(Part 2) Best history books for children according to redditors
We found 495 Reddit comments discussing the best history books for children. We ranked the 287 resulting products by number of redditors who mentioned them. Here are the products ranked 21-40. You can also go back to the previous section.
You have to consider that racism isn't just the element of disliking someone and thinking their race is better.
In the U.S. specifically, there has been systematic, institutionalized racism. Basically, one group of people (white Europeans) set up society in a way that limits people of color and has traditionally kept them out of the areas that whites feel they dominate. This was done for many reasons, in part because of the idea that being European ancestry made someone more civilized, smarter, and better at [xyz reason].
"Racism" doesn't come from all sides - prejudice does. Racism is the long-term plot for people of color to be kept out of areas that give huge benefits to whites. It's having white criminals getting less severe sentences than black criminals. It's black women being more likely to die during childbirth than white women. It's black children in school being more likely to be punished, or called problem students than white children.
Race and Crime
Race and Pregnancy
Race and School Punishments
Race Bias in Teachers
Race Bias in Medicine
Books:
Fred Korematsu Speaks Up
She Stood for Freedom
Harvesting Hope: The Story of Cesar Chavez
Shining Star: The Anna May Wong Story
Separate Is Never Equal
Finally a question about West Africa. My answer will mostly be centered around the Mali Empire.
Now, in 1444 the Portuguese arrived on the Senegambia coast and began slave raids on the coastline, the people of Mali where surprised by the European's Caravel vessels and the white skin of the sailors within them. Now between 1444 and 1456 small naval scrimmages took place between the Mali Empire and Portuguese until, in 1456, the Portuguese sent coutier Diogo Gomes to establish peace with the Mali Empire, and by 1462 peace was established and Portugal switched its intent in Senegambia to trade rather than conquest. This was when the first real knowledge West African rulers had of Europe began.
Keep in mind the Mali empire had no written text, so there is no direct source to say "the west africans knew of the Europeans.". But we can do some estimation on the matter. Mansa Musa, famous ruler of Mali took his pilgrimage to Mecca (The Mali Empire is primarily islamic) so they know the teachings of the Quran and in turn know quite a bit about the middle eastern regions. Simply because it is unknown if the Mali people knew of Europe, it is safe to say the Europeans knew of the Mali Empire.
In 1375 the Catalan atlas was released, stemming from Catalonia it was made by a Jewish book illuminator, Cresques Abraham, who was self described as "The master of the world as well as compasses". All of this seems fairly useless until you realize that in the Catalan Atlas, their is depictions of Mansa Musa on his holy pilgrimage to Mecca and much of the West African coast charted and identified.
Another source is Ibn Battuta, a Moroccan explorer, who arrived in Mali in 1351 after his extensive travels to as far as China. Before his trip to Mali he traveled on the North African coast and took detours to Sardinia and Moor controlled regions of the southern Iberian Peninsula. Though I have not read the Rhila (Ibn Battuta's book telling the story of his travels), and do not know whether it says this but it is safe to assume he shared some of his knowledge with the people of the Mali Empire and of his time in Europe.
Another thing that could point to knowledge of Europe by West African rulers is the fact that the Mali empire is a key part on the Saharan trade route spanning from West Africa, to North Africa, The Levant and, you guessed it, Europe. It is likely European goods, news and knowledge spread from trade along this route and allowed West African rulers some insight into the happenings, and knowledge of Europe. Likely the same way knowledge of Mansa Musa made it's way onto the Catalan Atlas.
So overall, it is quite likely there was knowledge of Europe by West African rulers, what that knowledge is is unknown (because they had no written texts) but the fact that there was knowledge of Europe is a fairly clear "Yes, West African rulers had, though limited, some amount of knowledge on Europe"
Outside of the Mali Empire is a bit iffy. the Berbers of Morocco definitely had extensive knowledge of Europe, but if you go south of the Niger river it is possible the knowledge only came from the few sailors who dared go down there, and those where few and far between.
