4Real Forums: Crusades... elementary style

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Topic: Crusades... elementary style

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knowloveserve
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Posted: Feb 19 2015 at 5:49pm \| IP Logged

Do any of you know any good non-fiction picture book types that detail info on the Crusades for the 3-6th grade set?

Thanks!

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Ellie
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MaryM
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Posted: Feb 19 2015 at 5:55pm \| IP Logged

I hope someone can introduce us to one but I haven't heard of any. This same general question was just asked in our local homeschool group. We pretty much only came up with some chapter books and even those are pretty sparse for children. The only ones even close to non-fiction "picture books" do not have a Catholic world view - more the "bad crusaders" view.

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Mary M. in Denver

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Posted: Feb 19 2015 at 6:30pm \| IP Logged

OK- I have a copy of "Living History: The Crusades" by Miriam Moss (copyright 1986)

The pictures are very dramatic and detailed, though not in scary way. I would say they are fairly realistic. I think they suit the book and topic very well.

I feel like the author does a fairly good job. She states the facts very simply (would be very easy reading for grade 6) but seems to be mostly unbiased.

She talks about how the Saracens were cruel and evil... but then she mentions that the Crusaders were also well armed and could be equally as cruel.

She mentions that Richard the Lion Hearted sent fruit to Saladin to help him recover from an illness. Even though they were enemies, they had great respect for each other.

For the Children's Crusade, she states the (extremely sad) facts in a straightforward way.

The book ends with two pages about the good things the Crusaders and Saracens learned from each other, then two more pages with simple follow up activities.

This book is definitely not written from a Catholic world view, but I can live with it because the author does a good job of stating the facts fairly neutrally, and I like the pictures. It is definitely a picture book, and I think it covers a complex topic very well and in a way that children can easily grasp.

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Melinda, mom to ds ('02) and dd ('04)

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knowloveserve
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Posted: Feb 19 2015 at 7:27pm \| IP Logged

Thank you Mel for that review... am looking into it.

I'd even take just a good sub-section in a general history book like "Time Travelers" or some such... my kids are fascinated but we are grasping at straws to find age-appropriate info...

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Ellie
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Posted: Feb 26 2015 at 5:46pm \| IP Logged

I finally looked in my Usborne Time Traveler's book, but the Crusades are covered in only two pages and not in depth at all.

Also, the Pope is called "The Head of the Christian Church", which he is and was then, though I thought that was an interesting choice of terms. The word Catholic is noticeably absent.

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Melinda, mom to ds ('02) and dd ('04)

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