The Illustrated Read Your Way Through History in Picture Books List

Always Under Construction !


These are books our wonderful Central Rapahannock Regional Library has in circulation.  I do not presume to judge what other parents will find suitable for their children.  Please preview them yourself before reading them to your children if you have any doubts.  Maybe as I read through this list with my own children I will have time to add my own comments about each book.  For now I hope you will enjoy tracking these titles down at your library and sharing them with your children.  This list was inspired by the work of Cay Gibson, author of Picture Perfect Childhood, and Alicia van Hecke, author of Read Your Way Through History. 

The Creation c. 5000 B.C
It Couldn't Just Happen, Lawrence O. Richards
In The Beginning, Virginia Hamilton

The Dinosaurs 5th and 6th days of Creation


Adam and Eve c. 5000 B.C.
Daughters of Fire, Heroines of the Bible, Fran Manushkin
Adam and Eve and the Garden of Eden, Jane Ray
 
Cain and Abel c. 5000 B.C.
Cain and Abel, Finding the Fruits of Peace, Sandy Eisenberg Sasso

Noah and the Flood c. 3500 B.C.
Noah and the Great Flood, Mordicai Gerstein
Noah's Ark, Jerry Pinkney
Noah's Ark, Heinz Janisch 

The Ice Age c. 3500-2500 B.C.
You Wouldn't Want to Be a Mammoth Hunter!, John Malam


Stonehenge c. 3000 B.C.

The Epic of Gilgamesh c. 2750 B.C.
Gilgamesh the King, Ludmilla Zeman
The Revenge of Isthat, Ludmilla Zeman
The Last Quest of Gilgamesh, Ludmilla Zeman

Djoser's Step Pyramid c. 2630 B.C.
 
Cheops (Khufu) c. 2600 B.C.
The Pharaoh's Boat, David Weitzman

 
Khufu's Great Pyramid c. 2540 B.C.

Egyptian Civilization Begins c. 2575-2500 B.C.
I Am The Mummy Hebnefert, Eve Bunting
Temple Cat, Andrew Clements
The Egyptian Cinderella, Shirley Climo

Abraham and Sarah c. 2100 B.C.
Daughters of Fire, Heroines of the Bible, Fran Manushkin 


Isaac c. 2100-2000 B.C.
The Binding of Isaac, Barbara Cohen
Be Not Far From Me: The Oldest Love Story: Legends From The Bible, Eric Kimmel


Jacob and Esau c. 2005 B.C.
Jacob and Esau, Mary Auld

Job c. 2000s B.C.

Ancient Mayan Civilization c. 2000 B.C.
Gods and Goddesses of The Ancient Maya, Leonard Everett Fisher


Joseph c. 1914 B.C.
Joseph and his Magnificent Coat of Many Colors, Marcia Williams
Joseph and His Brothers, Mary Auld

Queen Hatshepsut c. 1503-1482 B.C.
His Majesty, Queen Hatshepsut, Dorothy Sharp Carter


Moses and the Exodus c. 1400s B.C.
Exodus from Egypt, Mary Auld
Moses in Egypt, Brad Kessler
Moses, Margaret Hodges
Moses, Leonard Everett Fisher
Moses in the Bulrushes, Warwick Hutton
Moses, The Long Road to Freedom, Ann Keay Beneduce
Remembering the Prophets of Sacred Scripture, Marianna Mayer

Joshua c. 1400s B.C.
Be Not Far From Me: The Oldest Love Story: Legends From The Bible, Eric Kimmel

Tutankhamen c. 1333 B.C.
Tutankhamen's Gift, Robert Sabuda


Seti I c. 1300s B.C.
Pharaoh, Life and Afterlife of a God, David Kennett

King Minos c. 1300s B.C.
The Hero and the Minotaur, Robert Byrd
Theseus and the Minotaur, Warwick Hutton
Wings, Jane Yolen