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Sources:
[The Royal Kingdoms of Ghana, Mali and Songhay: Life in Medieval Africa | by Patricia McKissack and Fredrick McKissack] (http://www.amazon.com/Royal-Kingdoms-Ghana-Mali-Songhay/dp/0805042598/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1414292037&sr=1-1&keywords=Mali+%28Empire%29)
Mansa Musa and the Empire of Mali | by P. James Oliver
https://www.amazon.com/Then-Now-History-Ancient-Reference/dp/1472304217
This is it. I got it out the Works for five quid. It's mostly worthless as history, but it does have these interesting cutaways in it.
Did you know Amazon will donate a portion of every purchase if you shop by going to smile.amazon.com instead? Over $50,000,000 has been raised for charity - all you need to do is change the URL!
Here are your smile-ified links:
https://smile.amazon.com/Then-Now-History-Ancient-Reference/dp/1472304217
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^^i'm ^^a ^^friendly bot
Protection as she grows up.
Maybe Yes, Maybe No (LINK)
by Dan Barker
In today's media-flooded world, there is no way to control all of the information, claims, and enticements that reach young people. The best thing to do is arm them with the sword of critical thinking.
Maybe Yes, Maybe No is a charming introduction to self-confidence and self-reliance. The book's ten-year-old heroine, Andrea, is always asking questions because she knows "you should prove the truth of a strange story before you believe it."
"Check it out. Repeat the experiment. Try to prove it wrong. It has to make sense." writes Barker, as he assures young readers that they are fully capable of figuring out what to believe, and of knowing when there just isn't enough information to decide. "You can do it your own way. If you are a good skeptic you will know how to think for yourself."
Another book is "Me & Dog" by Gene Weingarten.
And Born With a Bang: The Universe Tells Our Cosmic Story : Books 1, 2, 3
Here Comes Science CD + DVD
The Magic of Reality by Richard Dawkins
Bang! How We Came to Be by Michael Rubino.
Grandmother Fish: A Child's First Book of Evolution
Also:
Greek Myths – by Marcia Williams
Ancient Egypt: Tales of Gods and Pharaohs – by Marcia Williams
God and His Creations – by Marcia Williams
"I Wonder" by Annaka Harris
"From Stardust to You: An Illustrated Guide to The Big Bang" by Luciano Reni
"Meet Bacteria!" by Rebecca Bielawski
See also Highlights for Children - this has materials for younger children.
Atheism books for children by Courtney Lynn
"It Is Ok To Be A Godless Me", "I'm An Atheist and That's Ok", "I'm a Freethinker", "Please Don't Bully Me" and "I'm a Little Thinker" etc.
Courtney Lynn has a couple more for grown ups as well.
Grandmother Fish, free in PDF form online
A child's first book of evolution.
15 Holiday Gift Ideas for Secular Families
Bedtime Bible Stories by Joey Lee Kirkman - for mature teens only
Coming up: TINY THINKERS is a series of books introducing popular scientists to children, by telling their stories as if the scientists themselves were kids!
You should also pick up Fred Korematsu Speaks Up some of my fellow grad students literally did not know about Japanese internment camps in the US. :'(
For the holocaust unit we did when I was in grade school, we read the Diary of Anne Frank.
I also read Number the Stars as a kid and here's a Teacher's Companion for it.
All the Light We Cannot See is also a really good book and gives the view points of two very different people. The Book Thief is also really really good.
Hey, I've been on a similar hunt in recent months myself. It isn't easy. But there are three books at least I can recommend you, and from there hopefully you'll find more that might interest you.
The first is a novel, Black Leopard, Red Wolf by Marlon James. Its pretty popular, and though I haven't picked it up yet it tends to be mentioned whenever I discuss trying to find more books about African inspired cultures or Africa itself. The Goodreads blurb contains the following;
>In the first novel in Marlon James's Dark Star trilogy, myth, fantasy, and history come together to explore what happens when a mercenary is hired to find a missing child.
>Drawing from African history and mythology and his own rich imagination, Marlon James has written an adventure that's also an ambitious, involving read. Defying categorization and full of unforgettable characters, Black Leopard, Red Wolf explores the fundamentals of truths, the limits of power, the excesses of ambition, and our need to understand them all.
