Historical story books for kids

[UT_OB1 2213]

Any good 6-9 year old age level books on medieval stories?  Was trying to think of something to read to them that might give them a little historical perspective this summer. Fun but educational.  
 

Real historical accounts are going to be to dry (I’m thinking Thucydides).  Fiction would probably be best. I think Once and Future King would be a little advanced.  Any legit King Arthur books for younger kids? I tried to look on Amazon, and all I found was young adult bullshit fiction that wants to be the next Harry Potter / Lion witch wardrobe fantasy series, quantity over quality ghost written crap. 
 

Suggestions appreciated 

[956 Worldwide 34692]

This is the King Arthur book for kids worth getting.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_Arthur_and_His_Knights_of_the_Round_Table

[atomheartbevo 89618]

13 hours ago, UT_OB1 said:

Was trying to think of something to read to them that might give them a little historical perspective this summer. Fun but educational.  

Magic Tree House boxed set - Time-traveling kids covering all kinds of historical eras (from the perspective of kids), and there are companion non-fiction books that do a deep dive into the historical aspects.

Time Jumpers: Stealing the Sword (King Arthur stuff) - more time-traveling kids, and that's book 1 in a limited series (way too limited, I think only 4 books, my son loved those books).

Who Was and What Was set (American) - A little more grounded in historical facts, focusing on events or historical figures.  These are insanely popular right now, and CostCo and Sams have boxed sets for pretty cheap.  Can cover older subject matter like what the Holocaust was, what happened at Hiroshima, slavery, etc. so just be wary of buying any box sets as far as what might come in them.

Those series can be found at Half-Price Books, etc. as well.

Those series do a solid job of covering the range from a kid's (fictional) perspective of historical events (Magic Tree House, Time Jumpers) to the non-fictional aspects (What Was/What Was).  

There's other series that your kid might like - my son is churning through these:

Secret Explorers (there's 7 books in total) - it's a group of kids from around the world that have a secret scientific base, and they can travel all over the world/universe and solve scientific stuff, and there's a chapter in the back covering the science.  Dinosaurs, oceans, space, history, etc.

I am Neil Armstrong (Ordinary People Change the World) - this is one book out of a series of books (CostCo, etc. have them, as do Half-Price), and PBS Kids made this into a PBS animated series - Xavier Riddle and the Secret Museum.  It basically features kids traveling back in time to visit famous figures when they were kids.

This is an awesome time for kids in the 6-9 age range who are into history.

[UT_OB1 2213]

Thanks for all the suggestions. I’ll start checking some out. 

[atomheartbevo 89618]

1 hour ago, UT_OB1 said:

Thanks for all the suggestions. I’ll start checking some out. 

The nice thing about series like the Time Jumpers and Secret Explorers (and I'll look at my kid's bookshelf later for more), is that they are chapter books, so if the kid likes one, they'll want to read the rest of them.  Magic Tree House and the others - you can just pick up the ones that they might be interested in and ignore the rest.

Dragon Masters (this is book 1) is a fantasy chapter book series with kids having their own dragons (each dragon has a unique power) and they are up to 18 or 19 books.  My kid loves those, and the next one is out next month. Not quite medieval, and total fantasy, but my kid has gravitated towards chapter books.

Dragon Masters and Time Jumpers are "Branches" books from I think Scholastic, and so far we've been happy with the various Branches series we come across.

If you're in Austin, the public libraries are back open, and they have most of these as well.

Also, grab the PBS Kids video app on your TV or a tablet, and have them watch a few episodes of Xavier Riddle and the Secret Museum.  If they like it, tell them the episodes are based on books (the ones I linked to above) and grab some.

[DonkeyCigars 144]

My kid loves the Nathan Hale books; knows more about WWI and such than I do because of them, but also the Guts & Glory series may have a Medieval book. I know they have a Viking book which was around that same time I think?

[elfenix 34221]

bernard cornwell

/thread

[Druggist 303]

32 minutes ago, DonkeyCigars said:

My kid loves the Nathan Hale books; knows more about WWI and such than I do because of them, but also the Guts & Glory series may have a Medieval book. I know they have a Viking book which was around that same time I think?

Same here.  They are graphic novels and really well done but I think they focus on US history. The Donner Dinner Party one is my daughter’s favorite.

[SimonBolivar 10957]

On 6/7/2021 at 11:07 PM, UT_OB1 said:

Any good 6-9 year old age level books on medieval stories?  Was trying to think of something to read to them that might give them a little historical perspective this summer. Fun but educational.  
 

Real historical accounts are going to be to dry (I’m thinking Thucydides).  Fiction would probably be best. I think Once and Future King would be a little advanced.  Any legit King Arthur books for younger kids? I tried to look on Amazon, and all I found was young adult bullshit fiction that wants to be the next Harry Potter / Lion witch wardrobe fantasy series, quantity over quality ghost written crap. 
 

Suggestions appreciated 

There was a book that I had around that age that was basically an illustrated picture book of life in a medieval castle. It was great and something I stared at for hours. I'm trying to find it.

