Tag: history

Ancient Egypt Read Aloud Books – 2nd Time Through

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Ancient Egypt Read Aloud Books – 2nd Time Through

We are pretty relaxed/eclectic homeschoolers, but one subject we’ve continued to approach in a more orderly manner over the years is history. We start at the beginning of time and then work through all of history to the present day. Rinse and repeat!

As I’ve stated many times in past posts our main approach to learning history has been through reading living books. This has been a very rewarding way to learn history and has helped me and my kids have a more full picture of history, rather than just learning and regurgitating important dates.

This year we have also added in The Mystery of History as our spine. It’s been a nice addition for us!

This past fall we started the whole history cycle again beginning with Ancient History. And we just recently finished going through Ancient Egypt for the 2nd time. (Here are the activities we did and books we read the first time we studied Ancient Egypt four years ago.)

History Timeline

For the past four years we’ve put all significant historical events on our history timeline (we did this using butcher paper and having the kids draw the events on the paper.)

Ancient Egypt Read Aloud Books
Having fun with our giant timeline on butcher paper

Since we started the whole history cycle again this past fall, I decided we’d change it up, so instead of drawing historical events on butcher paper, I bought each of the kids their own timeline book. They are really enjoying the timeline books so far!

Big sister (9th grade!) is actually taking world history (using this curriculum) at a local co-op this year, so she doesn’t typically join in on our read-alouds, but she IS doing the timeline book with her younger brothers.

Ancient Egypt Read Aloud Books
Three different interpretations of King Tut
List of Ancient Egypt Read Aloud Books (2nd Time Around)

Here are the books we did as read-alouds for Ancient Egypt this year. 

The Pharaohs of Ancient Egypt

The Riddle of the Rosetta Stone

Unwrapping the Pharaohs: How Egyptian Archaeology Confirms the Biblical Timeline

Tirzah

To find even more books, check out our book list from the first time we studied Ancient Egypt.

And here are our booklists for Ancient Rome and Ancient Greece.

Happy reading and learning!

 

 

 

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Early American History Book List

Early American History Book List

For purposes of this blog post, we’ll say Early American History covers the landing of the Pilgrims (1620) through the early 1800s.

Some key events that took place during these years include: the Pilgrims coming over from England and colonies eventually getting established, the birth of a new country and the Revolutionary War (and the French Revolution), and the establishment of our new country’s government (constitution and government).

There are so many books that cover this time period. We use mostly living books. I’m only including books we read but there are so many to choose from! 

This blog post contains affiliate links and any purchases made through such links will result in a small commission for me (at no extra cost to you).

Reference Books/Biographies

We purchased many of the following through Beautiful Feet Books, specifically their Early American History packs, and Amazon.

A Child’s First Book of American History  by Earl Schenck Miers and illustrated by James Daugherty. This is a nice big book with big print and cool illustrations that focuses solely on American History. Good for all ages.

A Child’s History of the World by Virgil M. Hillyer.  A great overview of history. 

Picture Books

(These are best suited for the younger elementary years, but I read them to my older kids too!)

BenjaminFranklin by Ingri and Edgar D’Aulaire

George Washington by Ingri and Edgar D’Aulaire

The Fourth of July Story by Alice Dalgliesh

Winter at Valley Forge by James Knight 

GEORGE VS. GEORGE: The American Revolution as Seen from Both Sides by Rosalyn Schanzer

Shh! We’re writing the Constitution by  Jean Fritz

A More Perfect Union by Betsy and Giulio Maestro

Dear Benjamin Banneker by Andrea Davis Pinkney

A Voice of Her Own: The Story of Phillis Wheatley by Kathryn Lasky

Books for Later Elementary and Middle School:

The World of William Penn by Genevieve Foster

Poor Richard by James Daugherty

George Washington’s World by Genevieve Foster

Why Not, Lafayette by Jean Fritz

Pilgrim Stories by Margaret Pumphrey

Remember the Ladies by Jeri Chase Ferris
 

Turning back the pages of time booklet by Kathy Keller (This is a great booklet to have on hand.  It has lists of booklists on early American History.)