I cut out the actual plot blurb there, so by all means look it up yourself if you're interested.
The second book is between novel and history, in that its a cultural epic along the same vein of the Epic of Gilgamesh or the Secret History of the Mongols. Works written by a culture about that culture's mythical past can tread the line between history and legend, and that's definitely what the Sundiata Keita does. It tells the tale of Sundiata, the legendary founder of the Mali Empire, and how he rose to power and fame. Its a great read, and definitely gives a glimpse into West Africa and how this particular region of it can be the focus for grand tales of heroes and villains, kings and princes and sorcerers.
The last rec is The Royal Kingdoms of Ghana, Mali, and Songhay: Life in Medieval Africa by by Patricia McKissack, which is a rather short but historically-focused book on the kingdoms of Western Africa. The blurb from the Amazon page reads;
>For more than a thousand years, from A.D. 500 to 1700, the medieval kingdoms of Ghana, Mali, and Songhay grew rich on the gold, salt, and slave trade that stretched across Africa. Scraping away hundreds of years of ignorance, prejudice, and mythology, award-winnnig authors Patricia and Fredrick McKissack reveal the glory of these forgotten empires while inviting us to share in the inspiring process of historical recovery that is taking place today.
You can pick it up here if you're so inclined, but it could serve as a pretty solid primer on West African culture. Or, at least, a guideline for where to begin, by introducing you to concepts and terms you might not otherwise be familiar with, and helping you to narrow down your search.
Hope this helps!
This excellent book tells the story of Shackelton's attempt on the South Pole.
Graphic novel, if that's more to your liking.
I hope you get some interesting replies to this. You probably need to clarify your meaning though; "castles from kingdoms".
For most of human history, Castles were more like a fortified house at the center of village, often where the villagers could take shelter if there was an attack. The vast majority of castles have very little living space square footage compared to what we see in movies. The walls surround a large interior space that is busy during peace times and haphazardly crammed with villagers during a siege.
There would have been a considerable amount of smaller, wooden structures that sprawled out and around the castle to provide support. Having cooking fires, and slaughter houses, and rodent attracting grain stores, and access to fresh water, and stables for animals, and facilities for disposing of animal waster, and space for hundreds of employees to sleep and live, all would happen outside the castle walls. Think of a castle instead as a center point of a large village and it's more likely to be an effective way of thinking about it.
That said, buy this book, https://www.amazon.com/Stephen-Biestys-Cross-sections-Castle-Biesty/dp/1465408800/
Despite it seeming being "for kids" it will probably have more info than any committed amateur might need to suss out what's going on in a castle.
Others that also look interesting.
https://www.amazon.com/Castle-Eyewitness-Books-Christopher-Gravett/dp/0756637694/
https://www.amazon.com/Year-Castle-Time-Goes/dp/1580137962/
Brad Meltzer also authors a great series of biographies for kids about people that changed the world and are quite inspirational. I love the one about Amelia Earhart
Same. My wife and I are actually a bit concerned about this.
My best defense about this is to take every opportunity I have to teach my kids how to think for themselves. I'm always encouraging questions like, "how do you know?".
They'll hear stories from everyone. The key is to figure out which stories have actual reality behind them, and which are just for fun. Whenever I explain something I always try to explain how I know that, what the science is behind it, and what conclusions were drawn. Also I'm never shy about saying when I don't know something.
Evolution is huge for me. I teach my kids all about science, and specifically evolution. I love this book especially because while the first half of the book is about how evolution occurred, the whole second half is about how we know that.
Up until that point it's just a story, like anything else. Just like, say, stories they might hear at the grandparents' house. The difference? Well, let's turn the page and start learning.
LOL
https://www.amazon.com/Marie-Curie-Radioactivity-Inventions-Discovery/dp/0736896481
4 1/2 stars. Try harder.
There's a wonderful series by a guy named Sasek. This Is London, This Is Paris, This Is Venice etc
They're pretty Eurocentric, but extremely adorable.
