When I first began homeschooling, I had never heard of a “living book.” I jumped into homeschooling using a textbook/workbook based curriculum that I had been using in the private, Christian school where I taught before having children. That was all I knew to do. We were “doing school” after all, so we needed school books.
Of course I read to my children outside of “regular schoolwork.” I read and read and read. I’ve always been a reader, and I’ve always valued reading aloud. Even in my classroom teaching days, I had times to read great books aloud to my kids. In my classroom and then for my own children I chose good, quality books to read aloud. I read classics written by authors I had enjoyed as a child.
But I never knew that we could read these awesome books for our “school time.” I thought we’d bear down, read our dry and dusty textbooks the best we could and get through so we could actually have time to read something enjoyable. And then, as a young homeschooling mama, I heard about this concept of using “living books” to teach school subjects.
As I learned more and more about homeschooling methods and resources, I veered away from the structured curriculum I was using and became an eclectic homeschooler that used many Charlotte Mason and Classical homeschooling methods and ideas. And I found the joy of learning with my children through reading great books.
One of the subjects I’ve most enjoyed using living books to teach is history. I always loved history in school, even when it was taught out of a boring textbook. But when we began learning more about history using living books, I loved the subject even more.
In our homeschool, we’ve primarily learned history using a classical history cycle. This cycle rotates through historical time periods and focuses on world history. Unlike some of the more structured, traditional curricula I’ve seen, the Classical model doesn’t focus primarily on American history. Instead the history of America is woven into the more modern history cycles- where it fits. The history cycle that we have followed has four major time periods:
~Ancient history
~ Medieval/Renaissance
~ Renaissance/Early Modern
~ Modern
You can read more about the Classic history cycle here. We’ve rotated through this cycle, digging deeper as the kids get older. In the earlier years I choose easier books, and the kids did hands-on activities such as coloring sheets and lapbooks to relate to our reading. As they’ve gotten older, we’ve used notebooking, writing assignments, and more elaborate projects in conjunction to with our reading.
In this post- which I’m linking up with the iHomeschool Network’s 100 Things post series- I’m sharing 100 living books that you can use with a classical history cycle. I’ve divided them by time period, and I’ve labeled them as Primary (PreK-2nd grade), Elementary (3rd-5th grade), Middle Grade (6th-8th grade), and High School.
Of course, as a homeschool mom knows, these groupings are relative. Older kids often enjoy picture books, and if you read aloud, even preschoolers can listen in to a longer chapter book. So take the age recommendations with a grain of salt. At the end of the post, you can pick up a free set of Graphic Organizers for Reading that can be used, primarily for the elementary-aged kids, as a response for reading fiction or nonfiction.
Ancient History (5000 BC-400 AD)
The Bronze Bow by Elizabeth George Speare- Middle Grade
The Golden Goblet by Eloise Jarvis McGraw- Elementary/Middle Grade
God King: A Story in the Days of King Hezekiah by Joanne Williamson and Daria M. Sockey- Middle Grade and Up
The Cat of Bubastes: A Tale of Ancient Egypt by G.A. Henty- Middle Grade
Adam and His Kin: The Lost History of Their Lives and Times by Ruth Beechick- High School
The Children’s Homer: The Adventures of Odysseus and the Tale of Troy by Padraic Colum- Middle Grade
D’Aulaires’ Book of Greek Myths by Ingri d’Aulaire and Edgar Parin d’Aulaire- Elementary and Middle Grade
The Gods and Goddesses of Olympus by Aliki- Primary
Twice Freed by Patricia St. John– Middle Grade
Trial and Triumph: Stories from Church History by Richard M. Hannula- Middle Grade and High School
Pyramid by David Macaulay- Middle Grade
Gilgamesh the King by Ludmila Zeman- Elementary
The Librarian Who Measured the Earth by Kathryn Lasky- Elementary
Archimedes and the Door of Science by Jeanne Bendick- Middle Grade
Mummies Made in Egypt by Aliki- Primary
Tutankhamen’s Gift by Robert Sabuda- Elementary
A Cry From Egypt by Hope Auer- Middle Grade/High School
The True Story of Noah’s Ark by Tom Dooley- Elementary
Pharaoh’s Boat by David L. Weitzman- Elementary
Adventures in Ancient Greece by Linda Bailey- Elementary
Seven Daughters and Seven Sons by Barbara Cohen and Bahija Lovejoy- Middle Grade/High School
Dinosaurs of Eden: Did Adam and Noah Live With Dinosaurs? by Ken Ham- Elementary
The Trojan Horse by Emily Little- Elementary
Tales of Ancient Egypt by Roger Lancelyn Green- Middle Grade/High School
The Golden Bull: A Mesopotamian Adventure by Marjorie Cowley- Middle Grade