Historical Fiction:

Amos Fortune Free Man by Elizabeth Yates

Fearless by Elvira Woodruff (Not pictured. Also not specifically American history but takes place in England in 1700 – and so it was neat to read a book taking place at the same time in a different part of the world.)

Sign of the Beaver by Elizabeth George Speare

Johnny Tremain by Esther Hoskins Forbes

Toliver’s Secret by Esther Wood Brady

Carry On, Mr. Bowditch by Jean Latham

The Cabin Faced West by Jean Fritz (not pictured)

Phoebe the Spy by Judith Berry Griffin (chapter book for younger kids)

Matchlock Gun by Walt Edmonds (chapter book for younger kids)

Other Resources to Study American History

Chalk Pastel

Drive Thru History

Check out my other history book lists!

Ancient Egypt

Ancient Greece

Ancient Rome

Middle Ages

Reformation and Renaissance

And…  How We Do History – Textbook Free!

 

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Lewis and Clark Salt-Dough Map

Lewis and Clark Salt-Dough Map

Homeschooling and salt dough maps go together like peanut butter and jelly. They are the ultimate hands-on way to learn geography AND history. But they can also seem like a daunting activity, especially if you are averse to a mess.  Have you ever made one? A salt-dough map that is, not a mess! 😉

Before I had ever done a salt dough map I had made them out to be much more complicated than they were.  Then we did our first salt-dough map while studying Ancient Egypt. It was a wild success!

Recently, while studying Lewis and Clark’s expedition, the thought of doing another salt-dough map seemed like a great idea. We could map out their expedition, even showing the different terrain they had traversed over. And so we made another one! I don’t know why I waited a few years to do another salt-dough map, as they really aren’t that difficult and the kids love them!

This blog post contains affiliate links and any purchases made through such links will result in a small commission for me (at no extra cost to you.)
Here is how we made a Lewis and Clark salt-dough map, using items we had in the house!
  1. We needed something for the base.  Not overcomplicating things we used a large cereal box and cut an opening flap using a utility knife.
  2. We went online to find a map of the United States. We printed out the size we wanted (we just did the one-pager!)  Then my younger son colored the back of the map using a black piece of chalk.  We then flipped it over and traced the outline of the map (we actually traced a little bit beyond the outline of the map, because we wanted it just a tad bigger…).  Now we had the outline of the map on the cereal box base! Don’t be like me and overthink this part.  It does not have to be perfect!
  3. We mixed up the salt dough: 2 cups flour, 1 cup salt, 1 cup water. (If it’s too sticky you can add more flour; if it’s too dry, add more water). Mix and knead it for a few minutes.
  4. Now the fun part – spreading the salt dough out to fill in the map, and make sure the mountains were in the right spots. We printed out a physical map to help guide us in how to shape the moutnains, plains and valleys.
  5. Before letting the map dry, we stuck toothpicks into the main locations we wanted to highlight on the map (we used a timeline from this book to help us pick those locations.) We pulled the toothpicks out right away, but the holes were there for when it dried. We labeled our toothpicks at this time, but you can do it later too. Lewis and Clark Salt Dough Map

*Then we let it air dry for 48 hours.*

6. Next we painted the map. We used the same physical map of the U.S. (linked above) to help guide us in how to paint it. Lewis and Clark Salt Dough Map

7. We then stuck our labeled toothpicks back into the salt dough map.Lewis and Clark Salt Dough MapLewis and Clark Salt Dough MapAnd here’s the final product!Lewis and Clark Salt Dough Map


 

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Comparing the Reformation and Renaissance

We studied the Reformation and the Renaissance at the same time. While working up a list of all the books we used to learn about these time periods, I realized it might be helpful to note the differences and similarities between the two periods.

