Books to go along with SOTW 2 - India, China, Japan, Australia...

[Jennefer@SSA]

I have been given terrific recommendations for books that cover most of the chapters but I am having a hard time for these chapters.

Any ideas? I don't have the AG yet and I would rather hear from moms who have btdt, too!

Thanks again!!!!!

[Lori D.]

I did searches on our library's online card catalog, looking up each country we were interested in. We watched travelogues, entertaining movies set in the various countries, read a lot of folktales/fairytales for flavor of the country and culture, and made food or played games of the country using non-fiction books from the library.

Here are a few resources we had from our library:

INDIA

- Royal Diaries: Jahanara, Princess of Princesses (Kathryn Lasky) -- gr. 4-6
- The Gifts of Wali Dad: A Tale of India and Pakistan (Aaron Shephard) -- picture book
- I Am Muslim (Jessica Chalfonte) -- gr. 1-4
- What You Will See Inside A Mosque (Aisha Karen Khan) -- gr. 1-4
- The Elephant Prince: A Story of Ganesh (Amy Novesky) -- picture book
- The Adventures of Young Krishna: The Blue God of India (Diksha Dalal Clayton) -- picture book
- What Makes Me a Hindu (Charles George) -- gr. 1-4
- What You Will See Inside a Hindu Temple (Mahendra Jani) -- gr. 1-4



JAPAN

1100s-1700s
- The Girl Who Loved Caterpillars: A 12th Century Tale from Japan (Jean Merrill) -- picture book
- Sword of the Samurai: Adventure Stories from Japan (Eric Kimmel) -- gr. 2-4
- Grass Sandals: The Travels of Basho (Dawnine Spivak) -- picture book
- Master Puppeteer* (Katerine Paterson) -- gr. 5-8 (for younger grades as a read aloud)
- Demon in the Teahouse (Dorothy Hoobler) -- gr. 5-8 (for younger grades as a read aloud)
- Ghost in the Tokaido Inn* (Dorothy Hoobler) -- gr. 5-8 (for younger grades as a read aloud)
- Hokusai: The Man Who Painted A Mountain (Deborah Kogan) -- gr. 2-4

1800s
- Born in the Year of Courage* (Emily Crofford) -- gr. 4-6 (for younger grades as a read aloud)
- The Big Wave (Pearl S. Buck) -- gr. 3-6

Japanese Folktales/Fairytales
- Japanese Children's Favorite Stories (Florence Sakade) -- gr. K-4
- The Cat Who Went to Heaven (Elizabeth Coatsworth) -- gr. 3-6 (for younger grades as a read aloud)



CHINA

- The Cloudmakers (James Rumford) -- picture book
- Little Pear (Eleanor Frances) (early 1900s) -- gr. K-5 read aloud
- Young Fu of the Upper Yangtzee (1920s) -- gr. 2-5 read aloud
- House of 60 Fathers (DeJong) -- gr. 1-5 read aloud

Chinese Folktales/ Fairytales
- The Ch'i Lin Purse: A Collection of Ancient Chinese Stories (Linda Fang) -- gr. K-5 read aloud
- Stories from the Silk Road (Cherry Gilchrist) -- picture book
- Liang and the Magic Paintbrush (Demi) -- picture book



AUSTRALIA

"Burnt Stick" (Hill) – 1950s, half Aborigine/halfe white boy is taken from his tribe -- picture book
"Red Sand, Blue Sky" (Applegate) — gr. 3-6
- Color and Learn: Australia (EduPress) -- coloring pages -- gr. 1-5

Legends/Folktales:
- "Pacific Island Legends: Tales from Micronesia, Melanesia, Polynesia, Australia" (Flood) -- gr. 4-8
- "Dreamtime: Aborigine Stories (Oodgeroo) gr. 2-6
- "The Sing-Song of Old Man Kangaroo" by Rudyard Kipling
- "Wombat Goes Walkabout" by Michael Morpurgo

[Jennefer@SSA]

Lori, you rock!!!!! Thanks so very much. I'm off to search these books!!!