Jason c. ?
Jason and the Golden Fleece, Leonard Everett Fisher

Legend of the Trojan Horse c. 1250 B.C.
Black Ships Before Troy, The Story of The Iliad, Rosemary Sutcliff
The Wanderings of Odysseus, The Story of the Odyssey, Rosemary Stucliff 
The Adventures of Odysseus, Hugh Lupton 
Cyclops, Leonard Everett Fisher
Odysseus and the Cyclops, Warwick Hutton
The Trojan Horse, Albert Lorenz (graphic book)
The Trojan Horse, Warwick Hutton

Ruth and Naomi c. 1200 B.C.
Daughters of Fire, Heroines of the Bible, Fran Manushkin

Gideon c. 1199 B.C.
Be Not Far From Me: The Oldest Love Story: Legends From The Bible, Eric Kimmel

Samson c. 1175 B.C
Be Not Far From Me: The Oldest Love Story: Legends From The Bible, Eric Kimmel

Samuel c. 1113 B.C.
Remembering the Prophets of Sacred Scripture, Marianna Mayer

Saul c. 1100 B.C.
The Story of King Saul and King David, Lore Segal

King David c. 1055 B.C.
David and Goliath, Beatrice Schenk de Regniers
David's Songs, Colin Eisler

King Solomon c. 1015 B.C.

Norse Civilization c. 900 B.C.
Iduna and the Magic Apples, Marianna Mayer

Elijah c. 859 B.C.
The Mysterious Visitor, Stories of the Prophet Elijah, Nina Jaffe
Elijah the Slave, Isaac Bashevis Singer
Journeys with Elijah, Barbara Diamond Goldin
 
Elisha c. 840 B.C.
Remembering the Prophets of Sacred Scripture, Marianna Mayer 

Joel c. 835 B.C.
Remembering the Prophets of Sacred Scripture, Marianna Mayer

Obadiah c. 835 B.C.
Remembering the Prophets of Sacred Scripture, Marianna Mayer
Greek Civilization C. 800 B.C.
Persephone, Warwick Hutton

King Midas c. 700 B.C.
King Midas and the Golden Touch, Charlotte Craft
King Midas, Neil Philip
King Midan The Golden Touch, Demi
King Midas, John Warren Stewig

Homer c. 800 B.C.

The Olympic Games 776 B.C.

Jonah 760 B.C.
The Story of Jonah, Mary Auld
Jonah and the Two Great Fish, Mordicai Gerstein

Amos c. 760 B.C.
Remembering the Prophets of Sacred Scripture, Marianna Mayer
Romulus and Remus c. 771 B.C.
Romulus and Remus, Anne Rockwell
Famous Men of Rome, John Haaren

Isaiah 740 B.C
Remembering the Prophets of Sacred Scripture, Marianna Mayer 

Micah 735 B.C.
Remembering the Prophets of Sacred Scripture, Marianna Mayer 

Sennacherib 704-681 B.C.

Hosea c. 701 B.C.
Remembering the Prophets of Sacred Scripture, Marianna Mayer 

Hezekiah 701 B.C.
Remembering the Prophets of Sacred Scripture, Marianna Mayer
 
Nahum 660 B.C.
Remembering the Prophets of Sacred Scripture, Marianna Mayer 


Daniel 635-536 B.C.
Remembering the Prophets of Sacred Scripture, Marianna Mayer 

Zephaniah c. 630 B.C.
Remembering the Prophets of Sacred Scripture, Marianna Mayer 

Jeremiah c. 627 B.C.
Remembering the Prophets of Sacred Scripture, Marianna Mayer 

Habakkuk c. 607 B.C.
Remembering the Prophets of Sacred Scripture, Marianna Mayer

Aesop's Fables 600 B.C.


Ezekiel 597-571 B.C.
Remembering the Prophets of Sacred Scripture, Marianna Mayer
 
Pythagoras 566 B.C.

Buddha 563-483 B.C.
Buddha, Susan L. Roth

Darius I 522-485 B.C.

Haggai c. 520 B.C. / Zechariah c. 520 B.C.
Remembering the Prophets of Sacred Scripture, Marianna Mayer
 
Roman Republic c. 509 B.C.