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Two different movements happening at the same time

While these two time periods happened simultaneously, they are very different from one another. This is a point that many know. However, if you are studying this for the first time with your kids, it may not be as obvious to you. The Reformation was a religious revolution, and the Renaissance was a secular movement and had to do with the revolution of ideas. The book that I leaned on heavily as a resource to understand these differences, and I highly recommend, is “How Should We Then Live?” by Francis Schaeffer.

Both movements followed the Middle Ages

Both the Renaissance and the Reformation followed the Middle Ages, a darker time of not as much growth.  The printing press did not exist in the Middle Ages, and books were not readily available. Literacy rates were below 20%, with mostly the wealthy having access to education and books. During the Middle Ages, people did not have ready access to Bibles to teach themselves scripture, or to other books to learn new things. This was soon to change during the time periods of the Renaissance and the Reformation.

The Renaissance – a secular movement, “rebirth” of ideas

The Renaissance and Reformation were both leaving “tradition” but did so in different ways. Renaissance, which literally means “rebirth” was a secular movement focusing on new ideas, music, art, philosophy, etc.   The Renaissance introduced us to the idea of humanism, that is man is at the center of his universe. Obviously, humanism is directly at odds with the Bible. This is one way the Reformation was markedly different than the Renaissance.

The Reformation – Gettings back to the basics of the Bible

Ultimately the Reformation was about getting back to the basics of what the Bible said. When we think of the Reformation, we often think about the Roman Catholic church splitting into Roman Catholicism and Protestantism. For me personally, when I think of the Reformation I picture Martin Luther nailing his 95 theses to that door.  It’s important to note the Reformation already had stirrings for quite some time before this. My favorite book from the book list we used was Morning Star of the Reformation. It is about John Wycliffe who lived from 1320-1384 (long before Martin Luther!)

The Printing Press – a common denominator for both movements

While these time periods were very different from one another, they did have some similarities. They were both leaving tradition and both were heavily impacted by the invention of Gutenberg’s printing press around 1440. Below is a list of books we used to learn more about these time periods.

Book List

How Should We Then Live?

A Child’s History of the World

Trumpeter of Krakow

Morning Star of the Reformation

The Golden Book of the Renaissance

Columbus

The World of Columbus and Sons

Shakespeare Stories

Little Pilgrim’s Progress 

Pilgrim’s Progress Movie  (free on Youtube)

Martin Luther

Luther Movie

Joan of Arc Movie

Check out my other history book lists!

Ancient Egypt

Ancient Greece

Ancient Rome

Middle Ages

And, how we do history, textbook free!

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Middle Ages Book List

The Middle Ages span the years from (roughly) 500-1400 AD. It’s the millennium that bridges ancient history with modern history. 

The Middle Ages were characterized by everything from lack of literacy (only a small percentage of people could read or write) to the building of the most magnificent cathedrals and castles, to the writing of the Magna Carta (which initiated the idea that everyone needed to yield to the law, even the king.)

Here is a list of books we read to learn about the Middle Ages, and a few extra that we hope to read the next time around (we do history in cycles, so we will be circling back to the Middle Ages in a few years!)

This blog post contains affiliate links and any purchases made through such links will result in a small commission for me (at no extra cost to you).
Reference Books

Middle Ages

The Magna Charta by James Daugherty- Written in a narrative style, this book is jam-packed with information about the Magna Carta,  a historic document that influenced government moving forward. My history lover enjoyed this one! However, t’s a bit of a dry read (for a non-history lover.) Good for ages 10+.

A Child’s History of the World by Hillyer.  A great overview of history.

How Should We Then Live? by Francis Schaeffer – This is not specific to the Middle Ages, but includes one chapter devoted to the Middle Ages and I highly recommend reading this book alongside studying history with your kids to give you a better foundation of the history of Western Culture. If you want a broad picture of history from a Christian worldview, this is THE book to read.  It starts with Ancient Rome and moves on to the Middle Ages, Renaissance, Reformation, and beyond.  Considering the times we are living in, I think this book is more relevant than ever. 