[Rosie_0801]

Bear in mind that I haven't seen the topics covered in SOTW so don't know what topics you are looking for.
However:
*Read ANYTHING by Percy Trezise and Dick Roughsey! I loved these when I was a kid and always wanted someone to buy them for me. Now I have someone to buy them for :)

And read through this list:
http://www.downunderlit.com/index_files/booklist.htm

:)
Rosie- Downunder ;)

[mcconnellboys]

Here are the (mostly picture) books that I used to cover these countries in second grade:


In the Heart of the Village: The World of the Indian Banyan Tree, Barbara Bash
From How Children Lived (DK) read about growing up in Moghul India
Sacred River, Ted Lewin
From Great Events that Changed the World, Delf, read about the Moghul Empire

A Child's Eye View of History (DK) - read about China and the Silk Road
The Gods and Goddesses of Ancient China, Leonard Everett Fisher
Science in Ancient China, George Beshore
Heroines: Great Women through the Ages, Rebecca Hazell (re: Lady Murasaki Shikibu)
Child's Eye View of History (DK) read about Ghengis Khan
Chingis Khan, Demi
From Ten Kings.... read about Kublai Khan
Read about Marco Polo from People in the Past (DK)
The Silk Route: 7000 Miles of History, John S. Major
Ancient China, Robert Nicholson
Marco Polo and the Wonders of the East, Hal Marcovitz
Cat and Rat: the Legend of the Chinese Zodiac, Ed Young
Lord of the Cranes, Kerstin Chen
Two fo Everything, Lily Toy Hong
The Warlord's Puzzle, Virginia Pilegard
Yeh-Shen, A Cinderella story from China, Ai-Ling Louie
The Emperor and the Nightingale, Hans Christian Anderson (on tape)
The Crane Wife, Odds Bodkin
From Sacred Skies, read Chinese stories
Also from Mighty Mountains
The Boy who Drew Cats, Margaret Hodges
Little Oh, Jim Lamarche
The Seven Gods of Luck, David Kudler
The Hunter, A Chinese Folktale, Mary Casanova
The Dragon Prince, Laurence Yep
The Emperor and the Kite, Jane Yolen
Beautiful Warrior: The Legend of the Nun's Kung Fu, Emily McCully (good!)
Bitter Dumplings, Jeanne Lee

Japan the Culture, Bobbie Kalman
How Children Lived (DK) read about Japan
Look into the Past: The Japanese, Clare Doran
Read about Samurai from People in the Past (DK)
A Samurai Castle, Fiona Macdonald
Yoshi's Feast, Kimiko Kajikawa
Mysterious Tales of Japan, Rafe Martin
Kongi and Potgi, a Cinderella Story from Korea, Oki Han
Mr. Pak Buys a Story, Carol Farley
The Rabbit's Judgment, Suzanne Han
From The Waters of Life, read stories about Japan
The Inch-High Samurai, Shiroka Samatsu
Three Samurai Cats, Eric Kimmel (good)
Count Your Way Through India, Jim Haskins
The Old Woman and the Red Pumpkin, Betsy Banc
The Rumor: a Jataka Tale from India, Jan Thornhill
So Say the Little Monkeys, Nancy Van Lann

Destination Australia, Grupper (good)
An Adventure in New Zealand, The Cousteau Society
A Child's Eye View of History (DK) read about Aborigines (Also in How Children Lived - DK)

[Laura Corin]

Amazon list (http://www.amazon.com/Ideas-for-Studying-Chinese-history-ages-6-14/lm/1XHCU8PVLXH9K/ref=cm_lm_byauthor_title_full)

Laura

[nestof3]

CH 5
In the Heart of the Village: The World of the Indian Banyan Tree (Barbara Bash)
Describes the importance of a banyan tree to an Indian village.

The King’s Chessboard (David Birch)
A proud king, too vain to admit what he does not know, learns a valuable lesson when he readily grants his wise man a special request.

The Very Hungry Lion: A Folktale(Gita Wolf-Sampath)
Adapted from a folktale, variations of which appear all over India, the story describes the adventures of a lazy lion who is outsmarted by his prey. The art is based on the Warli style of folk-painting traditionally used to decorate the walls of village homes in western India.

The Stonecutter: An Indian Folktale (Patricia Montgomery Newton)
A retelling of a traditional Indian tale in which a discontented stonecutter is never satisfied with each wish that is granted him.

