves the Night on Amazon

Caterpillar Butterfly Vivian French and Charlotte Voake

Buy Caterpillar Butterfly on Amazon

Think of an Eel Karen Wallace and Mike Bostock

Buy Think of an Eel on Amazon

Growing Frogs Vivian French and Alison Bartlett

Buy Growing Frogs on Amazon

I Love Guinea-Pigs Dick King-Smith and Anita Jeram

Buy I Love Guinea-Pigs on Amazon

A Field Full of Horses Peter Hansard and Kenneth Lilly

Buy A Field Full of Horses on Amazon

Insect Detective Steve Voake and Charlotte Voake

Buy Insect Detective on Amazon

Gentle Giant Octopus Karen Wallace and Mike Bostock

Buy Gentle Giant Octopus on Amazon

Tracks of a Panda Nick Dowson and Yu Rong

Buy Tracks of a Panda on Amazon

The Emperor's Egg Martin Jenkins and Jane Chapman

Buy The Emperor’s Egg on Amazon

All Pigs Are Beautiful Dick King-Smith and Anita Jeram

Buy All Pigs Are Beautiful on Amazon

Seahorse: The Shyest Fish in the Sea Christine Butterworth and John Lawrence

Buy Seahorse: The Shyest Fish in the Sea on Amazon

Surprising Sharks Nicola Davies and James Croft

Buy Surprising Sharks on Amazon

Tigress Nick Dowson and Jane Chapman

Buy Tigress on Amazon

T. Rex Vivian French and Alison Bartlett

Buy T. Rex on
Amazon

One Tiny Turtle Nicola Davies and Jane Chapman

Buy One Tiny Turtle on Amazon

Big Blue Whale Nicola Davies and Nick Maland

Buy Big Blue Whale on Amazon

Walk with a Wolf Janni Howker and Sarah Fox-Davies

Buy Walk with a Wolf on Amazon

Ice Bear Nicola Davies and Gary Blythe

Buy Ice Bear on Amazon

Just Ducks!, Nicola Davies (Author), Salvatore Rubbino (Illustrator)

Buy Just Ducks on Amazon

See What a Seal Can Do, Christine Butterworth (Author), Kate Nelms (Illustrator)

Buy See What a Seal Can Do on Amazon

Flight of the Honey Bee, Raymond Huber (Author), Brian Lovelock (Illustrator)

Buy Flight of the Honey Bee on Amazon

Fabulous Frogs, Martin Jenkins (Author), Tim Hopgood (Illustrator)

Buy Fabulous Frogs on Amazon

Emu, Claire Saxby (Author), Graham Byrne (Illustrator)

Buy Emu on Amazon

Big Red Kangaroo, Claire Saxby (Author), Graham Byrne (Illustrator)

Buy Big Red Kangaroo on Amazon

I (Don't) Like Snakes, Nicola Davies (Author), Luciano Lozano (Illustrator)

Buy I (Don’t) Like Snakes on Amazon

Finding out about animals

Home education, Learning, Nature Books, ,

My youngest and I are both very interested in animals, so I have started spending more time finding books and other resources that should interest her.

Our approach is fairly informal. But I do have a need to create a framework, in order to satisfy my sense of order and it makes it easier for me to research good resources and books, which as you can tell from my blog is something I love to do! Then if and when my daughter is interested we share them.

For the animal kingdom the obvious approach seemed to be to reflect the evolutionary relationships of animals, and the starting point for this has been the poster that takes pride of place on our living room wall. Produced a couple of years ago for the Open University, the Tree of Life poster is a beautiful representation of evolutionary relationships between living things. We have laminated it so that it will last. A variation on the poster is available on Amazon. My daughter is endlessly fascinated by pictures on this poster and the relationships between the animals. And this prompted me to find more resources for her.

A second essential resource is a good animal encyclopedia. As a child I spent hours reading my one and became extraordinarily proud of knowing about really obscure animals such as the South American Yapok (an otter like marsupial or pouched animal). So I spent a while roaming shops and Amazon looking for a really good up to date book to replace my rather out of date and tattered volume. My criteria were that the illustrations or photographs had to be beautiful to look at, that it be an adult one so that it has enough detail and coverage to satisfy an interested child’s thirst for the unusual, and that it include distribution maps so that we can easily see where a species comes from. The favourite we settled on it was the then current edition of The Encyclopedia of Animals: A Complete Visual Guide. Though we do also like the Natural History Book from DK – which includes rocks, plants and a larger number of species, but lacks the distribution maps.

We also have a copy of the very wonderful Zoo-ology, which I have blogged about before and is a great pictorial starting point for even the youngest child.

We don’t tend to use online resources but a one that appeals to me and I’m keeping in mind for my daughter as she gets older is the very comprehensive and visually appealing Arkive, a multimedia guide to animals, plants and fungi. There are teachers resources, games as well as comprehensive information on each species.

We also have a giant world map that we use to blue tac on things of interest. It has taken me a long time to find the ideal map website for our home education needs but have finally found the solution. These MegaMaps allow you to print out maps on A4 paper and stick them together to create really large maps. We print out pictures of animals of particular interest and stick them on to show where they come from.

For each group of animals I search Amazon and the local library for books to share. Then we reserve and borrow library books and see which ones we like. If there are books from particular series or that come highly recommended and my daughter likes the look of them then we might even buy one! I will post our favourites as we go along.

Coming next – Our favourite resources on the Great Apes

 

The animals of Eric Carle

Children's books, Children's fiction, Nature Books, , , , , ,

One our favourite author’s for younger children who love animals is Eric Carle.

He has a way of combining a quick, colourful story with a good first look at a group of animals. Although most famous for the Very Hungry Caterpillar, with its less than realistic diet of a caterpillar, some of his other book introduce new animals in a very accessible way.

Three of our favourites are:

See on Amazon

See on Amazon

See on Amazon

Mister Seahorse – A pregnant Mr Seahorse meets lots of other different fish, including other Dads looking after their eggs and babies in their own way. Interesting look at male parental care in fish.

The Very Quiet Cricket – The Very Quiet cricket meets a range of other insects, including a spittle bug and a lunar moth

Slowly slowly slowly said the sloth – The sloth introduces us very slowly to some of the animals of South America including a tapir and some leaf cutter ants