Slache Posted September 12, 2022 Share Posted September 12, 2022 She's a 4th grade girl. I'm thinking biographies, but totally open. Whacha got? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kassia Posted September 12, 2022 Share Posted September 12, 2022 It's been a long time but my history hating girl loved American Girl books and learned a lot of history from them. I don't remember the reading level, though. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caffeineandbooks Posted September 12, 2022 Share Posted September 12, 2022 Are you looking at a particular time period? There might be specific titles that other history haters have tolerated, eg D'Aulaires Greek Myths and Genevieve Foster's Augustus Caesar's World were surprise hits with mine (I read the Foster book aloud over a term and he kept asking for more), but D'Aulaires Norse and Foster's World of Columbus and Sons were less engaging. Depending on her tolerance/appreciation for gross stuff, Horrible Histories is popular here, and some of Albert Marrin's titles are aimed at that age bracket - Oh, Rats! was enjoyed here and Little Monsters will be soon (history/science, I guess) but they're definitely icky. I can't read them aloud, too much shudder factor. Heroes of the Middle Ages by Eva Tappan was another that I read aloud that my history hater enjoyed - shortish biographies of lots of key players, mostly men, mostly European, but a lively narrative style. Eric Kimmel books always go down well here (myth/legend retellings) and many are freely available on Open Library. Picture book biographies (and myths) by people like Demi or Margaret Stanley (also on Open Library) might be good for a visual child, although the Who Was series is also aimed at that 3rd-4th bracket. A number of girls I know enjoy the My Story series by Scholastic (varying authors). They're HF novels set in various time periods. You wouldn't call them great literature, but for a story oriented child they could be, like the American Girl books @Kassia mentioned, a way to get some information in through the back door. Good luck! We actually took a year off history in favour of world cultures to give my history hater time to forget his prejudices. It has helped a lot and was the right call for my family at that time, but history is still a subject he tolerates rather than adores. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elizabeth86 Posted September 13, 2022 Share Posted September 13, 2022 4 hours ago, Kassia said: It's been a long time but my history hating girl loved American Girl books and learned a lot of history from them. I don't remember the reading level, though. I don’t have a 4th grade girl, but I loved these at that age. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HomeAgain Posted September 13, 2022 Share Posted September 13, 2022 Even my boys liked the Dear America/Royal Diaries series. Youngest ds liked Mary, Bloody Mary by Carolyn Meyer and asked for the one she wrote about Elizabeth. Streams To The River, River to the Sea fascinated both boys and got them into Sacajawea's story. Also loved: The Ballad of Lucy Whipple (gold rush) Fever, 1793 The Shakespeare Stealer 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zoo Keeper Posted September 13, 2022 Share Posted September 13, 2022 Rats, Bulls and Flying Machines went over very well with one of mine who thought he didn't like reading and/or history. https://www.amazon.com/Rats-Bulls-Flying-Machines-Renaissance/dp/1890517186/ref=sr_1_1?crid=Q0EVG7UMWWVA&keywords=rats+bulls+and+flying+machines&qid=1663078140&sprefix=rats+bull%2Caps%2C112&sr=8-1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zoo Keeper Posted September 13, 2022 Share Posted September 13, 2022 Mythology was another way to sneak some history/culture into the aforementioned reluctant reader; he enjoyed read without complaining: D'Aulaires Greek Myths & Norse Myths Favorite Medieval Tales (Mary Pope Osborne and Troy Howell)-- don't let the author throw you off- higher reading level than those annoying Magic Tree House books Favorite Greek Myths (by the same as above) Black Ships Before Troy (Sutcliff and Lee) get the one illustrated by Alan Lee The Wanderings of Odysseus (Sutcliff and Lee again) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prairiewindmomma Posted September 13, 2022 Share Posted September 13, 2022 We had to work into Living books for a couple of my kids. We started with something like the What Was/Who Was series: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/series/DWW/what-was and watched some historical videos so that there was some context and visual images to connect to. Some readers aren't fantastic at internal visual images of what they are reading and get bogged down and bored. Pairing What Was the Bombing of Hiroshima by Jess Brallier with Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes and an origami lesson is an example of this. My girls have had mixed feelings about the American Girl books. They are great, but the mysteries books afterwards were more interesting to them. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barnwife Posted September 14, 2022 Share Posted September 14, 2022 If you go the biography route, and you want output that's not just reading/discussion, you might consider the "Heroes and Villains of History - you be the judge." It's one of the Thinking Tree journals. Basically, kid reads a book(s) about a person and answers questions. They then have to decide if the person was a hero(ine) or villain. One of mine really likes it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Night Elf Posted September 14, 2022 Share Posted September 14, 2022 You might want to look at a website called History Book by Book. It's got book suggestions for different History time periods. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mellifera33 Posted September 14, 2022 Share Posted September 14, 2022 I've been using the Historical Novels info site to find books for my kiddos. It looks like it's similar to the History Book by Book site that Night Elf posted above. It divides each list into books for teens and books for preteens which I found helpful. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SilverMoon Posted September 14, 2022 Share Posted September 14, 2022 Horrible Histories perhaps. They pull out the weird, gross, and silly bits while still covering the big picture. Hidden Figures has a young reader version. Fictional history alongside a lighter history spine may be more palatable. 🙂 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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