Time Traveler  Usborne (this is a family fave!)

Leif the Lucky by Ingri & Edgar D’aulaire – Leif, a Viking who lived in the 900’s , was a Norse explorer (his family was known for settling Greenland.) Exploring was more of a characteristic of the Renaissance but because his life fell during the time of the Middle Ages, I’ve placed this book here.  Great illustrations and good for younger kids.  

Castle and Cathedral – both by David Macaulay

Atlas of World History Also, Usborne!

Usborne Encyclopedia of World History

Look Inside a Castle (Usborne Look Inside) For younger children (not pictured)

Literature:

Middle Ages

Door in the Wall by Marguerite de Angeli – A short novel about a boy who is sent away to become a knight, but he loses use of his legs and therefore dream is squashed. A story of bravery and character.

Trumpeter of Krakow by Eric P. Kelly – This takes place near the end of the middle ages in Poland.  It was a captivating historical fiction story of a famiy who has a great treasure and must keep it hidden for the safety of everyone. It gets into the wrong hands and things take a wild turn.  Gives a good depiction of the danger of living during this time.  

A Single Shard by Linda Sue Park- My daughter read this on her own but enjoyed it.  Takes place in 12th century Korea. 

Crispin: Cross of Lead by Avi – Another book my daughter read on her own.

Adam of the Road by Elizabeth Janet Gray- Newberry Honor Book. Set in 13th century England, this book follows the adventures of a young minstrel boy, Adam. This book stays true to 13th century England.

Beowulf by Michael Morpurgo- An easier take on the classic.  This was perfect for a first run-through of the story.  We highly enjoyed this read.  

The Whipping Boy by Sid Fleischman (not in picture) – An easy read that will captivate your young learner. Highly fictitious, but fun and still gives a feel for what the middle ages were like.   

Books for Next Time Around

Middle Ages

Hawk and Dove Trilogy by Penelope Wilcock

Pendragon Trilogy by Stephen Lawhead- We tried the first book of this trilogy as an audio read-aloud, and while my husband and daughter enjoyed it, it was too intense for my 10-year-old, so I recommend it for older readers.    

The Black Arrow by Robert Louis Stevenson

Middle Ages Chalk Pastel Art

Middle Ages

My youngest, age 6, enjoyed doing medieval chalk pastel art as his primary way of learning about this time period (there may be one or two Renaissance time period pictures in there too!)  He is definitely a kiddo who learns through activity and this was a great way for him to learn about the Middle Ages in an age-appropriate way.  

Check out my other history book lists!

Ancient Egypt

Ancient Greece

Ancient Rome

 

 

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How We do History – Textbook Free!

If asked as a child what my least favorite subject was, I might have said history. And if I had to describe how I felt about history as a child, I’m sure the words dry, boring, and pointless would have come to mind! (with the exception of the Holocaust which I have always been interested in)  

I actually got my only “C” ever in Western Civilizations in college. 

The material was just so “foreign” to me (seriously no pun intended!)  But truly, though I would PORE over my textbook for the class, the material just would not stick.  It was painful.  Can you relate?

Fast forward to now.  Would you believe history is one of my favorite things to learn about with my kids?  Probably because I’m right in there learning with them, for what feels like the first time!  If you’ve ever been in a Classical Conversations community, they refer to this as “redeeming your education.”

I personally find textbooks dry. Even the best of them. And the homeschool community has some wonderful ones to offer (I’ve not personally used these but have heard great things about them – Notgrass, History Revealed, and Mystery of History come to mind.)  Maybe I will use them someday, but for now, we are enjoying not using a curriculum (and we’re learning lots!)

Here’s how we do history – textbook free!  

History Textbook Free

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We Love Living Books

Reading living books together, especially ones that deal with history has ignited a love for history in me. And there are just so many living books to read! If you need book ideas, two of my favorite books for finding living books are Honey For a Child’s Heart and Books Children Love.  

