As a kid, I loved history. But whenever a history book started a boring dive into the economy, class structure, and archaeological finds of this or that era, I turned off my flashlight and went to sleep.
Kids like stories. Whether these are stories of heroism in scary wars, or of the wisdom and intrigue of ancient kings and rebels, or of the sudden turns of fate that befall fortune-seekers, kids are always fascinated by a story with a plot. And when it comes to history, they learn from stories, not from dense paragraphs about the phases of the Bronze age, the location of trade routes, or the injustices of the social order here and there.
Books in this series follow the old-fashioned, story-based, traditional route of teaching history - through tales of heroes and kings, with no tribute paid to modern economic and social perspectives. Culture is memes. And that means historical figures, and anecdotes about them.
Ancient Greece for Kids Through the Lives of its Philosophers, Lawmakers, and Heroes
To write this book, I went back to Herodotus, Plutarch, Diogenes Laertius, and other ancient sources of biographical anecdotes, and extracted from them the stories that will be most memorable to a modern kid. I retold them without adding any fictional color. Here is a list of the historical figures included in this book: Homer, Aesop, Drakon, Solon, Croesus, Pythagoras, Pheidippides, Leonidas, Themistocles, Pericles, Phidias, Socrates, Aspasia, Hippocrates, Alexander the Great, Diogenes, Plato, Herostratus, Aristotle, Archimedes.
Ancient Rome for Kids through the Lives of its Heroes, Emperors, and Philosophers
To write this book, I went back to Tacitus, Livy, Suetonius, Cassius Dio, Valerius Maximus, Josephus, Eusebius, Theodoret, and other ancient sources of biographical anecdotes, and extracted from them the stories that will be most memorable to a modern kid. Here is a list of the historical figures included in this book: Romulus and Remus, Numa Pompilius, Tarquin the Proud, Cincinnatus, Coriolanus, Cato the Censor, Scipio Africanus, Pompey, Spartacus, Julius Caesar, Cicero, Mark Anthony, Caesar Augustus, Virgil, Caligula, Nero, Seneca, Vespasian, Titus, Trajan, Marcus Aurelius, Constantine the Great, Julian the Apostate, Theodosius.
Ancient Egypt for Kids through the Lives and Legends of its Pharaohs and Queens
Kids are endlessly fascinated with Ancient Egypt. The pyramids, the tombs, the mummies, the jackal- and ibis- and cow-headed gods, the Book of the Dead - what a thrill! Here is a list of the historical figures included in this book:
Pharaohs – Menes, Djoser, Khufu, Khafre, Menkaure, Thutmose III, Akhenaten,
Tutankhamun, Ramses II, Psamtik I, Amasis II, Alexander the Great, Ptolemy Soter
Queens – Hatshepsut, Nefertiti, Cleopatra VII
The Middle Ages for Kids through the lives of kings, heroes, and saints
The list of historical and legendary figures featured in this book includes: King Arthur, Charlemagne, Erik the Red and Leif Eriksson, Alfred the Great, Edward the Confessor, William the Conqueror, El Cid, Thomas Becket, Eleanor of Aquitaine, Richard the Lionheart, Frederick Barbarossa, St. Francis, Marco Polo, Dante, Fra Angelico, Joan of Arc and Johannes Gutenberg.
The Renaissance for Kids through the Lives of its Artists, Tyrants, Scientists, and Saints
The list of historical figures featured in this book includes: Lorenzo the Magnificent, Leonardo da Vinci, Savonarola, Machiavelli, Nostradamus, Michelangelo, Raphael, Copernicus, Loyola, Martin Luther, Henry VIII of England, Thomas More, Elizabeth I, Mary Queen of Scots, Shakespeare, Henry IV of France, Galileo, and others.
European Explorers for Kids
Here is the list of the historical figures featured in this book: Erik the Red, Leif Eriksson, Marco Polo, Prince Henry the Navigator, Diego Cam, Bartholomeu Dias, Christopher Columbus, Amerigo Vespucci, Vasco da Gama, Ferdinand Magellan, Vitus Bering, James Cook, David Livingstone, Roald Amundsen.
