Next year we will be studying history from 1865 to current. I am excited because we have finally gotten all our children in the same century of study!! I am looking for suggestions for a couple/few books for me to read to the whole crew. That would be mid-elementary to high school.
One of my favorite Civil War books is actually a picture book by Patricia Polacco called Pink and Say. I guess you could say it’s for elementary kids, but I think it’s one of the most moving books I’ve read for any age. I still get teary when I reach the end. It wouldn’t take very long and it is well worth your time, IMHO. I’ll try to think of others from later periods!
Our whole family loved the Little Britches books by Ralph Moody. There are a few words used in the books that we discourage from using in our vocabulary, but they are easy to see coming, so the reader can skip over them.
Another popular series we liked, not just for girls, is the original Little House series, by Laura Ingalls Wilder. Farmer Boy was actually our favorite in the series.
Any of the books by H.E. Marshall are wonderful! Right now our family is reading “Our Island Story” which is the history of England. But she also has several others written on different countries and their history. They are WONDERFUL read alouds, and the chapters are fairly short too, although the books are quite lengthy, but this is good because you are thoroughly covering the subject! They are definately not ‘twaddle’. 🙂