I, Doko : the tale of a basket (Ed Young)
Doko is only a simple basket. It is not only grain from the field that he carries--he has also carried his master's child, and wood for the fire. He was there when the child became a man and married. And he very nearly had to carry the grandfather away forever. Luckily, someone wise beyond their years spoke up and made it possible for Doko to carry the grandfather home again instead.


CH 8

Cat and Rat: The Legend of the Chinese Zodiac (Ed Young)
Introduces the Chinese zodiac and relates how each of its twelve signs was named for an animal selected by the Jade Emperor.

Lon Po Po: A Red-Riding Hood Story from China (Ed Young)
Three sisters staying home alone are endangered by a hungry wolf who is disguised as their grandmother.

Maples in the Mist: Children's Poems from the Tang Dynasty (Minfong Ho)
A collection of short poems written over 1000 years ago by such poets of the Tang Dynasty as Li Po, Yin Luan, and Du Mu.

Two of Everything: A Chinese Folktale (Lily Toy Hong)
A poor old Chinese farmer finds a magic brass pot that doubles or duplicates whatever is placed inside it, but his efforts to make himself wealthy lead to unexpected complications.

Beyond the great mountains : a visual poem about china (Ed Young)
Lyrical text and illustrations featuring Chinese characters and paper collage introduce the beauty and richness of China.

The Moon Dragon (Moira Miller)
Ling Po, the most boastful man in all of China, claims that he can build a kite that will take him to the moon.

China: The Magic Paintbrush [video] Schlessinger Media
What would you do if everything you painted came to life? In this cautionary folktale rom China, a young artist is given a magical paintbrush in a dream and is instructed to paint from his heart. He goes on to amaze onlookers as his artwork becomes real and leaps from the paper. When news of this spreads, the young boy finds himself in the hands of the emperor, whose interest in the paintbrush is driven by gred. He commands the boy to paint him a room full of riches. Find out how the young artist stays true to the purpose of the paintbrush in this animated tale from China.

Two Chinese Tales [video] Kathy Tucker
The seven Chinese sisters: seven sisters must use their individual talents to save themselves from a dragon ; Two of everything: An elderly farmer and his wife find a magic pot that doubles everything they put in it.

The Warlord’s Kites (Virginia Walton Pilegard)
When a hostile army attacks the warlord's palace in ancient China, Chuan and his friend, Jing Jing, find an ingenious way to scare them off using simple kites. Includes instructions for making a kite from a paper bag.

The Warlord’s Beads (Virginia Walton Pilegard)
A young Chinese boy helps his father count the warlord's vast treasures by using beads threaded on a branch. Includes a brief history of the abacus and instructions for making one.

The Warlord’s Messengers (Virginia Walton Pilegard)
In ancient China, Chuan and Jing Jing invent a cart that sails on land in order to quickly reach the warlord with an important message from the emperor.

The Warlord's Puzzle(Virginia Walton Pilegard) E Fiction
Hoping to avoid punishment for breaking a beautiful tile that was his gift to a Chinese warlord, an artist suggests that the warlord hold a contest to see if anyone can mend it.


CH 9

Grass sandals : the travels of Basho (Dawnine Spivak)
A simple retelling of the travels of seventeenth-century Japanese poet, Basho, across his island homeland. Includes examples of the haiku verses he composed.

The Boy Who Drew Cats (Margaret Hodges)
A young boy's obsession with drawing cats changes his life.

The Crane Wife (Odds Bodkin)
A retelling of the traditional Japanese tale about a poor sail maker who gains a beautiful but mysterious wife skilled at weaving magical sails.

The Chinese Mirror (Mirra Ginsburg)
A retelling of a traditional Korean tale in which a mirror brought from China causes confusion within a family as each member looks in it and sees a different stranger.

The Princess and the Beggar: A Korean Folktale (Anne Sibley O. Brien) A sad princess finds happiness after marrying a beggar.

Mr. Pak Buys a Story (Carol J. Farley)
The unusual story that a wealthy couple's servant buys from a thief proves to be well worth the price.

Yoshi's Feast (Kimiko Kajikawa)
When Yoshi's neighbor, Sabu, the eel broiler, attempts to charge him for the delicious smelling aromas he has been enjoying, Yoshi hatches a plan to enrich them both.

