History

Although I expect that this series was designed for mid-grade school, my younger children have still found it to be very interesting for read-alouds. The story of the Pony Express tends to be one of rather high interest for young children, but one that is given very brief mention in most history textbooks. I found it very interesting to discover that the Pony Express only ran for a year and a half, how it was affected by the California Gold Rush and the Civil War and how it paved the way for running of telegraph lines coast to coast which made the service obsolete.

The Civil War Battle of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania (July 1 - 3, 1863) is a complex, multi-faceted piece of history that would be difficult to understand after reading just one book. If you ever find yourself in the South-Central Pennsylvania, I would recommend a visit. I've been there twice and it's very a moving, historically interesting site.

This is an interesting, very readable overview of the Civil War. There is a significant focus on the issue of slavery as a plague upon American culture of the time. The author's basic thesis is that, while different people fought for different reasons and the focus was especially blurred when the war began (when there was more emphasis on preservation of the union), the war was essentially fought over the issue of slavery.

This is a sweet, but challenging story about a 16 year old girl from pro-Confederate Maryland who marries a Union soldier from Connecticut just after the Civil War. The story presents the conflicts of hard feelings and the need for healing between North and South in the context of family relationships. It seems quite unusual as stories usually lead up to an unknown "happily ever after." Here, the emphasis is on this young bride's married life.

This is a delightful collection of additional stories about Caddie Woodlawn and her family (and one additional story as explained in the introduction that doesn't quite belong). These stories take place between 1863 and 1866 and so in some places overlap the original stories in Caddie Woodlawn which took place in 1864. Here each chapter stands alone as an interesting and true story and many are very touching and beautiful.

Caddie Woodlawn is the story of a young tom-boyish girl who grew up in pioneer Wisconsin during the Civil War (this story predates the first book of the Little House series by about 25 years - but they are quite close geographically). Caddie's father was the grandson of an English Lord, but as his mother was from the lower classes, his father was disowned and the family grew up impoverished. He emigrated to America where he married a charming Boston lady with whom he raised a family of eight children. They moved to Wisconsin when Caddie (short for Caroline) was very young.

Little Britches is the first book in an eight-book series by Ralph Moody and came so highly recommended that I was concerned about being disappointed. We shouldn't have waited; it is brilliant! This book is particularly well-suited to being read aloud and will be enjoyed by every age grouping. It would be a wonderful book to have "Daddy" read to the family.

The titles in the series are:

This lovely little storybook has been enjoyed by my preschoolers as well as my grade-school-aged children. As the moral of the story unfolds, this colorful story book exposes children to a little bit of Ancient China. It is the story of Ping, a child with a green thumb. However when the emperor gives Ping a seed to care for, he cannot even get a sprout from it. Yet all of the children of the land, who were also given seeds to nurture, return to the emperor's palace with beautiful flowers. Ping, humbled, gives the emperor his empty pot expecting to be scolded.

This is an extensive reading list, from a Catholic perspective, on materials relating to or taking place at the same time as the American Revolution. The extensive introduction gives tips and ideas for studying the revolution, choosing books, and how to proceed. The list is broken up into the following categories: Grades K-3 Series, Grades K-3 Individual Titles, Grades 3-6 Series, Grades 3-6, Individual Titles, Grades 5-Up Series, Grades 5-Up Individual Titles, Grades 7-Up Series, Grades 7-Up Individual Titles and Grades 10-Up Individual Titles.

A surprisingly in-depth account of the characters involved in the writing of the United States' Constitution and many of the fascinating details of life at that time, the struggles involved in such a monumental task, and the somewhat humorous attitudes and actions of our Founding Fathers. Approximately 4th grade reading level, but could be read aloud to younger children (and would be informative for older ones as well).