Native People of North America for Kids
Our sources are mainly memoirs of the actual participants of the historical events described, plus early (mostly 19th-century) biographies. Historical figures featured in this book:
Powhatan, Pocahontas, Opechancanough, Samoset, Massasoit, Squanto, King Philip,Pontiac, Sequoyah, Sacajawea, Tecumseh, Osceola, Sitting Bull, Chief Joseph.
The French Revolution & Napoleonic Era for Kids
In this book we'll explore the early decades of the Age of Revolutions in Europe - from the French Revolution through the rise and fall of Napoleon. Historical figures featured in this book include Voltaire, Rousseau, Robespierre, King Louis XVI, Queen Marie Antoinette, Marat, Charlotte Corday, Napoleon, Jacques-Louis David, Admiral Nelson, Lady Hamilton
The Victorian Era in Europe - Age of Empires - for Kids
I spent a good year plowing through 19th and early 20th century biographical tomes, periodicals, and vintage childrens' histories, to translate a vast volume of stories and reports into narratives that can engage today's kids and teens. Meet Queen Victoria, French Emperor Napoleon III, German Reichskanzler Bismarck, Russian Emperor Alexander II, the hero of the Italian Wars of Independence Giuseppe Garibaldi, the creator of Marxism - Karl Marx, the British Empire builder and diamond monopolist Cecil Rhodes, and the legend of archaeology Heinrich Schliemann - they are all here.
Life of Jesus in European Art - for Kids
The heritage of Christian art is a vital part of the history of Europe and the Western world. Whether our families are Christian, non-Christian, or secular, our cultural education is incomplete without a knowledge and appreciation of art inspired by Christian concepts and symbolism.
Independence and Freedom Movements for Kids
The heroes of this book are Toussaint Louverture (Haiti), Simón Bolívar (Latin America), Laskarina Bouboulina (Greece), José Martí (Cuba), Michael Collins (Ireland), Kemal Atatürk (Turkey), Mahatma Gandhi (India), Patrice Lumumba (Congo), and Fidel Castro (Cuba).Many of these fighters are controversial figures - viewed as heroes and liberators by some and as terrorists or war criminals by others. Without taking sides, we'll go through their stories, read testimonies of their contemporaries and biographers, smile at historical anecdotes about them, and try to see the real people behind the legends they have each become.
Africa for Kids - through the Lives of its Kings and Queens
There is a wealth of biographical information and fascinating historical anecdotes about the kings and queens of African nations coming from African legends, epic poetry, carved stone monuments, chronicles, and memoirs by European, Arab, and, later, American travelers. So, for this book I went through dozens of sources to find facts and stories that breathe life into the silhouettes of these great Africans, in keeping with the traditional, story-based, route of teaching history. The heroes of this book are Toussaint Louverture (Haiti), Simón Bolívar (Latin America), Laskarina Bouboulina (Greece), José Martí (Cuba), Michael Collins (Ireland), Kemal Atatürk (Turkey), Mahatma Gandhi (India), Patrice Lumumba (Congo), and Fidel Castro (Cuba).Many of these fighters are controversial figures - viewed as heroes and liberators by some and as terrorists or war criminals by others. Without taking sides, we'll go through their stories, read testimonies of their contemporaries and biographers, smile at historical anecdotes about them, and try to see the real people behind the legends they have each become.
India for Kids through the Lives of its Royalty, Saints, and Poets
The incredible variety and cultural wealth of India's many ethnic and religious communities shine through the interwoven threads of its history. Even a glimpse of India's past captured in the stories of its heroes, villains, and adventurers will leave you with a sense of having learned some profound lessons - such as the value of tolerance and never giving up. These are lessons our kids need - today. The historical figures whose stories are told in this book include Chandragupta Maurya, Ashoka the Great, Harsha, Razia Sultan, Kabir, Krishnadevaraya, Guru Nanak, Akbar the Great, Mariam-uz-Zamani, Roopmati, Shivaji, Tipu Sultan, Ranjit Singh, Rani of Jhansi, and Swami Vivekananda.
Unicorn - A History for Kids Who Believe in Magic
Your kid has fallen in love with unicorns - great! Capitalize on this lucky turn of events to introduce your young unicorn lover to the major eras of European history all through the lens of what people knew about unicorns in ancient times, in the Dark Ages, Middle Ages, Renaissance, and the Age of Reason.