Note: this list reflects a more secular perspective. Consider that, as you select materials. Angie's List of Extra Books for SL 2, World History I've got the books in chronological order according to the Usborne World History book. I've only got it up to Renaissance right now, but am adding to it as I go. I have listed all the Magic Treehouse books in their chronological time slots. Even if you can't stand the Magic Treehouse books, the Research Guides (nonfiction companion books) are definitely worth looking at. They are very interesting and factual. Only 2 are out so far: Dinosaurs and Knights and Castles. You should be able to read all these books to 6-8yo's, except as noted. SL indicates Sonlight book * indicates 2nd-3rd grade reading level (around SL2-Adv level) Dinosaurs *Warm-blooded Dinosaurs (Julian May) *Dinosaur Hunters (Step into Reading) *The Day of the Dinosaur (Stan and Jan Berenstein) Dinosaurs (Usborne Picture World History) Flying Dragons (Troll Associates picture book) *Dinosaurs Before Dark (Mary Pope Osborne) Magic Treehouse series *Dinosaurs (Mary Pope Osborne) nonfiction companion book - excellent Prehistory Prehistoric Mammals (Usborne Children's Picture Prehistory) *Sunset of the Sabertooth (Mary Pope Osborne) Magic Treehouse Skara Brae *Ice Mummy (Step into Reading) *The Day after the Dinosaur (Stan and Jan Berenstein) *Wild and Woolly Mammoths (Let's Read and Find Out Science) Living in Prehistoric Times (Usborne) Archaeology *Archaeologists Dig for Clues (Let's Read and Find Out Science) Egypt 4000-1500BC Egyptian Pyramids Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Egypt - picture book *Mummies in the Morning (Mary Pope Osborne) Magic Treehouse A Day in the Life of an Egyptian Craftsman (Giovanni Caselli) *Zekmet the Stone Carver (Mary Stolz) picture book *Mummies and Pyramids (Mary Pope Osborne) nonfiction companion book due out in January 2001. *Mummies Made in Egypt (Aliki) also a video by Reading Rainbow Cretans 3000-1400BC Life and Times of King Minos and the Cretans *Wings (Yolen) - legend of Daedalus and Icarus Adventures from the Book of Virtues (PBS series based on Book of Virtues) has lots of ancient legends from around the world Indus Valley 2500-1500BC *Clues in the Desert -- this is about Mohenjo-Daro Babylonians 2400-1600BC Gilgamesh the King The Babylonians Egypt 1500-500BC Nefertiti, the Mystery Queen Sword of Egypt (Bert Williams)- was a little difficult for my 7yo to follow, but she did enjoy it SL1*Tut's Mummy, Lost and Found (Step Into Reading) *Kat and the Secrets of the Nile (Stardust Classics) -- this is actually set in 1892 during the dig at Amarna (Akhenaton's city) Kat and her aunt travel back in time with a time machine they built Ancient Civilizations for Children: Ancient Egypt (Schelessinger video) Mummies Unwrapped (National Geographic video) This video is a little odd, you might want to preview it. Myceneans 1500-1100BC (read Trojan War first, then Ulysses/Odysseus for chronological order) Tales of the Trojan War (Usborne) SL2*The Trojan Horse (Step into Reading) The Adventures of Ulysses (Usborne) *The Voyage of Odysseus (Troll Associates) -- picture book Voyages of Odysseus (Rosemary Sutcliffe) - was too difficult for my 7yo, we're doing Usborne's instead Ancient Civilizations for Children: Aegean (Schlessinger video) Babylon 1500-500BC Kid's Discover: Mesopotamia (magazine) Ancient Civilizations for Children:Mesopotamia (Schlessinger video) Persia *Esther's Story (Wolkstein) picture book Greece 500-140BC (read about Hercules before Jason and the Argonauts) *Hour of the Olympics (Mary Pope Osborne) Magic Treeehouse *The Twelve Labors of Hercules (Step into Reading) *The Amazing Adventures of Hercules (Usborne) - comic strip style - more violent than Step into Reading, Hercules has to perform the 12 labors as penance for killing his 3 sons when Hera made him think they were 3 giant snakes attacking him. Jason and the Argonauts (Mary Pope Osborne or Usborne) - Usborne's is much more violent than Osborne's. Osborne's ends with Jason getting the golden fleece. Usborne's continues with Jason and Medea's escape by killing Medea's little brother and returning home and convincing the king's daughters to kill their father and continues on until Jason's death. *Jason and the Golden Fleece (Troll Associates) -- picture book This picture book also goes into all the gory details all the way to Jason's death. *The Librarian Who Measured the Earth (Lasky) picture book The Deadly Power of Medusa (Mary Pope Osborne) *Pegasus (Yolen) Aristotle and Scientific Thought (Parker) Lion in the Gateway (Renault) *Archimedes Takes a Bath (Lexan) picture book - hilarious, my dd read this 3X in 3 days SL2*Alexander the Great Ancient Civilizations for Children: Ancient Greece (Schlessinger video) Clash of the Titans (video rated PG - you should definitely preview it) It does take several liberties with the legends and kind of merges Perseus with Bucephalus. China 500BC-220AD *Day of the Dragon King (Mary Pope Osborne) Magic Treehouse series *China's Bravest Girl (library call