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Read Aloud List for American History - What am I missing?


Woodland_Mom
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I'm fine-tuning my read-aloud list for our study of American History. What "must reads" should I add to my list? Anything I should replace/remove?My boys are 4th and 6th grade.

 

 

Almost Home - The Pilgrims and the Mayflower

Sign of the Beaver - Early Settlers near Indian territory

Guns of Thunder - French and Indian War

Johnny Tremain - Pre-Revolutionary War Boston

Tolliver’s Secret - Revolutionary War

Bold Journey - Lewis & Clark explore the west

Courage to Run - Harriet Tubman & path to freedom

The Boy in the Alamo - Seige of the Alamo

Bound for Oregon- Journey west to the Oregon Territory

Iron Scouts of the Confederacy - Civil War

Little Britches - Life on a ranch in early 1900s

Little Riders - World War II

Edited by Pylegang
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Just thought of two more favorites of ours.

Ben and Me - Benjamin Franklin and his pet mouse

By the Great Horn Spoon- Gold rush

 

Oooh! Thank you for remembering and sharing these books. I'm adding both of those to my list. I think we'll enjoy both of those.:D

 

Does anyone know of a really terrific Civil War or World War book that has good detail, but not too much for young kids. Is "Young Riders" a good choice for WWII?

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Does anyone know of a really terrific Civil War or World War book that has good detail, but not too much for young kids. Is "Young Riders" a good choice for WWII?

 

Be Ever Hopeful, Hannalee/Turn Homeward, Hannalee - about a girl millhand taken from the South as a sort of prisoner of war. I found it to have a very interesting perspective on the war.

 

For WWII we liked Snow Treasure, Number The Stars, and the My America book about Ben Uchida, a boy in a Japanese internment camp.

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Would boys like Turn Homeward, Hannalee? It seemed to appeal more to girls when I read it.

 

Swift Rivers by Cornia Meigs takes place after the Louisiana Purchase - about logging on the Miss. River.

 

Carry On, Mr. Bowditch seems to be a favorite with boys around those ages.

 

I second, By The Great Horned Spoon, although I'm having my oldest do it as a reader & my #2 as an audiobook.

 

I'm having my oldest do Across Five Aprils as a reader & my younger listen to it on audiobook. I want to talk about the issues, but not have to read it myself!

 

My girls love horses, so we won't miss Gabriel's Horses (trilogy but only the first will be a read aloud for us) by Alison Hart. It takes place during the Civil War and is about a slave boy (well, at least he's a slave for the first book). And Iron Thunder by Avi is an interesting read about the Monitor/Merrimac fight (but has less info about the actual fight than it has info about making her & the spying that must have been going on in those days).

 

I liked Dragonwings by Laurence Yep. One does not often read books about the Chinese in California from this perspective. Well, at least I don't! It has cultural (chinese) stuff, flying (post-Wright Brothers), and the 1904 San Francisco Earthquake all in one book!

 

I enjoyed Miracles on Maple Hill (post WW2) by Virginia Sorensen.

 

And don't forget to throw in a movie or a book about the space race! I didn't find any one that fit my liking, so I ended up with a smattering of books (one read aloud, one for my 3rd grader, one for my 5th grader) and the Apollo 13 movie.

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I'm fine-tuning my read-aloud list for our study of American History. What "must reads" should I add to my list? Anything I should replace/remove?My boys are 4th and 6th grade.

 

 

Almost Home - The Pilgrims and the Mayflower

Sign of the Beaver - Early Settlers near Indian territory

Guns of Thunder - French and Indian War

Johnny Tremain - Pre-Revolutionary War Boston

Tolliver’s Secret - Revolutionary War

Bold Journey - Lewis & Clark explore the west

Courage to Run - Harriet Tubman & path to freedom

The Boy in the Alamo - Seige of the Alamo

Bound for Oregon- Journey west to the Oregon Territory

Iron Scouts of the Confederacy - Civil War

Little Britches - Life on a ranch in early 1900s

Little Riders - World War II

 

Love your list Angela, plus all the great suggestions. I was curious if you had compiled a final list (in order?) that you might share here. I'm terrible about putting things in order, but we are studying American History in depth this year (dd8) and I am so excited to have found your post!