Legend of Hercules, c. 500 B.C.
The Twelve Labors of Hercules, James Riordan

Ancient China 500 B.C.-220 A.D.
The Fourth Question, Rosalind C. Wang
The Journey of Meng, Doreen Rappaport
The Emperor's Silent Army, Jane O'Connor
The Girl Who Drew a Phoenix, Demi
Happy New Year!, Kung-Hsi Fa-Ts'ai, Demi
Kites, Demi
The Gods and Goddesses of Ancient China, Leonard Everett Fisher

Lao Tzu c. 500 B.C.

The Silk Route c. 500 B.C.-1500 A.D.
The Silk and Spices Route, Paul Strathern
The Silk Route: 7000 Miles of History, John S. Major

Esther c. 480 B.C.
Queen Esther Sames Her People, retold by Rita Golden Gelman
Esther's Story, by Diane Wolkstein

Socrates c. 469-399 B.C.
Wise Guy, The Life and Philosophy of Socrates, M. D. Usher

Parthenon 447 B.C.
Parthenon, Lynn Curlee

Peloponnesian War 431-404 B.C.
Atalanta's Race, A Greek Myth, Shirley Climo
The Race of the Golden Apples, Claire Martin

Malachi c. 425 B.C.
Remembering the Prophets of Sacred Scripture, Marianna Mayer  

Alexander III 356-323 B.C.
You Wouldn't Want to Be in Alexander the Great's Army!, Jacqueline Morley

Eratosthenes c. 275-195 B.C. 
The Librarian Who Measured the Earth, Kathryn Lasky

Gaius Julius Caesar c. 100 B.C.
Julius Caesar, Great Dictator or Rome, Richard Platt

Cleopatra 69-30 B.C. 
Cleopatra, Diane Stanley

The Birth of Christ, c. 1 A.D.
The Glorious Impossible, Madeleine L'Engle
The Life of Jesus in Masterpieces of Art, Mary Pope Osbourne
Jesus, Demi

Muhammad, c. 571
Muhammad, Demi

Ancient India c. 1 A.D.-1279 A.D.
One Grain of Rice, Demi

Genghis Kahn, 1162-1227
Chengis Khan, Demi

Nasreddin, c. 1200
The Hungry Coat, Demi 

Scottland, Tamlin, 1549
Tamlin, Warwick Hutton

Dalai Lama, c. 1600
The Dalai Lama, Demi

Chinese Empire, c. 1775
You Wouldn't Want to be in the Forbidden City, Jacqueline Morley

Shaka Zulu, Africa, c. 1787
Shaka, King of the Zulus, Diane Stanley

Mark Twain 1835-1910
A Brillian Streak, The Making of Mark Twain, Kathryn Lasky

Gandhi, d. 1948
Gandhi, Demi

The Marine Corps Museum

The new Marine Corps Museum in Quantico, Virginia, is absolutely awesome! I had the chance to go for the first time with my older three boys last weekend. I took lots of pictures! My oldest gets swept away in there every time he goes, reading every caption and studying every picture. I was just amazed at the life-size exibits of United States Marines in action. If you're ever in the area, make sure you go. It's free, and it's not something the kids (especially the boys) will forget anytime soon.
It was a wonderful history lesson!

Happy Schooling!



This is actually a life-size figure made of wax (I guess)! He looked so real I wanted to call out, "Oorah, Devil Dog!" He's holding a flag at the end of the pole (I can't remember if it was an American flag or a Marine Corps flag.)









This was in the desert room. The temperature in the room was actually very warm, to simulate the dessert. There was an audiocast of the Marines talking to eachother over the radio and calling in the helicopter for a med-evac.





































This was in the snowy mountain room. This room was very chilly, with a bit of a wind rushing around. It, too, had an audiocast of Marines asking for reinforcements and supplied.
























These are my boys, way overdue for haircuts!



























This dog was so life-like kids were afraid to get near it. I don't think they actually stuffed a real German Shepherd, but it looked that real.













This is a depiction of the reef at the Battle of Tarawa. While we were standing there we saw a man, probably in his seventies or eighties, wearing a cap commemorating that battle. I guess he was actually there.