This is Rome https://www.amazon.com/dp/0789315491/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_TOaIybERBFZMK
I had the same exact thing happen. I just kept insisting she was believing in fairy tales. I also bought her a great book on evolution, Annabelle & Aiden: The Story of Life which she loved. As I read it, she said, "Oh I know, Jesus did that!" I said, "that's like when I do tricks and tell you I know magic. Look for the answers, don't be lazy and say it was magical."
We also told my MIL if she continued, she wouldn't be allowed around her grandchild.
> Is that what they're making 4th graders do book reports on nowadays? That's pretty astounding. In 4th grade I was lucky if I could understand White Fang.
Nah, you're just an imbecile who thinks that just because something happened for you that it must mean the entire nation is like that.
But yes. /u/poiumty just learned how to read in 4th grade, so other kids around the country must be just as uneducated as him.
These are currently prominently displayed at every B&N:
https://www.amazon.com/She-Persisted-American-Women-Changed/dp/1524741728
https://www.amazon.com/Youre-Going-March-Martha-Freeman/dp/1454929936
https://www.amazon.com/Feminist-Baby-Loryn-Brantz/dp/1484778588
The left = Nazi level propaganda
Hey, infants and toddlers need books too!
Yummy Yucky was a favourite in our house. So were Dinosaur vs Bedtime and Goodnight Gorilla.
Getting a little bit older, my kids loved all the Arnold Lobel books and so did I. They were/are among the very few of my kids' books that I never ever got tired of reading over and over again, night after night.
Personally I loved the Madeline books and the Babar books, my daughter liked them but I could never get my son into them.
This was a huge favourite for both my kids in the toddler/preschool years. I can still recite some of those stories from memory (and do).
The original Thomas the Tank Engine stories are really charming. If your nephew ends up taking an interest in trains and that sort of thing, this is a gorgeous book.
eta: almost forgot: Maurice Sendak is essential. My kids can both recite Chicken Soup with Rice from beginning to end.
I remember a pirates book on the library. I am not sure but it could be This
or That
If you are interested more visual book, and a little fancy. I remember that gem in the eye was inside the second page or something. Making a hole in the hardcover, giving 3D feeling.
I have teen boys (14 and 16) and shockingly we have not yet seen the lego movie and would love to win a digital copy!
Your son sounds similar to mine in their taste profile, so I asked them what they liked as gifts when they were 12. Here are their thoughts:
My recommendation (in addition to my kids) is based on his love of the titanic. Have you heard of Ernest Shackleton? He did a journey to the South Pole that was very much an adventure story about leadership and teamwork. There is a graphic novel about it that might be right for him (I haven't read it) and a larger book called Endurance.
Good luck on the gifting!
Oh, I <3 looking for books for my kids!! They are 14, 13, 12, 11, and 5. Our son is the youngest, and he loves all the books that his older sisters loved when they were younger. :D
Oh my gosh...Get those kids some books!
I would love this book for our oldest daughter if I win, please.
/u/DrUsual...can you think of any?
Thank you for the contest!
I can't say of a novel aside from Treasure Island, but I've run across a nice little resource type book called Pirateology. It tells you all about the ships, weapons, famous pirates, it's a great book. There's also Pirates which is a little cheaper, more of a children's resource guide, but it's nice nonetheless. It's a wee bit easier to find than the first, but the first is considered the "go to" when speaking on behalf of Pirates.
Ha, yeah, my wife was a tutor for some slow-readers and a couple of kids with autism so I've been exposed to a lot of that stuff.
Do you ever do much with the oversize nonfiction books at the library? Something like Arms & Armor or Soldier. These kinds of books are packed full of interesting pictures with short paragraph-format captions describing everything.
http://www.amazon.com/Arms-Armor-DK-Eyewitness-Books/dp/0756673194
Book
Fun fact about Lorises: Loris is the only known "poisonous" primate. It has a patch filled with venom under its elbow used for protection against the predators. When faced with danger, loris licks its elbow and covers its teeth with poison. As soon as loris bites its enemy, it will deliver the venom.
http://www.amazon.com/George-Washington-Spymaster-Americans-Revolutionary/dp/1426300417
Great read...also google the 'Culper Spy Ring' and Major Benjamin Tallmadge
Edit: spelling and name
fzzgig wrote:
This is fairly good to look at with children.
