Help me put together my wishlist for SOTW 2...

[Jennefer@SSA]

What are the must-have books to go along with SOTW 2? My ds6 has loved SOTW 1 and we got wonderful recommendations from the board about the must-haves for the ancients. Can you all help me again with medieval history?

Also, what books would you want to purchase b/c you use them again and again and which books are one-time-check -them-out-from-the-library books!

Thanks so very much!

[Jennefer@SSA]

Okay, trying to move this up to the front to give it another try! Anyone willing to share their favorite books for medieval times? There are millions of suggestions in the SOTW 2 Teacher's Guide but I am looking for the best of the best!!!! :)

Thanks in advance!

[HollyDay]

So far we/ve enjoyed:
Augustine Came to Kent
First Empress of China
Science in China
Art of China
Art of Japan
Sword in the Tree
Arabian Knights
Shadow Spinner
The Vikings
Beorne the Proud
EyeWitness Vikings
Beowulf - I did 2 different versions of this this - one illustrated and another.

I have others planned but havent gotten that far. We keep getting bogged down in history fun!

[Trivium Academy]

Marguerite Makes a Book
Johann Gutenberg and the Amazing Printing Press
Across a Dark and Wild Sea
The biographies from PeaceHillPress.com/ Acrobatic Princess, Forgotten Explorer, etc.
The Seven Voyages of Sinbad the Sailor
The Minstrel in the Tower
How to be a Medieval Knight
How to be a Samurai Warrior
Eric the Red, Leif the Lucky
Marco Polo Overland to China
Favorite Medieval Tales
The Squire and the Scroll
A Medieval Feast

As many readers as you can get for your child's reading level, there are leveled readers by DK Publishing and Usborne about Joan of Arc, Knights and other medieval topics.

There are many books about knights and castles- so that is relative to what your boys would like. We really enjoyed Philip Steele's book about castles and the How to be a Medieval Knight book. It spurred great converstaions for us.

There are a lot of wonderful books to choose from, I would try to stick to the ones that are indicated as IR (independent read) for your grade level in the AG, that really helps. Even if your boys don't read them, it will be books for their age, some of the books in the AG are too heavy (read: boring) for younger kids because they are too dense in information. There are plenty of picture book biographies out there to help with fleshing out material from SOTW.

Also to keep from reading double- consider whether to read the stories that are in SOTW or to use books. For example reading about Sinbad in SOTW or reading a book about Sinbad. This will help you trim the budget if you need to.

[Trivium Academy]

Jennefer, I just wanted to say that you might mention what age you need. The titles Holly posted are great but are for older kids. :)

[Another Lynn]

We weren't using SOTW yet when we did yr 2 of the history cycle, but my ds enjoyed The Little Duke and Howard Pyle's Robin Hood as read alouds. We also got enjoyed a book called Coat of Arms that explained coats of arms, shields, heraldry symbols. It included a template for making your own too. (Don't know if something like that might already be in the Activity Guide or not). My kids still get our book out to make new shields even though we're way past that part of history. (Reading Narnia might be part of the reason, LOL).

I'm sure others will give more recommendations than this. I also like to browse the Veritas Press catalog for good reading suggestions.

HTH.

[Adrianne]

We also bought a few Treasure Chests on the Vikings and DaVinci as a supplement. We also like Discovering Great Artists to go along with SOTW 2

Our library has many books with great access so we did not purchase many.

SOTW 2 is a great book. Enjoy!

Adrianne

[Jennefer@SSA]

You are right. I should have mentioned that ds will be 7 next year.

Thanks to all who have responded so far. It's so helpful to have a list to start from! :)

[HollyDay]

Jennefer, I just wanted to say that you might mention what age you need. The titles Holly posted are great but are for older kids. :)

I used these with my 11 and 8 year old

[Basketmaker Amy]

Anything with knights was a big hit here! They loved any and every story dealing with King Arthur. They also loved Jim Weiss' King Arthur CD.

Robin Hood was also a big hit...they loved the old Errol Flynn movie version.

Have fun!

[ABQmom]

This is a great read aloud and remains our favorite so far for this year. My son is 7, and he loved it.

[mamato3 all-boy boys]

Jennefer:

I guess I didn't buy a whole lot of books for SOTW2 -- my shelf is pretty bare for that period of history:eek: -- but, our library had a ton of books and I got good at working the interlibrary loan system too, so it helped stretch our budget.

One thing I did invest in, though, was Jim Weiss. The boys absolutely loved several of his CDs which fit nicely in this time period:

King Arthur and His Knights (http://www.greathall.com/products/1124-006.html)

Robin Hood (http://www.greathall.com/products/1124-004.html)

Shakespeare for Children (http://www.greathall.com/products/1124-015.html)

I could go broke at his site!:D

I also picked up a "Shakespeare Can be Fun" book by Lois Burdett, who is really fabulous at teaching Shakespeare to elementary aged children. I had gotten A Midsummer Night's Dream for Kids, and it was great to read it and also listen to Jim Weiss' version as well.

Another book that I had picked up was a See Through History book called Medieval Knights. Seriosuly, the boys looked at it for HOURS and HOURS at a time. And, I've read it I-can't-even-begin-to-know-how-many-times! I think that type of book is a great book to keep on hand during an extensive study of a subject because it can captivate a child's imagination for ever.

Another thing that was super important for our studies (from one mom of boys to another) was having lots of play knights and castles on hand (We even used them to act out the Battle of Hastings)-- and foam swords and shields.

Have fun -- it is a period of history just made for little boys!

[Testimony]

Saint George and the Dragon
Patrick: Patron Saint of Ireland by De Paola
Saint Nicholas by Tompert
Viking Adventure by Clyde Bulla
The Reluctant Dragon by Grahame(read aloud)
Leif the Lucky
Knights of the Round Table by Green
Robin Hood by Howard Pyle (read aloud)
The Empty Pot by Demi
Clown of God by De Poala
Pirates by Anastasio
The Secret of Roanoke Island by Hubbard-Brown
Suleyman the Magnificent by Greenblatt


Some of these are read alouds. I did not label all of them because I did not mark it on my list. I got all of these books from the library.

Blessings,
Karen
www.homeschoolblogger.com/testimony

[Tarheel Heather]

Days of Knights and Damsels- great crafts to do!

[Chris in VA]

I second Days of Knights and Damsels--I like all the "Days of...." books, even tho I think SOTW AG has plenty of activities.
I also would be sure to read Castle Diary. It's about an 11 yo boy who spends the year with his uncle, learning to be a page. He goes to a tournament, gets sick and sees the dr., goes on a hunt, etc. It's a painless way to read about the facts of medieval life. The illustrations are beautiful, and it's a large format book (maybe 8x15?). I don't think you'd have to purchase it, but I renewed it at the library! lol
We also enjoyed the Viking Treasure Chest. We didn't use the Runes for fortune telling, just to see the letters they used.
I also liked Adam of the Road, but dd thought it was a little too much.