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Just wanted to second the recommendation for Moccasin Trail. We loved all the books mentioned, but when I asked my guys which book they liked best last year, it was Moccasin Trail that got their vote - it helped us to more clearly visualize and understand the trials of western migration, and had great story that really captured their interest.

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I've got a girl, and she'll be nearly 8, so some of the book choices might not be the best for your boys, but this is a partial list of what I have for early American history. I'm still working on the list for books set after 1850:

 

Pedro's Journal

The Witch of Blackbird Pond

The Courage of Sarah Noble

Om-Kas-Toe

Ben and Me

The Cabin Faced West

Little House By Boston Bay

 

For activities, we have The Indian Book, which will also be a read-aloud, and Colonial Days.

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Isn't this for an adult? I've always thought of it as having more adult themes.

 

Pam [Who's ashamed to admit she hasn't read this book yet. :o]

 

Pam - you must read it. I just read it a couple months ago and really loved it. But it's definitely not for young children!

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  • 2 weeks later...
For books about american indians I love Soun Tetoken: Nez Perce Boy (Amazing Indian Children Series) - Kenneth Thomasma

Thomasma has written several other books. I read them as a child and loved them

Also what about A Lion to Guard us

 

I just looked up Soun Tetoken and saw that Amazon doesn't have them new but bn.com does. I might have to order that!

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Just wanted to second the recommendation for Moccasin Trail. We loved all the books mentioned, but when I asked my guys which book they liked best last year, it was Moccasin Trail that got their vote - it helped us to more clearly visualize and understand the trials of western migration, and had great story that really captured their interest.

 

Moccasin Trail was a big hit at our house! My boys were 9 and 12 at the time. and Om-Kas-Toe was a surprising hit, too. I loved Birchbark House - I cried and cried.

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Does anyone have a recommendation for a great world war I book?

 

I remember reading Cynthia Voigt's Tree by Leaf and LM Montgomery's Rilla of Ingleside, but I am not sure if they count as great. Hattie Big Sky is yet another about the effect on N American teen girls. For battle scenes, what about Kipling's Choice or No Hero for the Kaiser?

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Be Ever Hopeful, Hannalee/Turn Homeward, Hannalee - about a girl millhand taken from the South as a sort of prisoner of war. I found it to have a very interesting perspective on the war.

 

We really enjoyed this book as well, and I would heartily recommend Across Five Aprils. Dd and I thought it was one of the best stories ever!

 

I haven't read the whole thread yet, but would like to suggest Carry On, Mr. Bowditch and The Witch of Blackbird Pond to your early America era reading.

 

Blessings,

Lucinda

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We really enjoyed this book as well, and I would heartily recommend Across Five Aprils. Dd and I thought it was one of the best stories ever!

 

I haven't read the whole thread yet, but would like to suggest Carry On, Mr. Bowditch and The Witch of Blackbird Pond to your early America era reading.

 

Blessings,

Lucinda

 

I purchased a bunch of books from this list but left Across Five Aprils off because of some of the reviews on Amazon. It sounds like there are some (including you, lol!) that highly recommend it. Any reasons why there might be the negative reviews?

 

Also, I'm curious what age is appropriate for The Witch of Blackbird Pond?

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We are enjoying The Printer's Apprentice which I blogged about here:

http://ournestof3.blogspot.com/2011/09/interesting-history-read-aloud.html

 

We'll also read Johnny Tremain and Paul Revere and I. I'll have to look at my plans for books later on.

