vwsmith Posted March 2, 2012 Share Posted March 2, 2012 Anybody use this book in their homeschooling adventures? I'm hoping to use Ambleside starting this Fall (Yr 1) so it's not necessary just yet. However, there seems to be so much controversy with CHOW and I was thinking this might be a nice substitute/supplement? Any ideas? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carol S Posted March 2, 2012 Share Posted March 2, 2012 (edited) We've read that book before. It's on dd10's shelf somewhere probably. She loved that book! If I remember too, I'll probably use this book as a read aloud for my younger kiddos. :) Edited March 2, 2012 by Carol S Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KristenR Posted March 2, 2012 Share Posted March 2, 2012 I've heard it get mixed reviews. You can read the Amazon reviews here. Also, if you have a Kindle you can get a free sample. It includes the intro and the first chapter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chiguirre Posted March 2, 2012 Share Posted March 2, 2012 :iagree: I have SOTW and CHOW too. Gombrich is a higher level overview than CHOW and much less detailed than SOTW. It's only 40 chapters so you can easily cover one a week in a school year. The book print is much smaller than Calvert's edition of CHOW, so it might be more intimidating for a newer/more reluctant reader. There is some biblical content but it's within the context of historical developments and is introduced as a story. It teaches an old earth and covers Neanderthals. The audio is an amazing bargain imho. Gombrich is a good storyteller, that's why his art history book is such a favorite. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vwsmith Posted March 2, 2012 Author Share Posted March 2, 2012 Okay, maybe I'm wrong about CHOW. It seems when reading reviews on Amazon, there were a ton of issues with inaccuracies, racist bias from the author, etc. However, upon reading more reviews (on several different listings of CHOW on Amazon--how confusing!) it seems that the updated version with the child blowing bubbles on the cover is now okay? Please somebody clear this up for me... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jilly Posted March 2, 2012 Share Posted March 2, 2012 A Little History of the World is one of my favorite books for children. It is a gem that is often overlooked. There is also an illustrated version that I have not seen, but I have heard wonderful things about. I hope to purchase it soon for my youngest. :001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
serendipitous journey Posted March 2, 2012 Share Posted March 2, 2012 Okay, maybe I'm wrong about CHOW. It seems when reading reviews on Amazon, there were a ton of issues with inaccuracies, racist bias from the author, etc. However, upon reading more reviews (on several different listings of CHOW on Amazon--how confusing!) it seems that the updated version with the child blowing bubbles on the cover is now okay? Please somebody clear this up for me... A Little History of the World is one of my favorite books for children. It is a gem that is often overlooked. There is also an illustrated version that I have not seen, but I have heard wonderful things about. I hope to purchase it soon for my youngest. :001_smile: The newer version of CHOW seems to be fine. We have ours from Sonlight and we haven't seen any racism, though I am not using it as a main resource at the moment. The illustrated version Jilly linked is gorgeous, and the illustrations add a lot. We are using AO Year 1 resources, and reading a bit at a time from A Little History. It is definitely pitched at a higher level than CHOW, but Aiden enjoys the stories and esp. the pictures; so for a younger child particularly, if you can afford the illustrated one it would be a good choice. -- along those lines, making sure we had the Burgess Bird Book full-color photo version, and reading just 1/2 a chapter at time, made all the difference for using it with Button. Another thought: Milestones Academy (an LDS CM site) recommends M.B. Synge's "On the Shores of the Great Sea" for a year 1 history resource. I've linked to a good print-on-demand one at Amazon, but it is public domain and you can find it free online (Baldwin project has it). This is esp. nice if you want to follow a chronological history, and/or are combining WTM and AO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vwsmith Posted March 2, 2012 Author Share Posted March 2, 2012 The newer version of CHOW seems to be fine. We have ours from Sonlight and we haven't seen any racism, though I am not using it as a main resource at the moment. The illustrated version Jilly linked is gorgeous, and the illustrations add a lot. We are using AO Year 1 resources, and reading a bit at a time from A Little History. It is definitely pitched at a higher level than CHOW, but Aiden enjoys the stories and esp. the pictures; so for a younger child particularly, if you can afford the illustrated one it would be a good choice. -- along those lines, making sure we had the Burgess Bird Book full-color photo version, and reading just 1/2 a chapter at time, made all the difference for using it with Button. Another thought: Milestones Academy (an LDS CM site) recommends M.B. Synge's "On the Shores of the Great Sea" for a year 1 history resource. I've linked to a good print-on-demand one at Amazon, but it is public domain and you can find it free online (Baldwin project has it). This is esp. nice if you want to follow a chronological history, and/or are combining WTM and AO. Thank you so much for this. I'm off to look at "On the Shores..." And you're advice on Burgess is rather timely :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
serendipitous journey Posted March 2, 2012 Share Posted March 2, 2012 And you're advice on Burgess is rather timely :) :):) We got the non-color first, and gave up entirely on it for a while before finding advice for the photo version. Be careful which copy you buy on Amazon -- the Search Inside feature is often for a different version. I think I had to double-check the publisher. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElizaG Posted March 2, 2012 Share Posted March 2, 2012 (edited) I didn't like the book (LHW), though I tried to. People describe his tone as "gracious," but to me, it came across as somewhat patronizing -- both towards the young reader, and towards the cultures he was describing. There was also what I can only describe as a strong Enlightenment bias: those ancient and medieval people thought and did this and that, but now, of course, we have reason and know that that's all so silly. But we're not going to hold it against them, because they can't help it that they were simple. :tongue_smilie: He's very enthusiastic about Buddhism, because it's so enlightened. Or at least the Buddha himself was. I guess it helps that his son is a noted scholar of early Buddhist studies. I wish he'd had as much expertise behind his presentation of Christian history. His portrayal of the Reformation has at least one significant error of fact: he says that indulgences are for the forgiveness of sins. This is a common misconception among laypeople, but not something I'd expect to see in a history book (SOTW doesn't make this mistake). I just noticed this interesting review (and subsequent comments) on Amazon: "Most Americans will be rather shocked to learn that Benjamin Franklin lead the American Revolution, that the North was the weaker of the warring parties in the Civil War, that we have a Parliament instead of a Congress, and that Wilson conned the Germans into accepting the Treaty of Versailles (although the reader apologizes for this last huge guffaw)." I'd look up these references, but I already got rid of the book. And I hardly ever do that with history books. Even though the writing was well crafted, it seemed as if there was something fundamentally and insidiously off about his presentation. A Little History rubbed me a little too much the wrong way. Edited March 2, 2012 by Eleanor Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vwsmith Posted March 2, 2012 Author Share Posted March 2, 2012 :):) We got the non-color first, and gave up entirely on it for a while before finding advice for the photo version. Be careful which copy you buy on Amazon -- the Search Inside feature is often for a different version. I think I had to double-check the publisher. What publisher did you use? I was just on Amazon and there are so many versions I want to make sure to order the right one. I thought I had found it, but a reviewer said that though the look inside photographs were in color, his copy had b&w photographs. So I was too scared to take a chance.:confused: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
serendipitous journey Posted March 2, 2012 Share Posted March 2, 2012 (edited) What publisher did you use? I was just on Amazon and there are so many versions I want to make sure to order the right one. I thought I had found it, but a reviewer said that though the look inside photographs were in color, his copy had b&w photographs. So I was too scared to take a chance.:confused: We have the 2010 Feather Trail Press version. I didn't like the book (LHW), though I tried to. People describe his tone as "gracious," but to me, it came across as somewhat patronizing -- both towards the young reader, and towards the cultures he was describing. There was also what I can only describe as a strong Enlightenment bias: those ancient and medieval people thought and did this and that, but now, of course, we have reason and know that that's all so silly. But we're not going to hold it against them, because they can't help it that they were simple. :tongue_smilie: He's very enthusiastic about Buddhism, because it's so enlightened. Or at least the Buddha himself was. I guess it helps that his son is a noted scholar of early Buddhist studies. I wish he'd had as much expertise behind his presentation of Christian history. His portrayal of the Reformation has at least one significant error of fact: he says that indulgences are for the forgiveness of sins. This is a common misconception among laypeople, but not something I'd expect to see in a history book (SOTW doesn't make this mistake). I just noticed this interesting review (and subsequent comments) on Amazon: "Most Americans will be rather shocked to learn that Benjamin Franklin lead the American Revolution, that the North was the weaker of the warring parties in the Civil War, that we have a Parliament instead of a Congress, and that Wilson conned the Germans into accepting the Treaty of Versailles (although the reader apologizes for this last huge guffaw)." ... A Little History rubbed me a little too much the wrong way. Eleanor has excellent points. Gombrich re-wrote his Little History extensively for different translations, and I believe he died before finishing the one for Americans; his treatment of Islam is certainly unsympathetic (we haven't gotten there yet -- but I checked b/c I'd hoped to rec. this to a Muslim friend and just can't); and I myself am happy to work around the various idiosyncrasies, but I can see where it would bug some people (I've found everybody has different sticking points). Maybe you should try it from a library first? -- we have it because a good friend and colleague of DH, a fellow from India, read it as a child & credits it with his love of history. He gave us a copy. I'd previously bypassed it b/c the section on Caesar, which I skimmed when we checked it out from the library, got under my skin, but we're using it as a supplement now largely out of respect for our friend & because I've found that I comment so extensively anyhow on the history we read that it hasn't been a big issue (though I simply don't like STOW ancients for grammar and won't use it ... book selections are so personal!). I like enough other things about it, and found the last chapter in which he comments on errors in earlier versions very interesting with important ideas for a little historian; but nothing irreplaceable. okay, tiny one needs help! ETA: Gombrich originally wrote this for a family friend, a little girl, and would research all day in his family library and write up a chapter, then read it aloud to his wife. I think this methodology has its drawbacks. :D ETA #2: thinking on why I'm okay with this flawed history, it's 1. b/c I feel sort of guilty about the surprised e-mail I sent our friend on receiving it (I was incredulous, a bit, and I think it hurt his feelings :( ) and 2. the illustrated version ties art history so beautifully to the chronological history (Gombrich was an art historian). The other resources I've found for chronological art have been either DK-style (which Button doesn't do well with) or just art, not so much history. And 3, it's sort of grown on me. But some of it does drive a person batty. I'm glad for Eleanor's comment, which will have me be more thoughtful about recommending this. Edited March 2, 2012 by serendipitous journey better info. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pitterpatter Posted March 16, 2012 Share Posted March 16, 2012 Thank you for this thread. I was packing for vacation when it was posted. So glad I stumbled upon it today. :001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roadrunner Posted March 16, 2012 Share Posted March 16, 2012 I love that book and I find his language and approach wonderful. We use it together with SOTW. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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