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Kelly
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| Posted: Feb 22 2005 at 10:57pm | IP Logged
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Re: Henty and the Middle Ages---
The GA Henty books have not gone over well in our house, either, though I have persistently tried them over the years with different levels of readers. However, I suspect not all GA Henty books are created equal! My children did enjoy-somewhat-"The Cat of Bubastes"...but that's about it.
For the Middle Ages, you might look into using the Jackdaw packets for some of your studies. I have used them a lot and really like them. In general, the earlier the history, the better the Jackdaw...and some of the Jackdaws from the Middle Ages are great. My children especially loved the Jackdaw on "The Crusades", as well as the one on "The Black Death". I found the ones on "1066" and "Byzantium" to be very instructive for Mom, but less appealing to the kids. The packets contain informative "Broadsheets" pertaining to the subject, as well as photographs, pictures, translations of pertinent primary documents plus a booklet with thought-provoking Q&A, vocab, ideas for "branching out" and reading suggestions. One of our all time favorite activities from the Crusades packet was to make "recruiting posters" for the First Crusade ("Pope Urban II wants YOU! See exotic lands! Save your soul! Power walk your way to fitness...and to Jerusalem!"). Having so much info all together saved me bunches of research time, and some of the material is hard-to-find. Although the Jackdaws occasionally tend to be a little p.c., I think they are well-worth the rather costly $40 (ouch!) price tag.
Also, when you are putting together your reading list, don't forget the author Geoffrey Trease. An English gal on another loop I'm on introduced us to him, and my kids have really liked his books. I think "Flight of Angels" and "The Red Towers of Granada" take place in the high middle ages, plus he has a bunch of other books you can find on amazon.
When we finished studying the Middle Ages, we had a Middle Ages party where we put out all our projects, notebooks, timelines and so on for our (doubting) relatives and neighbors to admire, fixed medieval fare for dinner, recited poetry pertinent to the era, dressed in medieval costumes and played Middle Ages Jeopardy. It was so much fun!
Kelly in FL (hsing mom to 6, ages 2 to 15)
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Natalia
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| Posted: Feb 23 2005 at 7:01am | IP Logged
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alicegunther wrote:
We are beginning the Middle Ages now, and I am extremely excited about our booklist. We'll be listening to Seamus Heaney's Beowulf on tape along with an unabridged recording of The Song of Roland. Then there's Fingal's Quest, the Arabian Nights, Legends of Charlemagne, many King Arthur books, Robin Hood, and Son of Charlemagne, just to name a few. This should keep us busy for a while. : ) |
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Alice,
Where did you get the recording of the Song of Roland? Our library didn't have a good version of it for us to read. Could you share what Arthur books and Robin Hoood are you planning to read?
We really enjoyed Son of Charlomagne and Agustine Came to Kent. My library didn't have Fingal's Quest so we probably won't read it.
Right now we are on The Crusades. We are watching a DVD more as an exercise of recognizing biased scholarship....
What resources are you planning to use for the Crusades? I found some good articles at catholiceducation.org. I did a search and found some good, clarifying articles.
Natalia
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Mary G
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| Posted: Feb 23 2005 at 7:26am | IP Logged
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Re: G.A. Henty books -- my 15 yos liked these, but he loves history and I think they're written for boys (if that's not too sexist?  ). He also loved "Song of Roland" which he had to read for school (he's in a Catholic high school) -- he read the Dorothy Sayers translation and loved it (we also have the Robert Harrison translation and he said it wasn't as good or clear -- or as lyrical, inmy opinion).
Hope this helps!
Blessings
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Bridget
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For literature related to the crusades we just read 'Big John's Secret' by Eleanore Jewett and 'Francis and Clare, Saints of Assisi' the stories overlap in the end at the 5th crusade. Big John goes with Francis to see the sultan in Big John's.
They were great read alouds, we all enjoyed.
We have a few Henty books that I previewed for anti-Catholic bias. I thought they were a bit boring, but the boys are enjoying them.
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Bridget, happily married to Kevin, mom to 8 on earth and a small army in heaven
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teachingmom
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Hi Alice,
We are doing the Middle Ages this year, so you caught my eye with your book list. Can you tell me more about Fingal's Quest? I did not come across that one.
We are currently enjoying a light read aloud called Castle Diary: The Journal of Tobias Burgess, Page. Very informative--and keeps the interest of the youngers too.
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~Irene (Mom to 6 girls, ages 7-19)
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Kelly
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| Posted: Feb 23 2005 at 5:40pm | IP Logged
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Another good Crusade read from Tan books is "Crusader King" by Susan Peek. My dd read this when she was 11 and really liked it. It's about the life of Baldwin IV and his involvement with the Crusades.
Also, "A Proud Taste for Scarlet and Miniver" by E.L. Konigsberg about the life of Eleanor of Aquitaine is pretty good. It's a little wierd (as in a very non-Catholic take on heaven) but entertaining and historically accurate. Here's what the jacket says:
"Eleanor of Aquitaine is in Heaven, waiting to learn whether or not her second husband, King Henry II of England, will be able to join her. Henry had died even before Eleanor, but he still had not won admission into Heaven. Waiting with Eleanor are Henry's mother, Matilda-Empress, and William the Marshal. A chance encounter with Abbot Suger, an old friend of Eleanor's from the time of her first marriage, starts the four of them remembering times past. Each person in turn tells a part of Eleanor's life" and so on and so forth, blah blah blah. You get the picture :-)
Re: Robin Hood. If you have beginning readers, a simpler rendition (but still good) is "Robin Hood of Sherwood Forest" by Ann McGovern. My little readers really enjoyed it.