 

Edit: Found it. Guranteed to get the attention of a 6-9 year old.

https://www.thriftbooks.com/w/castle--stephen-biestys-cross-sections_stephen-biesty/257641/item/2260528/?gclid=Cj0KCQjw1ouKBhC5ARIsAHXNMI92CfJmAornbckDAuwSQMfZvVekmK9AzeKlEsXUW6YCTziHHEAw9UEaAuCiEALw_wcB#idiq=2260528&edition=2446343

 

Edited September 16, 2021 by SimonBolivar

[Chad Fuck 17658]

Another vote for Nathan Hale, though as referenced above, there isn't a medieval one yet.

You should check out the DK Eyewitness series.  There are tons of great books for kids on all topics from them.

[Mrs Whiggins 13050]

Our children enjoyed many of those listed above--both fiction and nonfiction.

Also, if you are reading aloud, even to the younger ones, you can go up several levels because you are there to explain and interpret. It's actually quite good for the ears and vocabulary. Sometimes the older classics have a little didactic feel, but the style of writing is slightly more formal and again, that is good for development. My husband was/is very patient, and he found that while sometimes the first chapter would be rocky for attention span, with some encouragement--they would listen and get caught up in the story.

But some titles that I didn't see:

Adam of the Road--Elizabeth Vining

The Door in the Wall--Marguerite de Angeli

The Gentle Falcon--Hilda Lewis

The Apprentice of Florence--Anne Dempster Kyle

The Apple and the Arrow--Mary and Conrad Buff

 

One I loved as a child but I can't recall my children's opinion was The Singing Tree by Kate Seredy. It's set in the 20th century, but in Hungary.

There are more, but those were some we checked out from the library. Also, I've branched out a bit from medieval, but I'm trying to recall titles and then have to look up the author because I'm not getting any younger. Our library  at the time the children were young had thankfully not purged their collection, but then they remodeled and did and sadly got rid of a lot of books that are perhaps now out of print (for all I know some of those titles you may have to locate online or ebook). Older books do have a place for children, whose use of language is so elastic and wonderful that exposing them to the various styles is a real boon to their development. I mean, we didn't read to them from a variety of sources for that purpose, that is a little too rigid and purposeful for our taste, it was more of a 'look at all the people throughout time who wrote these stories or historical accounts, let's see what they had to say and what you think about that...' All of us loved the DK books--each page chock a block full of little scenes and bits of information.

 

If you want to go more old old school, try some Sir Walter Scott, Nathaniel Hawthorne (The Wonder Book & Tanglewood Tales) or Robert Louis Stevenson's The Black Arrow, or Howard Pyle's King Arthur accounts, although I agree with @956 Worldwidethat his rec is the leader in the clubhouse. My husband is very very fond of Sir Walter Scott. He had to wait a while on those authors listed there because the style was just a little too much until the children were upper elementary, intermediate school. They read a lot on their own, but they really enjoyed listening to him read and so much like the boy in the Princess Bride movie, they would sit and listen, torn between the desire to be 'cool' and the irresistible delight of hearing a well told tale.

Good luck to you and enjoy these years, they pass all too quickly.

 

 

Adding: off topic, but my husband sometimes would read voices, especially when the children were small, as parents are wont to do. Our youngest absolutely loved the Hank the Cowdog series and to this day, all I have to do is say: "Haaaaanky" in a nasally voice as if I am the tormenting cat from the chapter books to get a smile on an otherwise trying day.

Edited October 5, 2021 by Mrs Whiggins

[South Austin 52431]

Truman by David McCullough.

[WhatTheBuck 28771]

The Canterbury Tales. Your kids will love it. 

[Brisketexan 105039]

There was a whole series that my daughter loved back at that age, all American history IIRC. The “dear America” series. But those may be too girly for him, I don’t know. The “I survived” series may resonate more with a boy.

[UT_OB1 2213]

On 9/16/2021 at 12:19 PM, SimonBolivar said:

There was a book that I had around that age that was basically an illustrated picture book of life in a medieval castle. It was great and something I stared at for hours. I'm trying to find it.

 

Edit: Found it. Guranteed to get the attention of a 6-9 year old.

https://www.thriftbooks.com/w/castle--stephen-biestys-cross-sections_stephen-biesty/257641/item/2260528/?gclid=Cj0KCQjw1ouKBhC5ARIsAHXNMI92CfJmAornbckDAuwSQMfZvVekmK9AzeKlEsXUW6YCTziHHEAw9UEaAuCiEALw_wcB#idiq=2260528&edition=2446343

 

This finally arrived last week. Didn’t know til today though. About to give it to my 6 yo boy. Going to order the Arthur book recommended by 956.  Still not quite done with the dark is rising. Thanks to all for the recs again

[Mole 4330]

Bumping this to recommend Gombrich, A Little History of the World. The book is a broad overview of world history written for children. It’s been my kid’s bedtime reading/story time — one chapter a night. The writing is accessible for young kids but engaging for me and everyone learns something.