Carefully choosing histories and historical novels will help you present Christian ideals as the motivating force of America’s history and culture. (If you live in a different country–find books that present how Christianity shaped your history and culture.)
Historical novels weave imaginary and real-life people, facts and factual happenings into a fictional story. The most educational have researched the historical culture and help the reader to learn what it was like at the time period of the story. Full of adventure in the decisions of everyday life at a different period of time the reader learns life lessons, the importance of godly character, and how one person or one event can effect many other people in an ever widening ripple.
Histories stick to the facts and the actual people who accomplished them. Finding histories written at the time of the events are less likely to be “revisionist” in content.
Reading an accurate history will give you a solid framework for its period of time.
Enjoy some historical poetry also. Every child should recognize Paul Revere’s Ride by Longfellow as belonging to the Revolution. The rich imagery of poetry helps develop the mind’s eye, which has become lazy in our audio-visual saturated culture. The meter of poetry makes words memorable.
There is one popular series of historical novels I would suggest caution with, The American Girls Series. These seem to lean toward revisionist history and have overtones of feminism. An aspect of the last books in The Little House on the Prairie Series also.
Sources for histories, historical novels and biographies are Christian curriculum producers, ministries that re-print out of print books, Christian publishers, the public library, and old books in second-hand stores.
More books from our “Books Read” list:
Wright Brothers-biography
The History of Plymouth Plantation
Daniel Boone-biography
Young Jed Smith-biography
D is for Dinosaur
Brave the Wild Trail
Dry Bones & Other Fossils
Sheriff at Waterstop
Dinosaurs by Design
Adam & His Kin
Stories of the Pilgrims
Susanna Wesley-biography
Great Ice Age
Black Beauty (Unabridged)
Bobbsey Twins
Treasure in an Oatmeal Box
Robin Hood (Unabridged)
Hans Brinker (Unabridged)
From Sea to Shining Sea
Jeb Stuart-biography
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