Kelly in FL
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Kelly
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| Posted: Feb 23 2005 at 5:45pm | IP Logged
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Bridget wrote:
| For literature related to the crusades we just read 'Big John's Secret' by Eleanore Jewett and 'Francis and Clare, Saints of Assisi' the stories overlap in the end at the 5th crusade. Big John goes with Francis to see the sultan in Big John's. |
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Oh, that's great to know. I love it when books dovetail, especially when they "bring to life" the lives of the saints. One of my pet peeves in history is how I grew up thinking the saints were these ephemeral, wispy, holier-than-thou types sitting on pedastals, totally disassociated from REAL history! I was just pondering buying "Big John"...now I will definitely put him on the list!
Kelly in FL
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alicegunther
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| Posted: Feb 24 2005 at 9:47pm | IP Logged
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Aggh! I just wrote a long response to this thread and received a message saying, "message not posted because you did not have a proper subject heading"!
I'll try again tomorrow!
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Love, Alice
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Brew yourself a cup of tea, and come for a visit!
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MacBeth
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| Posted: Feb 25 2005 at 10:44am | IP Logged
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alicegunther wrote:
Aggh! I just wrote a long response to this thread and received a message saying, "message not posted because you did not have a proper subject heading"!
I'll try again tomorrow!
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I did that yesterday, too. Clue: Copy the post to notepad before hitting send, so if it gets lost, you'll just "Control-V" it back into being.
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alicegunther
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MacBeth, I kid you not--that's exactly what I've been doing since yesterday. Thanks so much for the tip. It's especially important when you've spent half an hour writing the post!
Love, Alice
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Love, Alice
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Kathryn UK
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| Posted: Feb 28 2005 at 6:39am | IP Logged
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Kelly wrote:
Re: Henty and the Middle Ages---
Also, when you are putting together your reading list, don't forget the author Geoffrey Trease. An English gal on another loop I'm on introduced us to him, and my kids have really liked his books. I think "Flight of Angels" and "The Red Towers of Granada" take place in the high middle ages, plus he has a bunch of other books you can find on amazon.
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Would that be me? I just posted a recommendation for his books on the Henty thread, then read your post. Anyway, I second (or is it third) my own recommendation .
I have two or three books on the crusades on my shelf. I'll check the titles later, but my dds are starting to complain of starvation (meaning they haven't eaten for about an hour!) so I had better go and make lunch.
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Kathryn UK
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Several days later ... I imagine these books are all out of print by now, but I have three children's fiction books with crusading themes. The only one I've read is The Children's Crusade, and that was over 30 years ago! Anyway, here are the titles and cover descriptions:
The Children's Crusade by Henry Treece - "To Geoffrey and his sister Alys, it seemed that half the children of France had arrived at their father's castle. But there was something about the strange ragged boy at their head which held the attention of all who saw him. It was an impression of strength, of inner force, even of spiritual power. Alys and Geoffrey knew that they had to join this Crusade to rescue the holy city of Jerusalem, even though it was against the wishes of their father. The idealism, excitement, danger and disillusionment of their adventure, which is based on a real historical event, makes a fascinating story.
Knight Crusader, by Ronald Welch - Philip d'Aubigny, a young knight, loses everything when Saladin defeats a Crusader army at Hattin. But being a prisoner of the Saracens is by no means the end of his thrilling adventures at the time of the Third Crusade. [This book is one of a series which tells stories about members of the same family at various points in history.]
The Donkey's Crusade, by Jean Morris - Thomas is fifteen, a Traveller born, skilled in guiding anxious Westerners on foor through the harsh lands of the Middle East. But this journey is different. A crusade, Sir Reynauld calls it. They must travel far, far to the East, where no Traveller has ever been before, in search of the legendary king Prester John. Only he can save the kingdom of Outremer from its enemies. Can Thomas survive the journey and find Prester John? He makes only one condition - he wants a donkey to accompany him.
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Kelly
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| Posted: March 08 2005 at 9:51am | IP Logged
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Kathryn UK wrote:
Kelly wrote:
Re: Henty and the Middle Ages---
Also, when you are putting together your reading list, don't forget the author Geoffrey Trease. An English gal on another loop I'm on introduced us to him, and my kids have really liked his books. I think "Flight of Angels" and "The Red Towers of Granada" take place in the high middle ages, plus he has a bunch of other books you can find on amazon.
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Would that be me? |
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Guilty as charged, Kathryn, it is! My Chalet School friend in England :-)
We really have been enjoying the Geoffrey Trease books, and now I'll see if I can dig up your newest recommendations for our next journey to the Middle Ages.
Kelly in FL
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Kathryn UK
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Ugh! I replied, and the computer swallowed it  . Another author of historical fiction set in the middle ages I would highly recommend is Cynthia Harnett. She wrote four books set in the fifteenth century - all good, especially the last (US title is The Merchant's Mark).
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teachingmom
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We have been studying the middle ages since September. Right now we are going back and forth between books and topics, but are spending a good amount of time studying castles, knights, etc. I have a great suggestion for a purchase to include your littles in on your middle ages studies. One of my brothers gave me money to buy gifts for my two youngest dd's who both have birthdays in January. I ordered the wooden castle from Melissa and Doug and it came a few days ago. It's beautiful! All of the girls have been enjoying it. One of the girls had received little wooden castle dolls (also made by Melissa and Doug) for Christmas, so we have extra figures now to use with the castle. I just thought I'd share the idea.
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~Irene (Mom to 6 girls, ages 7-19)
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4Real Forums : Across Time and Place
Topic: Middle Ages