Medieval/Early Renaissance (400-1600)
The Door in the Wall by Marguerite de Angeli- Elementary
The Apple and the Arrow by Conrad Buff- Middle Grade
Castle Diary: The Journal of Tobias Burgess by Richard Platt- Elementary/Middle Grade
The Midwife’s Apprentice by Karen Cushman- Middle Grade
Adam of the Road by Elizabeth Janet Gray- Elementary/Middle Grade
A Grain of Rice by Helena Clare Pittman- Elementary/Middle Grade
I Rode a Horse of Milk White Jade by Diane Wilson- Middle Grade
The Trumpeter of Krakow by Eric P. Kelly- Middle Grade/High School
Hawk That Dare Not Hunt by Day by Scott O’Dell- Middle Grade/High School
Ink on His Fingers by Louise A. Vernon- Middle Grade
Joan of Arc by Diane Stanley- Elementary
The Shakespeare Stealer by Gary Blackwood- Middle Grade
The Whipping Boy by Sid Fleischman- Middle Grade
Pedro’s Journal: A Voyage with Christopher Columbus, August 3, 1492-February 14, 1493 by Pam Conrad- Elementary
Eric the Red by Neil Grant- Elementary
Good Queen Bess: The Story of Elizabeth 1 of England by Diane Stanley- Elementary
The Minstrel in the Tower by Gloria Skurzynski- Elementary
A Medieval Feast by Aliki- Primary/Elementary
A Year in a Castle by Rachel Coombs- Primary
The Making of a Knight by Patrick O’Brian- Primary
Michelangelo’s Surprise by Tony Parillo- Primary
Famous Men of the Renaissance and Reformation by Robert G. Shearer- Middle Grades/High School
The Story of Rolf and the Viking Bow by Allen French-Middle Grade
Son of Charlemagne by Barbara Willard- Middle Grade
The King’s Shadow by Elizabeth Alder- Middle Grade/High School
Later Renaissance/Early Modern (1600-1850)
The Courage of Sarah Noble by Alice Dalgliesh- Elementary
Alone Yet Not Alone by Tracy Leininger Craven- Middle Grade
Benjamin Franklin by Ingri and Edgar Parin d’Aulaires- Elementary
The Fourth of July Story by Alice Dalgliesh- Primary/Elementary
Squanto, Friend of the Pilgrims by Clyde Robert Bulla- Elementary
The Pilgrims of Plymouth by Marcia Sewall- Primary/Elementary
The Matchlock Gun by Walter D. Edmonds- Elementary
A Lion to Guard Us by Clyde Robert Bulla- Middle Grade
Toliver’s Secret by Esther Wood Brady- Elementary/Middle Grade
The Sign of the Beaver by Elizabeth George Speare- Middle Grade
Johnny Tremain by Esther Hoskins- Middle Grade
Amos Fortune, Free Man by Elizabeth Yates- Middle Grade
Peter the Great by Diane Stanley- Primary/Elementary
Mr. Revere and I: Being an Account of certain Episodes in the Career of Paul Revere,Esq. as Revealed by his Horse by Robert Lawson- Elementary
Brady by Jean Fritz- Middle Grade
If You Lived With the Iroquois by Ellen Levine- Primary/Elementary
If You Sailed on the Mayflower in 1620 by Ann McGovern and Anna DiVito- Primary/Elementary
The Story of the Pilgrims by Katharine Ross and Carolyn Croll- Primary
The Lewis and Clark Expedition by Richard L. Neuberger- Middle Grade
Carry On, Mr. Bowditch by Jean Lee Latham- Middle Grade/High School
Ben and Me: An Astonishing Life of Benjamin Franklin by His Good Mouse Amos by Robert Lawson- Elementary
George Washington’d World by Joanna and Genevieve Foster- Elemenary
The Landing of the Pilgrims by James Daugherty- Elementary
The Great Little Madison by Jean Fritz- Elementary
Modern (1850-present)
The Little House books by Laura Ingalls Wilder- Elementary/Middle Grade
Sarah, Plain and Tall by Patricia MacLachlan- Elementary/Middle Grade
Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White- Elementary
Wagon Wheels by Barbara Brenner- Primary/Elementary
By the Great Horn Spoon! by Sid Fleischman- Elementary
Rifles for Watie by Harold Keith- Middle Grade/High School
Hattie Big Sky by Kirby Larson- Middle Grade/High School
Bound for Oregon by Jean Van Leeuwen- Middle Grade
Across Five Aprils by Irene Hunt- Middle Grade/High School
Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes by Eleanor Coerr- Middle Grade
Number the Stars by Lois Lowry- Middle Grade
The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne- Middle Grade/High School
Code Talker: A Novel About the Navajo Marines of World War Two by Joseph Bruchac- Middle Grade/High School
Caddie Woodlawn by Carol Ryrie Brink- Middle Grade
Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred D. Taylor- Middle Grade/High School
Esperanza Rising by Pam Nunoz Ryan- Middle Grade
Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson- Middle Grade/High School
The War That Saved by Life by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley- Elementary/Middle Grade
Young Fu of the Upper Yangtze by Elizabeth Foreman Lewis- Middle Grade/High School
The Little Riders by Margaretha Shemin- Elementary/Middle Grade
Letters from Rifka by Karen Hesse- Middle Grade
Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse- Middle Grade
Turning 15 on the Road to Freedom: My Story of the 1965 Selma Voting Rights March by Lynda Blackmon Lowery- Middle Grade
If you’re looking for other history resources to add to your living books, check out this post with movies and documentaries for homeschooling history.
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