History Textbook FreeBeautiful Feet Books is also a fabulous place to purchase living books.  They have them categorized by grade level and time in history, and also author sets.  We have a few of their sets and LOVE them.  The D’aulaire set is especially a favorite as the illustrations are phenomenal.History Textbook Free

We also have Genevieve Foster’s Collection which is JAM-PACKED with historical facts (if you have an information lover!) History Textbook Free

Beautiful Feet Books also offer teacher guides, for parents who want that.

So far I have booklists of living books for history for Ancient Egypt, Ancient Greece, and Ancient Rome.  

We Use Interesting Spine Books

Our main “spine” book is a Child’s History of the World.  It’s written in an engaging way and helps fill in the gaps (that will inevitably be there) and makes sure we don’t miss any big events of history.  We also base our butcher paper timeline on dates from this book.

I love that all of history is on one giant timeline that the kids have created themselves. (If the idea of a giant roll of butcher paper scares you they make blank timeline books – this one is an example.) It really helps them to see how each event is just a snapshot in the big picture of time.  And that history DOES repeat itself.

History Textbook Free
My son retelling us about the Barbarians (in a dramatized voice!) invading Rome after drawing it on the timeline.

There’s something about drawing what you’re learning that really makes it stick in your brain!  And it’s especially wonderful for picture-smart kids!

We also use Usborne books for a spine.  Love Usborne! Our favorites are Time Traveler and The Encyclopedia of World History. History Textbook Free

Incorporating Technology

We’ve been incorporating more technology into our learning this year, especially with history.

Some of our favorite resources include:

History Textbook Free
My 5 year old’s chalk pastel drawing of the Colloseum.
  • Story of the World – I included this with technology since we only use it on audiobook.  We love Jim Weiss as a narrator and save this for the car! (hubby loves it too!)

I wish I could say we incorporate tons of amazing activities, but we don’t.  We HAVE done that at times(check out these awesome Hands-on Activities for Ancient Egypt), but usually, we stick to what I mentioned above.

Incorporate how your children learn when possible!

Since all children have different strengths/smarts, consider their strengths when deciding how to teach and present material.  A picture-smart child would enjoy drawing what they are learning.  A body-smart child might enjoy re-enacting a scene from history.  A music-smart child might connect to the material by listening to music from that time in history.  Etc. etc.  You get the idea!   

I would be remiss if I did not mention that my kiddos LOVE Horrible Histories.  They are a little more “edgy” and filled with tons of facts (that you may or may NOT want to know) but your kids will learn about history from reading them! That can not be disputed. 😉

So that is how we do textbook free history!  As you can see we are very eclectic in our approach.
What is your favorite history resource? 
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Ancient Rome books

We’ve studied Ancient Egypt, Ancient Greece and now Ancient Rome!  We have really enjoyed diving into living books and learning about these ancient times.  And I’m not sure who’s learning more – me or my kids!?

One of my absolute favorite things about homeschooling is redeeming my own education and getting to dive deep into things that I was only able to “scratch the surface” of during my time in school.

Listed below are the books we used to learn about Ancient Rome.  I used these for my 9 and 11-year-old.

This blog post contains affiliate links and any purchases made through these links will result in a small commission for me (at no cost to you!) 

Our “spine” books that we use for all of history:

A Child’s History of the World by Hillyer.  A great overview of history.

Story of the World Volume 1 We only do SOTW on audiobook, the kids (and hubs!) just love listening to Jim Weiss.

Other books that cover Ancient history:

These are all Usborne books.  We love Usborne!

Time Traveler

Atlas of World History

The Usborne Encyclopedia of World History

Books for Ancient Rome

Non-Fiction Books For ANcient Rome

Rotten Romans from the Horrible Histories Collection -These are bit much for my taste BUT based on the fact that my kids love it and are learning a ton in the process, I have it on the list…  I have been amazed at historical facts my non-history loving daughter will spout out that we did not learn together.  When I ask, “Where did you learn that?”, her response is almost always, “Horrible Histories”.