 

Oh, and I loved Streams to the River, River to the Sea by Scott O'Dell (Lewis & Clark, Sacagawea)

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I'm doing Amer Hist with my 5yo this year and am trying to put together some read-alouds as well. I'm wondering if anyone can share if they thought any of these would be good for a younger crowd. I read The Courage of Sarah Noble and LOVED it. Hoping to find several more that are on that level. Thanks!! :D

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I took all your suggestions and plus researched more literature books and put them all in chronological order last week. I can put it up on my blog if people want. We just read Morning Girl today in one hour, it's about a Taino family right before Columbus arrives in 1492.

 

I'm also making an American Timeline (blank but with dates) at this very moment and can also put that up as a free download.

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I took all your suggestions and plus researched more literature books and put them all in chronological order last week. I can put it up on my blog if people want. We just read Morning Girl today in one hour, it's about a Taino family right before Columbus arrives in 1492.

 

I'm also making an American Timeline (blank but with dates) at this very moment and can also put that up as a free download.

 

Um, yes, yes, yes! I would love that chronological order. I made a huge order two weeks ago in a combo of the recs in this thread plus a few others, and now I realize I have the huge task of sorting through them to put them in some sort of order. I would absolutely LOVE your ordered list :)

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Are you using MFW this year? 1850-modern?

 

I don't think I'm going to use MFW 1850 - Modern. (We school year round and will start that "cycle" in January) I've found that want to just focus on American History so we can develop a strong foundation about our country. When we're finished, I plan to listen to SOTW3 and SOTW 4 as read-alouds --via audio CDs.

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Love your list Angela, plus all the great suggestions. I was curious if you had compiled a final list (in order?) that you might share here. I'm terrible about putting things in order, but we are studying American History in depth this year (dd8) and I am so excited to have found your post!

 

Yes, I do have my books in chronological order. I typed the history topic next to each book title.

 

Thanks, everyone, for the suggestions! I've made several changes to my list. I am hoping to squeeze a WWI book in somewhere, but I don't know of one, yet! Here's my current plan:

 

Almost Home - Mayflower& Pilgrims

The Sign of the Beaver - Colonial life among Indians

Guns of Thunder - French & Indian War

Johnny Tremain - Pre-Revolutionary War - Boston

Ben and Me - Life of Benjamin Franklin

Tolliver’s Secret - Revolutionary War

Bold Journey - Lewis & Clark

Courage to Run - Harriet Tubman & path to freedom

The Boy in the Alamo - Seige of the Alamo

Moccasin Trail - Life with Indians and Journey Westward

By the Great Horn Spoon - California Gold Rush

Iron Scouts of the Confederacy - Civil War

Little Britches - Adventures on a ranch in early 1900s

Little Riders - Dutch town responds to Natzi’s in World War II

Snow Treasure - Norweigan kids save town’s treasure during World War II

In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson - American Culture

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Just one note on Angela's list:

 

I Am Regina has an attempted rape scene. It can be skipped, but it changes her adoptive "mother's" opinion about another main character (the mother's son - who is a drunk & ne'er do well), so plays into the rest of the book enough that it isn't easily skipped.

 

You'll want to pre-read it & see how you want to handle it with your kids - older & younger.

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Just one note on Angela's list:

 

I Am Regina has an attempted rape scene. It can be skipped, but it changes her adoptive "mother's" opinion about another main character (the mother's son - who is a drunk & ne'er do well), so plays into the rest of the book enough that it isn't easily skipped.

 

You'll want to pre-read it & see how you want to handle it with your kids - older & younger.

 

I did notice that and removed it from my personal list of books for our study. In looking at reviews, there were several others that seemed too mature for my dd8, so I just crossed those off my own list.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Satori--your blog is amazing, thank you for posting such excellent information and sharing it with others. I have printed your lists and will be printing the timeline as well.

 

 

NestofThree

I read your review of the Printer's Apprentice which I was considering reading too. I didn't know anything about the book and found this thread by searching that book. I appreciate your thoughts on it. I also love your gardens--very well done, lovely....gardening is one of my favorite activities, thanks for sharing your photos.

 

Thanks to all for your book suggestions. I have noted them all along with reviews.:001_smile:

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