number 398.210951) pre-Disney story of Mulan, very short picture book *Song of MuLan (library call number 895.1142) pre-Disney story of Mulan, very short picture book *The Seven Chinese Brothers - picture book version of ancient Chinese folk tale set during the Ch'in dynasty Ancient Civilizations for Children: Ancient China (Schlessinger video) Africa Ancient Civilizations for Children: Ancient Africa (Schlessinger video) India 500BC-600AD *Buddha (Demi) *Buddha Stories (Demi) Demi has written many books about Buddha and his stories/parables. Just look for anything written by him at the library. Rome 500BC-570AD SL2*Pompeii:Buried Alive (Step into Reading) *The Beast of Lor (Clyde Bulla) *Vacation Under the Volcano (Mary Pope Osborne) Magic Treehouse SL2 -Detectives in Togas SL2 -Aesop for Children Royal Diaries: Cleopatra VII - Daughter of the Nile (Gregory) fictional diary of Cleopatra from 12-14yo -- 5th grade reader, 3rd grade readaloud Ancient Civilizations for Children: Ancient Rome (Schlessinger video) Religious life: Muslim, Jewish, Christian A String in the Harp (Bond) story of 6th century Welsh bard, right time-frame but off-topic; a little difficult for my 7yo, but she's enjoying it (I recommend this as a readaloud only. The d--- word appears a few times. You can easily skip over it if you are reading it to your kids.) Muslim/Islam/Muhammad 600-1077 Islam for Children (Ahmad von Denffer of The Islamic Foundation) chapter 1 is about Muhammad's life. What Do We Know About Islam? (Sharukh Hussain) Charlemagne 800 *Days of Charlemagne (Francoise Lebrun) 42pg. picture book - It has several short chapters each followed by a daily life section. It's not really about Charlemagne, it's about life in Charlemagne's time. Pretty good. Charlemagne (Susan Banfield) 111pp - probably 5th grade reading level, very detailed,at least 3rd grade level for readaloud Roderigo of Bivar (El Cid) 1043-1099 *Ballad of El Cid (Silver Burdett Ginn Classics for Kids) very short picture book, but tells the story well Vikings 600-1100 Norse Myths and Legends (Usborne) Doesn't work well as a readaloud. SL2*Viking Adventure (Bulla) *Viking Ships at Sunrise (Mary Pope Osborne) Magic Treehouse series Nova 2 hour special on Vikings (video) William the Conqueror 1066 History in Evidence: Norman Britain History in Evidence: Medieval Britain Middle Ages 1000-1450 Tales of King Arthur (Usborne) Read this after Sword in the Tree. *Castle Diary SL2*The Sword in the Tree (Bulla) SL2*Whipping Boy SL2*The Door in the Wall *The Knight at Dawn (Mary Pope Osborne) Magic Treehouse series *Knights and Castles (Mary Pope Osborne) nonfiction companion book - excellent, reading level 2.9 *King Arthur (Howard Pyle - Troll Illustrated Classics) Young Merlin series (Yolen) - 3-book series tells of Merlin's early childhood, marked 5th grade reading level on the back, but it looks more like 4th to me Parzival:The Quest of the Grail Knight (Paterson) - based on Wolfram's epic poem from the early 1200's (I thought it was pretty choppy. I'm not going to use it.) *Medieval Feast (Aliki) - picture book, also a Reading Rainbow video Joan of Arc 1412-1431 *Joan of Arc (Diane Stanley) 38pp picture book Joan of Arc (Nancy Ross) 152pp, 27 very short chapters, very readable Crusades 600-1453 SL1*Minstrel in the Tower Muslim life 600-1450 SL5-Shadow Spinner I'm not sure if we'll read this now or not. It might be too much for my 8yo. Genghis Khan 1206-1227 The World in 1492 - Asia chapter Kubilai Khan 1257-1294 *Kat and the Emperor's Gift (http://www.justpretend.com/books/kat.htm) I Rode a Horse of Milk White Jade (Diane Lee Wilson) Kublai Khan (Kim Dramer) 111pp India 600-1450 What Do We Know about Hinduism? (Anita Ganeri) Silk/Spice Trade 600-1450 SL2*Maps and Globes Kid's Discover magazine - Maps - October 2000 issue SL2*Marco Polo Samurai 600-1450 *Night of the Ninjas (Osborne) Magic Treehouse series A Samurai Castle (Fiona MacDonald) 48pp, two-page spreads Africa 600-1450 The World in 1492 - Africa chapter Prince Henry the Navigator and Diaz Around the World in 100 Years (Fritz) ch 2-3 Aztecs, Incas, Mayans to 1450 Focus on Aztecs and Incas The World in 1492 - Americas chapter Renaissance SL2 -The Apprentice The World in 1492 - Europe chapter *Kat and the Missing Notebooks (http://www.justpretend.com/books/kat.htm) *Getting to Know the World's Great Composers: individual books for Handel, Mozart, and Beethoven *Getting to Know the World's Great Artists: individual books for daVinci, Michelangelo, Rembrant Flight and Adventures of Charles I (Landmark book) Discovery of America 1490-1600 Around the World in 100 Years (Fritz) SL2*Ferdinand Magellan Royal Diaries: Isabel, Jewel of Castilla (Scholastic series) SL3 materials up to 1600 Tsars 1460-1725 SL2*Peter the Great Elizabethans 1558-1603 Royal Diaries: Elizabeth I, Red Rose of the House of Tudor (series) *William Shakespeare and the Globe (Aliki) Kid's Discover magazine - Shakespeare - December 2000 issue King of Shadows (Susan Cooper) boy goes back in time while acting in Midsummer Night's Dream Email dkwilson@airmail.net