Augustus Caesar’s World by Genevieve Foster – Genevieve Foster’s books are unique because she takes the main character (Augustus Caesar in this case) and weaves all world happenings together, going into detail of what was happening in other parts of the world at that same time in history.

Historical Fiction:

Twice Freed by Patricia St. John – Based on life of the slave Onesimus from the book of Philemon in the Bible.  This one was soo good!

The Runaway by Patricia St. John – set during the time of Jesus’s ministry on Earth.

Bronze Bow by Elizabeth George Speare  – another one that’s during the time of Christ’s earthly ministry.  We listened to this one on audiobook and finished it in just a few days because the kids enjoyed it so much! Suspenseful and descriptive.

Other books to consider:

Any of Arnold Ytreeide books including but not limited to Jotham’s Journey, Tabitha’s Travels, and Amon’s Adventure.  These are meant for Christmas and Easter, but they are set in the 1st century and can tie in with both Ancient Rome and Ancient Greece.

Jenny L. Cote’s ‘The Epic Order of the Seven’ Series – I haven’t personally read these but they are books my kids LOVE.  They are Christian historical fiction novels written from the point of view of animal friends.  What’s not to love!

Jenny L. Cote has a passion for God, history and young people and fuses those passions together in her writing.

These four (books 3-6 of the series) specifically tie in with Ancient Rome:

The Prophet, the Shepherd, and the Star – Setting is the time of the birth of Christ.

The Roman, the Twelve and the King – Time travel happens in this story, with the animals traveling to the time of Handel writing “The Messiah” in the 1700’s and also being there for Jesus’s childhood, ministry, passion and resurrection.

The Wind, the Road and the Way – covers the resurrection of Jesus Christ through Paul’s 2nd missionary journey.

The Fire, the Revelation and the Fall – About the events in Acts, and birth of Christianity.  Includes Nero’s reign and Paul’s third missionary journey.

Check out my other history book lists!

Ancient Egypt

Ancient Greece

Middle Ages


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Ancient Greece Book List Grades 3-6

Ancient Greece has been fascinating to study.  We’ve used a variety of books to deepen our knowledge and understanding of this time in history.   A time in history that has contributed to and influenced so many things in our current society.

One of my absolute favorite things about homeschooling is redeeming my own education and getting to dive deep into things that I was only able to “scratch the surface” of during my time in school.

These are the books we used to dive into the world of Ancient Greece.  I gave the suggested age range of grades 3-6 but you know your kids best so don’t feel like you need to be confined to that!

This blog post contains affiliate links and any purchases made through these links will result in a small commission for me (at no cost to you!) 

Our “spine” books that we use for all of history:

A Child’s History of the World by Hillyer.  A great overview of history.

Story of the World Volume 1 We only do SOTW on audiobook, the kids (and hubs!) just love listening to Jim Weiss.

Other books that cover much of history:

Time Traveler  Usborne (this is one to OWN!)

Atlas of World History Another Usborne book!

Non-Fiction Books

Usborne Encyclopedia of Ancient Greece Usborne yet again 🙂

Horrible Histories: The Groovy Greeks and Rotten Roman’s  Confession – these are bit much for my taste BUT based on fact that my kids love it and are learning a ton in the process, I have it on the list…   I catch my daughter reading and re-reading this one often! I got this one off eBay, not sure why it’s priced so ridiculously high on Amazon!

Archimedes and the Door of Science   We were fascinated by Archimedes and his inventions and creativity!

Ancient Greece by Daniel Cohen – Fabulous illustrations and easy to understand text.

Fiction:

D’aulaire book of Greek Myths   BEAUTIFUL illustrations!

Theras and His Town A great historical fiction novel contrasting the Spartans and Athenians.  Probably the book that surprised us the most.  Despite the slow start it ended up being a favorite!

Aesop’s Fables  Illustrated by Arthur Rackham.