The Tale of the Mandarin Ducks [video] (Leo Dillon)
A pair of mandarin ducks, separated by a cruel lord who wishes to possess the drake for his colorful beauty, reward a compassionate couple who risk their lives to reunite the ducks.

The Long Silk Strand (Laura E. Williams)
In this contemporary folktale set in ancient Japan, a young girl climbs a long silk strand hanging from heaven and discovers her grandmother waiting for her.

The Wise Old Woman (Yoshiko Uchida)
An old woman demonstrates the value of her age when she solves a warlord's three riddles and saves her village from destruction.

The Farmer and the Poor God (Ruth Wells)
A poor god living in the attic of an unsuccessful family prepares to move with them and causes a reversal of their fortunes.


CH 10

What made Tiddalik laugh (Joanna Troughton)
Retells the Aboriginal tale about what happened when the giant frog Tiddalik had such a great thirst that he drank a lake, a river, and all the other water he could find until there wasn't a drop of water left anywhere.

The singing snake (Stefan Czernecki)
A retelling of the Australian aboriginal tale about a snake that swallows a lark in an effort to win a singing contest.

[Jennefer@SSA]

This is so very helpful!

[nestof3]

Oh, and we read some others for China and India when we read through SOTW Volume 1. I could post those too if you'd like.

[Jennefer@SSA]

What about for SOTW Chapter 9: Ancient Japan and Ch 12: Islamic Invasion? I forgot to ask about those!

TIA!!!!!

[Jennefer@SSA]

Just saw the recommendations for Ch 9 on Japan. How did I miss that the first time? :001_huh:

[nestof3]

CH 12
The Beautiful Butterfly: A Folktale from Spain (Judy Sierra)
After choosing a husband for his sweet singing voice, a beautiful butterfly mourns the fact that he is swallowed by a fish, until a king in his underwear reunites the two.
The Three Golden Oranges (Alma Flor Ada)
Acting on the advice of the old woman on the cliff by the sea, three brothers who wish to find brides go in search of three golden oranges.
The Riddle (Adele Vernon)
"Based on an old Catalan story El rei i el carboner ('The king and the charcoal maker')"
A retelling of a traditional Catalan tale in which a poor charcoal makers's cleverness wins him an unexpected fortune.



We loved The Riddle! Great story! I want to buy this one.

The Three Golden Oranges was nice too.

The Beautiful Buttefly, though very prominent in folklore, was rather lame to me.

[Lori D.]

AWESOME lists, Dawn!! : )

[Jennefer@SSA]

I got two books from the authors you mentioned at Bookcloseouts.com!

Thanks so very much! :)

[Jennefer@SSA]

What an awesome list! If I may ask, what would be your top 1 or 2 choices for a young boy. I want to go for the "less is more" approach next year and just expose him to one or two books to go along with each civilization. This year I tried to do too much and it was like "drinking from a firehose!"

Thanks!

[Laura Corin]

What an awesome list! If I may ask, what would be your top 1 or 2 choices for a young boy.

Thanks!

Laura

[Jennefer@SSA]

I am really so enjoying your selections. You choose great books that truly enrich the reading not just supplement it by telling more about the same thing (my tendency!) If I may, can I ask you about a few more chapters?

Ch 37 - Copernicus/Galileo - There is soooo much out there about these guys. I would love to hear what you chose.

Ch. 11 - Kingdom of the Franks - Exact opposite problem here. Not much I can find.

Ch. 20 - Such a rich culture but I'm not coming up with anything that just captivates me!

Thanks yet again. It helps so much getting all this done ahead of time so I can start searching for bargains!!!!!

[Jennefer@SSA]

He is 7 and he does like hands on activities but his mommy has a hard time following through if they are not super-simple :tongue_smilie: Sad but true!

[nestof3]

Ch 37 - Copernicus/Galileo - There is soooo much out there about these guys. I would love to hear what you chose.

Ch. 11 - Kingdom of the Franks - Exact opposite problem here. Not much I can find.

Ch. 20 - Such a rich culture but I'm not coming up with anything that just captivates me!


