History

This young people's version of some of the most famous stories from Herodotus focuses primarily on the Persian Wars - most notably the battles of Marathon, Thermopylae and Salamis. This is a very accessible volume for young people (and makes a great read-aloud) collecting many of the most interesting stories from Herodotus and presenting them in a suitable format for children (some of the content in the unabridged Herodotus have mature themes). The stories provide a nice overview of the Persian Wars, a backdrop of Greek stories to get a fuller sense of the culture and make great tales in-and-of themselves; filled with thoughtful ideas, strange characters and good discussion material.

The book is llustrated with charming black and white figures modeled after images on Greek pottery.

What is history? A story. In The American Revolution for Kids, Janis Herbert has given us a well written, high interest story. Her style of writing is lively and interesting as wells as fair and impartial - giving us a fair and balanced picture of an emotionally turbulent time. This book offers a good overview of the time period (suitable for putting together a unit study on the time period) or interesting reading for its own sake.

Although the majority of the book follows the development of the war from its onset until its conclusion, Herbert also takes some detours, offering information about other events and people of the time - like a typical colonist and the life of soldier - to give us a sense of day-to-day life and customs of the time. The story doesn't end with the closing of the war; the last chapter discusses the Constitutional Convention through the final ratification of the Constitution.

There are many other extra features in this book:

A timeline sets the stage beginning with the French and Indian War (1754-60), following the development of important battles, explaining important dates along the way and finally ending with Congress adopting the Bill of Rights in 1791.

Spotlight biographies cover such important figures as John Hancock, George Washington, and Nathanael Greene. Other interesting facts are also spotlighted throughout the book, such as how many musket balls were made from the torn down, lead statue of King George.

The 21 Activities noted in the title are sprinkled throughout the text and include making a fringed hunting shirt like one worn by frontiersman Gen. Daniel Morgan, reenacting the Battle of Cowpens, creating a powder horn, sewing a pouch, and baking Boston Brown bread.

The end pages include a glossary, a list of famous Patriots and Redcoats, a list of biographies, the Declaration of Independence, web sites to explore, Revolutionary War Sites to visit in person, a Bibliography, and an index.

I would suggest that families make a point of reading about how Catholics were treated at this time, since this is overlooked in most secular texts. Far from religious toleration, there was a great deal of bigotry at that time, creating mixed feelings for Catholics as to which side they should support.

The Blackbird's Nest is the story of St. Kevin of Ireland (498 A.D-618 A.D.). I first became acquainted with his legend in Seamus Heaney's poem, St Kevin and the Blackbird. In both Heaney's poem and in this beautiful picture book it's a fabulous story about a real historical figure, the abbot and founder of the monastery at Glendalough. And it's full of the most marvelous of medieval flights of fancy, typical of that era's hagiography, that carry deep spiritual truths, even if they may perhaps seem a little hard to swallow as historical fact.

The crux of the story is that St. Kevin, kneeling in prayer one day with his arm stretched out the window, has a blackbird build its nest in his hand. He then must continue to hold that posture for forty days until the eggs have hatched and the babies grown up and flown away. The book points out that the forty days has a spiritual significance:

Just as Kevin waited for the baby birds to break open their eggs and come to new life in his hand, during Lent we wait for Christ to break open the tomb and bring new life into our hearts.

The book follows St. Kevin from his miracle-touched birth (the snow melted all around his house) to his holy death at the age of one hundred and twenty and has a wonderful message about loving nature and our fellow men.

The story also highlights that Kevin is an imperfect person who grows in holiness. At first he is rather anti-social preferring to spend time with animals. He tormented other children, puzzled his parents, and often wearied the monks. His experience with the blackbird's nest teaches him reliance on God's strength as he turns to God in prayer to carry him through his ordeal (He repeats, "Lord have mercy," three times and concludes with "Amen" when the last of the baby birds flies away,) and teaches him gentleness and compassion toward his fellow men, not just to animals.

My two-year-old daughter loves the pictures of the animals and is especially enchanted with the image of infant Kevin's baptism. When we read the story she chatters about the priest "putting water on the baby's head" (just as her sister was baptized recently).

I love the fact that the book concludes with a historical note that includes a beautiful icon of St. Kevin, a short biography, and a prayer to St. Kevin, reminding readers that he's more than just a storybook figure, he's also an intercessor in heaven, a real person with whom we have a wonderful relationship as fellow members of the Body of Christ. I always conclude our reading of the story by reciting the prayer and having my daughter repeat, "St. Kevin, pray for us."

You were privileged to live in the age of saints, O Father Kevin, being baptized by one saint, taught by another, and buried by a third. Pray to God that he will raise up saints in our day to help, support, and guide us in the way of salvation.

Although the publishers recommend the book for ages 9-12, I think the inspiring story and beautiful illustrations will appeal both to much younger children as well as to older children and to adults, who can also benefit from the spiritual insights the book offers.

Bennet’s life dream is to become a knight. Not one to sit idly by, he does everything in his power to physically train for such a high position in the hopes of at least becoming a squire someday. But how can his dream ever become a reality when he is just the son of a lowly armorer of the great Lord Godfrey of Bouillon, Duke of Lorraine.

Life, however, takes a sudden turn of events when Peter the Hermit, riding through the region, sets everyone on fire with his preaching to save the holy city of Jerusalem from the hands of the infidels.

Not long after, Pope Urban convenes a meeting with bishops, archbishops, and cardinals to prepare the way for the first crusade. The result is Pope Urban’s challenge to every man, woman, and child to save Jerusalem under the sign of the “blood-red” cross—a crusade. With Pope Urban’s famous words, “God wills it,” the whole of Western Europe is set in motion in a new direction to conquer Jerusalem.

Suddenly, castle life becomes mundane and boring and the idea of traveling to a distant city, and not any city -but the holy city of Jerusalem, where our Lord preached - an exciting and grand adventure. Life has a new purpose with a noble cause worth fighting for.

Lord Godfrey, however, hesitates. Should he go too? At long last, Lord Godfrey reaches a decision that he too will join the crusade, and to Bennet’s great joy, he is asked to be a squire. After many preparations, the long and arduous journey begins across Europe on to the holy land with the blue gonfalon, Lord Godfrey’s standard, leading the way.

There is plenty of tension, uncertainty, and excitement along the way as not everyone is as enthusiastic and supportive of the cause as they are and they have many battles to overcome before they reach the holy city of Jerusalem. Will Bennet reach his dream of becoming a knight someday?

The Blue Gonfalon is a tale of high romance, not the kind of story of boy meets girl, but a true “romance” of a “narrative depicting heroic or marvelous deeds, pageantry . . .”

Those who know and love history will appreciate Hubbard’s accuracy in presenting a fair and balanced account of the characters and events surrounding the First Crusade (1095 AD). In other words, not everyone has the highest motives for going and those who do go are not suddenly changed into angelic beings, but are still fully human and limited by their human frailties. Bennet, however, as well as Lord Godfrey, always strives to do the right thing.

Hubbard’s flowing narrative holds together a complicated tale of true events, heroic deeds, perilous dangers, and adventurous exploits.