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What are your favorite family read alouds for US History up to 1850?


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I'm looking for family read alouds, fiction and nonfiction, for my kids ages 8-16. We're covering American history this year up to about the year 1850. I still read aloud a lot of books the 8yo separately (outside of family read aloud time) and he has a high comprehension level, so I typically pick family read alouds that suit the older kids, and he usually enjoys them too. So mainly I'm looking for books the 11-16 yo kids will like.

Edited by Jane Elliot
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I would take a look at the list of Read-alouds for Sonlight D, which is this exact time period. Great list, and most of those will appeal to all of your kids. 

 

There are likely some books in the literature for Sonlight 100 which could work too (I'm thinking Tom Sawyer for example). If you wonder about a specific book, you can go to that book's entry on Sonlight, and they will list a "RA" or "Read Aloud" age that they suggest. 

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We are doing Read Alouds for American history too. Here is my list for this year:

 

Slave Dancer - slave trade horrors

The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg - Civil War

Bound for Oregon - Westward expansion

Soft Rain - Trail of Tears

Little Britches - early 1900's

Truce by Jim Murphy - WW1

Out of the Dust - Great Depression/ Dust Bowl

Number the Stars - Holocaust - WW2

Chestry Oak - WW2

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I would take a look at the list of Read-alouds for Sonlight D, which is this exact time period. Great list, and most of those will appeal to all of your kids. 

 

There are likely some books in the literature for Sonlight 100 which could work too (I'm thinking Tom Sawyer for example). If you wonder about a specific book, you can go to that book's entry on Sonlight, and they will list a "RA" or "Read Aloud" age that they suggest. 

 

Yes, great suggestion. But we've enjoyed most of them already. A few we'll do again because they're just so good. I should see what they've added to those cores recently. Thanks for mentioning it.

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We are doing Read Alouds for American history too. Here is my list for this year:

 

Slave Dancer - slave trade horrors

The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg - Civil War

Bound for Oregon - Westward expansion

Soft Rain - Trail of Tears

Little Britches - early 1900's

Truce by Jim Murphy - WW1

Out of the Dust - Great Depression/ Dust Bowl

Number the Stars - Holocaust - WW2

Chestry Oak - WW2

 

Nice list. We recently enjoyed listening to The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg. Wonderful book! Several of our favorites are on this list (Bound for OregonLittle Britches, Number the Stars). I had never heard of Soft Rain. I'll check into it. Thanks!

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The Birchbark House series (The Birchbark House, The Game of Silence, The Porcupine Year)

Streams to the River, River to the Sea

Rip Van Winkle and The Legend of Sleepy Hollow

Amos Fortune, Free Man

 

Thank you. I hadn't heard of the Birchbark House series. 

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The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Carry On Mr. Bowditch are on our read aloud list for this year. Little Women too, although that's Civil War era. And A Christmas Carol, even though that's not American history, it's roughly the same time period.

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