We are only through Chapter 13. I only have book lists planned up through Chapter 15. We are off our cycle, for example, this year we worked through the last half of SOTW 1 and the first half of SOTW 2. I won't plan my book lists for next year until this summer.

Note: You will notice I used two Beauty and the Beast and two Medieval France tales that are similar (Three Perfect Peaches and Three Sacks of Truth). I like to compare author and illustrator versions with my children. I find history a great time to introduce folktales, fables and fairy tales. I try to make sure my children are exposed to all sorts of literature: poetry, fables, fairy tales, folktales, nonfiction, journals and so forth. The boys love these literature supplements. My 6 year old said the other day that he likes the supplemental literature but not the SOTW, while my 8 year old loves both and even listens to SOTW audio over and over again.

For CH 11, I only read these, but you could use some of the CH 13 folktales and fairy tales here to lessen the load of CH 13.

Famous Men of the Middle Ages (Cyndy Shearer)
Read chapter about Clovis.

Early Saints of God (Bob Hartman)
Read Ch. 7 about Saint Genevieve who convinced the early Parisians to stand their ground against Attila the Hun.

Marguerite Makes a Book (Bruce Robertson)
In medieval Paris, Marguerite helps her nearly blind father finish painting an illuminated manuscript for his patron, Lady Isabelle.


Here's CH 13:

Famous Men of the Middle Ages (Cyndy Shearer)
Read chapter about Charlemagne.

Beauty and the Beast (Marianna Mayer)
Through her great capacity to love, a kind and beautiful maid releases a handsome prince from the spell which has made him an ugly beast.

Beauty and the Beast (Jan Brett)
Through her great capacity to love, a kind and beautiful maid releases a handsome prince from the spell which has made him an ugly beast.

Toads and Diamonds (Charlotte Huck)
Two step-sisters receive appropriate gifts for their actions: one's words are accompanied by flowers and jewels, the other's by toads and snakes.

Three Perfect Peaches: A French Folktale (Cynthia C. DeFelice)
The king offers his daughter's hand in marriage to the young man who can produce three perfect peaches.

Three Sacks of Truth (Eric A. Kimmel)
With the aid of a perfect peach, a silver fife, and his own resources, Petit Jean outwits a dishonest king and wins the hand of a princess.

Drakestail Visits the King: A Magic Lantern Fairy Tale (Neil Philip)
The adventures of a drake who becomes a king with the help of a fox, ladder, river, and wasp's nest.

Guleesh and the King of France's Daughter: A Magic Lantern Fairy Tale (Neil Philip)
A simple peasant boy marries a beautiful princess after rescuing her from a cruel fate at the hands of wicked fairies.

Son of Charlemagne(Barbara Willard) [long chapter book]
It is about Charlemagne, but written from the perspective of his eldest son, so it keeps their interest.

The Minstrel in the Tower (Gloria Skurzynski)
In the year 1195, eleven-year-old Roger and his eight-year-old sister Alice travel through the French countryside in search of their ailing mother's estranged brother, a wealthy baron.

Favorite Medieval Tales (Mary Pope Osborne)
Song of Roland (medieval fable about Charlemagne)

The Marvelous Blue Mouse (Christopher Manson)
A trusted advisor to the Emperor Charlemagne uses a small mouse and some ingenuity to expose the misdeeds of a greedy Lord Mayor.

[nestof3]

I have not looked into this time period yet, so this is just what I came up with doing a search. The activity guide will probably have suggestions too.

For CH 12:

This book looks nice:
http://www.amazon.com/Stone-Lamp-Stories-Hanukkah-Through/dp/0786806192/ref=sr_1_29?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1210518310&sr=1-29

This was a book we enjoyed and deals with a medieval Jew:
http://www.amazon.com/Travels-Benjamin-Tudela-Through-Continents/dp/0374377545/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1210519115&sr=1-6

Here's one for older children:
http://www.amazon.com/Other-1492-Jewish-Settlement-World/dp/0595152791/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1210519435&sr=1-1

This might be a good folktale choice:
http://www.amazon.com/Big-Quiet-House-Heather-Forest/dp/0874834627/ref=si3_rdr_bb_product

Here's one:
http://www.amazon.com/Golem-Caldecott-Medal-David-Wisniewski/dp/0395726182/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1210519702&sr=1-7