(The juxtaposition of my three happy boys next to this wounded Marine really cuts me up. To think of those countries in which children see the tragedy of war everyday, and then look at the joy on the faces of children who have the leisure of going to a multi-million dollar museum to look at pictures and exhibits of war really gives me pause. May we never take it for granted. And may our country cease to be the cause of those other children's suffering.)




This was the MOST real looking figure of them all, IMHO. You could even see the pores in his skin. I could have sworn he was alive.

Mapping the World One Ancient Civilization at a Time

Exlpore your world!

We incorporate geography into our history studies with lots of fun geography games (I'll post a list at a later date). But especially we enjoy doing outline maps which the kids trace and slowly fill in starting with one class of locations, like bodies of water, then moutain ranges, then cities, etc., until they have the whole map pretty much memorized. The maps at the Interactive Ancient Mediterranean Project are really nice for the study of the ancient world becaust their hi-res PDF's start with everything on the map, including terrain, then eliminate details little by little until you have just a blank map, which you can use for a "test." Even this wee ones enjoy this school assignment! They can pretend they're explorers discovering new places and mapping them for future generations.

Happy Mapping,

History--His Story!

History is our favorite subject! There's so much we have learned in this area it will take me months to share it all with you. I could have a whole blog devoted to this subject alone! Let's just start with my favorite history reading list, Reading Your Way Through History, from Love2Learn, a wonderful Catholic Homeschooling site, and the coolest timeline and timeline figures in the world! The timeline figures come on a CD and can be printed in a whole lot of different formats--from coloring book size pages, to tiny stickers I copy and paste onto mailing labels to stick them into our timelines. And just to make sure we're not getting too sidetracked I keep all the History Links close by for reference, writing and project ideas.




We study history with the Incarnation as the focal point, so that everything that happened before the Birth of Christ was a preparation of the whole world for this singular moment, and everything that's happened since has been a response to it. The only history is Catholic History. And what a glorious history it is! In addition to all the living history books we read, in High School we study from Dr. Anne Carroll's books, Christ the King, Lord of History, and Christ and the Americas, and Dr. Warren Carroll's Christendom Series and particular histories.



I also have to mention the wonderful selection of living history books and biographies from the Baldwin Project. I do not believe all these books are Catholic, per se, but I have found their treatment of delicate matters, like the conflict between Queen Elizabeth and Mary, Queen of Scots, for example, to be satisfactorily unbiased. This site is a treasure trove of good children's literature in a wide range of subjects--a must see for all homeschoolers!

Please keep checking back for elaborations on our history curriculum. I simply cannot put it all into one post! Reading Your Way Through History, the timeline and timeline figures, and the books at the Baldwin Project should keep you plenty busy in the meantime. I hope you'll find them as wonderful as we do!

In Sanguine Christi,

Multi-dimensional Learning Activity

No! These are not dinosaur bones!

Today my husband's sister brought over another archeological find--a mid-nineteenth century bed pan, broken into about 15 pieces, which was found at a Union Civil War camp. Although one cannot say for sure it was probably requisitioned from a local home since it's pretty unlikely that a Yankee soldier would have carried it down here with him.





First we had to try to piece together the puzzel. We used the variations in the color, the irregularities in the glaze (those round splotches) as clues to where each piece went.







It took a little inspecting of each of the pieces but once we got going it was pretty easy.








We used glue very much like Elmer's School glue (this is so that mistakes can be easily undone with a gentle bath of water) to affix the pieces to one another. Then we set them in a bucket of sand to hold them up as they dried.






The tapered front piece proved a bit of a challenge and had to be held together by hand while it dried.

D.P at White Oak Museum photocopied this page from a book that shows several different kinds of bedpans in use during the mid-nineteenth century. The one on the right at the top of the left-hand column is the one we were working on.

We used a soft paint brush to dust the sand off the dried pieces.

This is the finished product. As you can see not all the pieces were there, but how very cool to put back together something that's been buried for more than a century. We did history, archeology and arts and crafts all in one sitting! Amateur archeologists really "dig" homeschooling!