Aesop’s Fables: A Pop-Up Book of Classic Tales  This is a great book to introduce younger kids (though my older kids liked it too!) to Aesop’s fables.  The pop outs are incredible.  

The Wanderings of Odysseus: The Story of the Odyssey  by Rosemary Sutcliff.

Black Ships Before Troy: The Story of the Illiad, also by Rosemary Sutcliff (we actually did not get to this one yet, but is written by the same author as Wanderings of Odysseus)

The Usborne Illustrated Odyssey   Can’t get enough of Usborne! This is a simpler version of the Odyssey and a good book to use to introduce it (The Odyssey) to kids.  

Check out my other history book lists!

Ancient Egypt

Ancient Rome

Middle Ages


 

 

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Books to help you explore Ancient Egypt

I recently wrote a post about hands-on activities to help you explore Ancient Egypt. THIS post is a complementary post to that one, on books you can use to study Ancient Egypt.

Included in this list are the books that we found the most interesting and ones that sparked great conversation.  As I’ve shared in other posts, we like to use mostly living books for studying history. We used them as read-alouds.

There are so many books about Ancient Egypt to pick from!  This is just a fraction (but a GOOD fraction) of them!

This blog post contains affiliate links and any purchases made through these links will result in a small commission for me (at no cost to you!).

Usborne Books

Oh, how we love our Usborne books!  The two Usborne books that we used the most as we studied Ancient Egypt were Time Traveler and Pharaoh’s & Pyramids

Time Traveler is a great one that covers many different age periods and the Ancient Egypt portion is just one part of the book.  My daughter actually reads this one a lot but more for the section on the Middle Ages.

Pharaoh’s & Pyramids is out of print, but you can probably get it from your library or eBay.  The pictures are just so detailed and even humorous at times.  We had a great time looking at this one together.  This one is not available on Amazon but you can probably find it at your local library or eBay.

What I love about Usborne non-fiction, is the way they just take small parts of text and include it amidst great illustrations.  They can be used by all different ages of kids.

Historical Fiction Novels

A Cry From Egypt by Hope Auer

A Cry From Egypt was not on my original book list for the year, but a friend of mine who is doing Cycle 1 with CC, posted that her family had enjoyed this book.  I was not able to get it at the library so I purchased this one on Amazon.

My kids REALLY liked this one.  With lots of cliffhangers and tons of heart, this book was a favorite.  It’s the story of a 12 year old Jewish girl living during the time of the 10 plagues.   The kids begged me every day to read more.  There is a sequel, A Stand at Sinai, that my daughter begged me to buy.  She read it on her own and loved it as well.

The Golden Goblet by Eloise Jarvis McGraw

Also set in Ancient Egypt, The Golden Goblet is the story of Ranofer, an Egyptian boy who lives under the oppression and abuse of his evil half-brother, Gebu.  Ranofer’s main desire is to be a master goldsmith, but he has to figure out a way to escape Gebu.

This novel was not as much of a crowd pleaser as A Cry from Egypt, and my son liked it much more than my daughter.  It was slower to start but still very interesting and shed light on what life was like for common people in Ancient Egypt.

Picture books (not just for younger kids!)

The 5,000-Year-Old Puzzle: Solving a Mystery of Ancient Egypt by Claudia Logan

The reader can participate in what an actual archaeological dig would have been like.  This book uses actual historical information from Dr. George Reisner’s archaeological dig of 1924.  It puts it together in a way that really engages the reader.  Lots of great pictures combined with information in a very pleasing format.

Ancient Egypt by Daniel Cohen

What makes this book stand out is the exceptional and large illustrations.  The illustrations are accompanied by text on each page and you will know a ton more about Ancient Egypt after reading this informative book!  Unfortunately, this is another one that is hard to find.  I was able to get it at our local library.

 

If you’re looking for a movie, then there, of course, is the beloved Prince of Egypt, always a favorite!

Check out my other history book lists!

Ancient Greece

Ancient Rome

Middle Ages

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