Thank you to The Children’s Book Review and Carole P. Roman for allowing me to take part in this blog tour. This is a sponsored review, but all opinions (as always) are my own. I was sent a variety of books by Roman to look over, but since I’m allowed to focus on just one, I thought I’d share a book that I thought many of you might enjoy!
If You Were Me And Lived In….Elizabethan England by Carole P. Roman and Illustrated by Paula Tabor
Review by Lauren
source: book from author for tour; all opinions are my own
Review: This book (and the others by Ms. Roman) are like a textbook and picture book all mixed in one. It’s a great way to teach younger students about other countries or time periods. I thought Elizabethan England might be a time period that many of my regular readers would enjoy, so I’m going to focus on this book in particular. The story is written as if someone from that time period is telling a current child about how they lived. Hence the whole “If you were me…” This book focuses on the “reader” as if they are a female, but they talk about boys in this time period too, so it’s good for both genders in the long run.
One thing that I really loved is that the book doesn’t just give facts and an illustration, moving from one thing to another. Yes, there is plenty in information but it made it feel like an actual story in way, by talking about clothes in terms of what this girl and her family wears and showing the theater when her brother runs off to join a theater group instead of staying home and becoming a baker like his father. It’s this type of storytelling that helps everything flow well, so it didn’t feel like a dull textbook.
I wouldn’t say I’m an expert on this time period but I do know a bit about it, mainly having studied Shakespeare in college. However, there are so many fun little details that really make this interesting for any age. One tidbit/fact that’s included is how the phrase “it’s raining cats and dogs” probably came out! Do you know?
At the end of the book is a spread of actual people from this time period that are important and a little summary of who they are and what they did. Some obvious inclusions are Shakespeare and Queen Elizabeth I, but others are included as well. After this, the book includes a Glossary that goes through and gives definitions for the various words mentioned in the book. I loved this because if you’re teaching someone about this time period, they might not automatically know about The Globe Theater or the definition of ale.
Overall, I enjoyed this one, and I thought the illustrations were done well. I’d recommend this for librarians, teachers, those who home school their kids, and anyone else who wants to share about certain countries/time periods with their children — or even learn more about it themselves!
One (1) winner receives the grand prize:
A set of all 6 books in the IF YOU WERE ME AND LIVED IN … AN INTRODUCTION TO CIVILIZATIONS THROUGHOUT TIME series
A set of all 18 books in the IF YOU WERE ME AND LIVED IN … AN INTRODUCTION TO CULTURES AROUND THE WORLD series
A $50 Amazon gift card
Value: $359.75
Four (4) winners receive:
A choice of one book from either series.
Value: $10.99 +
Giveaway begins July 20, 2016, at 12:01 A.M. PST and ends August 20, 2016, at 11:59 P.M. PST.
Giveaway open to US and Canadian addresses only.
Prizes and samples provided by Carole P. Roman.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
#IfYouWereMeAndLivedIn
It's true that it's nice to have a way to help younger learning history like that!
Despite the fact that this is, technically, a children's book, I feel as if I would absolutely adore it!
xx
What an excellent series! Sounds like a great way to bring history to life. I know that the Colonial Times one would be a big hit with the kids in my life- but truly all of them sound fascinating. Thanks for the giveaway too! 🙂
~Jess
I think you learn about history and it doesn't feel like a textbook are all I need! 🙂 Brilly review.
I love books like this that teach without seeming dull and lifeless. I think my kids would love this Elizabethan one – or the Middle Ages one!
Nicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction
Sounds like an interesting book and series. I really don't know that much about this time period. I also have a young daughter so this would be great for her. I will look these up. >Thanks.
What a great read!
Oh this sounds fun! I think I would've loved a book like this when I was younger! I was always into the Usborne picture encyclopaedias because history is SO aWESOME. 😀
This sounds like such a fun book! I love learning about history 🙂
This looks delightful. As an adult, I would pick this up. I'd soak up all the details.
What a great tool for teaching!!! Anything to get a kid interested in learning, and not bore me along the way 😉
Thank you for sharing this!!!
Oops, forgot to comment on what time period my son would love learning about. Well, my son is 10 and he's not big on ANY history but he enjoyed learning about the Civil War last year and about the Underground Railroad. He liked the whole sneaking around at night 🙂
This is cool! I love books like this. I especially love when my kids have books like this, because it definitely makes reading together much more interesting!