Awesome Children’s History Books – The If You Were Me Series {Review}

Awesome Children’s History Books – The If You Were Me Series by Carole P. Roman {Review}

We recently had the opportunity to review four books by Carole P. Roman.  This review of If You Were Me and Lived in…Renaissance Italy (An Introduction to Civilizations Throughout Time) (Volume 2) and If You Were Me and Lived in… Elizabethan England (An Introduction to Civilizations Throughout Time) (Volume 3) is Brought to you by Carole P. Roman and Awaywegomedia.com.  They also generously included If You Were Me and Lived in…the American West (Volume 7)and If You Were Me and Lived in…Viking Europe.

 

This was my first opportunity to read through these children’s history books and I was pleasantly surprised at how easy they were to incorporate into our homeschool studies.  They were the perfect addition to teaching history to my elementary aged students.  Even my middle schooler enjoyed these.

We started off by reading through If You Were Me and Lived in…Renaissance Italy (An Introduction to Civilizations Throughout Time) (Volume 2).  We study famous artists on Friday afternoon and I thought this would be a good introduction to the Italian Renaissance.  The kids and I thoroughly enjoyed this book.  It is easy reading and it includes lots of beautiful pictures.  I loved how the child is magically transported into the historical time period  as we are reading it from the perspective of the narrator.

 

The story starts out with explaining the setting of the story – in this case, it is Renaissance Italy.  The author explains when you would have been born if you lived during this time period and in what city the story is set.  One of our favorite parts was the comparison between modern day Florence, Italy and a painting of Florence from the 1400s.  They include a full page version of each picture.  The kids had fun seeing what was similar and what wasn’t between now and then.

 

The book also provides a couple of names that you would be called had you been a girl or boy living in that time period.  The book touches on what had happened in history prior to the Renaissance, what was happening in the culture and some famous people of that time (like Da Vinci, Michaelangelo, Raphael, Donatello and the Medici family).

 

My kids especially liked the part that explains exactly what your house would like if you had lived during that time.  They even include an outline of the home similar to a blueprint of where the different rooms would be located in the house.

Also included is what your day to day life would be like for you (if you were a girl) and your brothers, as well as what food would be served daily.  The book also covers style of dress, complete with illustrated pictures, and hairstyles are talked about, too.

Toward the end of the book, there is a complete section on why the Renaissance was important in art.  The author has chosen several paintings and sculptures to show the children some famous pieces of art.

 

There is also a section on famous people of that time period and a little bio of each one along with a picture/painting.

 

I also like that the book includes its own glossary.  This is helpful because on just about every page there might be a new vocabulary word that your student hasn’t seen before.  The vocabulary words, or difficult words, are spelled also in parentheses phonetically so that the student can sound them out.  In the back, these same words are written with their definition.

 

Because we take the Charlotte Mason approach to learning, I enjoyed reading this book aloud to my kids and allowing them to imagine their life in Renaissance Italy.  We talked about what it would be like and we studied the pictures.  If you are a more classical homeschooler, you could take it a step further and have the students write down the vocabulary words and definitions – you could even have them write a written narration of what they have learned.  There are many ways to use this book!

 

 

We started reading, another children’s history book by Carole P. Roman, “If You Were Me and Lived in the American West,” recently with the kids, as well.  This book explained what it would be like to be part of the wagon train heading west.  It covers what the food would have been, what animals they kept, what their daily chores would be like, and what it would be like sleeping under the stars.

 

It covers the Native American tribes such as Pawnee, Cheyenne, Comanche, Sioux, Arapaho, Shoshone, and others.  It also includes the phonetical spelling of each so that the child (or adult) can sound them out if they aren’t sure how they are pronounced.  This book also covers the amounts and types of illnesses and other calamities that took the settlers lives during the trip.
This book includes  famous people of time like Lewis and Clark, Annie Oakley, Daniel Boone, Geronimo among others.

 

“If You Were Me and Lived in Elizabethan England,” was another title we enjoyed recently.  My son and daughter read this one to themselves because my daughter really wanted to learn about Elizabethan England.  They ended up each presenting an oral report on the time period and what they would like and wouldn’t like about living at that time.

This book is set up in much the same way as the others.  It includes the style of dress, food they would have eaten, what the homes were like and even what the religion was in that time and place in history.

 

We especially liked the two depictions of life in London found towards the beginning of this book.  One of the pictures is of modern-day London complete with a girl in modern day clothing and in her modern bedroom.  The other picture is one from the year 1578 with a girl and her room.  The author asks the students to identify the differences.  This seems like lots of fun and is a good learning experience.

 

This book also covered what it would be like to be an actor in a play during that time.  There is a lot of detailed information and my children enjoyed this part of the book.  Much like the others, there is a famous people section complete with pictures and biographies and a glossary in the back.

We also were able to explore the book,”If You Were Me and Lived in Viking Europe.”  We learned about how society was broken up into different segments of society, what your home would have been like, what jobs were like for your mother, father, and grandparents.  They also include a section on what types of food you would have eaten, styles of clothing and even how clothes were made (including on a spinning wheel)!

 

It also gives information on activities, chores, weather, and even what your alphabet was like!  This book does include a section on religion including a list of some Norse gods.  Like the other books, they cover the famous Vikings of history and a glossary in the back.

 

If you are looking for an awesome way to teach American and World History, using children’s history books, look no further. These books do a fantastic job at bringing history to life and that is what I love about them.  Between the beautiful illustrations that decorate each page and the way that it is written directly to the child from a child, these books are the best.

 

 

 

 

To connect on social media with Carole P. Roman and Awaywegomedia.com and to find out more about these awesome children’s history books please see the links below:

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