A Year in a Castle (Time Goes By)?
A classic book from elementary school, haha :)
Thanks for the contest! (And, if you're american, HAPPY FOURTH IF JULY!)
This is going to sound silly, but the origami. I know it originally started in China but Japan is what everyone associates with. When I was in the first grade, each class chose a country to study and ours was Japan. Our teacher (whose parents were from Japan), taught us how to origami. I still know how to do some of the simple animals and boxes (though I am awful at everything else).
I also vaguely remember her bringing some Japanese candy for us to try. I don't remember what is tasted like but I do remember you could eat the paper (I think it melted in your mouth).
And we read the book, Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes, which is still one of the most beautiful and heart breaking stories I have read.
I also love anime. Particularly Cowboy Bebop (the best anime), Hayao Miyazaki (who doesn't love Studio Ghibli?), and Dragon Ball Z (yes, it is awful but it was my gateway anime). For my Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z were the shows that brought my dad, siblings, and I together every Saturday morning (so I have to thank Japan for that).
It's simply the textbooks that everyone uses.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1446906760?psc=1&amp;redirect=true&amp;ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1446906744?psc=1&amp;redirect=true&amp;ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00
comment content: There's a wonderful series by a guy named Sasek. This Is London, This Is Paris, This Is Venice etc
They're pretty Eurocentric, but extremely adorable.
This is Rome https://www.amazon.com/dp/0789315491/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_TOaIybERBFZMK
subreddit: beyondthebump
submission title: Looking for English picture books about non-USA places!
redditor: epiphanette
comment permalink: https://www.reddit.com/r/beyondthebump/comments/5pxbqz/looking_for_english_picture_books_about_nonusa/dcvb894
Are these the right books? £25 total.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Edexcel-History-Making-Modern-World/dp/1446924092/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1450530088&amp;sr=8-1&amp;keywords=Unit+3A+War+and+the+Transformation+of+British+Society
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http://www.amazon.co.uk/Edexcel-History-Making-Modern-World/dp/1446906744/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1450530089&amp;sr=8-1&amp;keywords=Unit+2A+Germany+1918-39
EDIT: Oh sorry you wanted PDFs. I'll see if I can find any.
I wasn't able to find a single series that I liked. The one that comes up first on Amazon is the National Geographic "Treasuries" series, but those bring a strong western bias, talks down about the 'barbarians' who believed those things, and ultimately tried to reconcile the myths of other cultures with Christianity. Which totally defeats the purpose of teaching mythology in the first place. So I ended up curating my own collection of books that were a bit more objective and unbiased.
Here's a couple that I settled on:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/0763663158
https://www.amazon.com/dp/0689868855
https://www.amazon.com/dp/0385015836
https://www.amazon.com/dp/0804838070
https://www.amazon.com/dp/1573060798
You could dox me, surely. You could easily find at least my name, probably more with that (I have a fairly unique first/last name combination).
Likely you couldn't take over any of my accounts. I don't reuse passwords, I have a neat little salt-system that ensures that. I am still a data-engineer, still a web-developer, so I'm not making the same mistakes 95% of everyone does.
I disagree regarding the Founding Fathers; their attitude seems more along the lines of 'if you want to keep a secret, then you better work hard at keeping secrets'.
George Washington was the country's first spymaster, and subterfuge and privacy were high on his list of important things. He was damn good at it too (good book on the subject).
But you can't legislate privacy: You cannot legislate "don't give away secrets". It's just like "you can't legislate away stupidity". People who want privacy can get it. Easily. People who don't care, don't care.
People who want privacy but at the same time post their shit all over the internet... well I'm glad the founding fathers didn't take that type into consideration. They are the same people who want no GMOs, no pesticides, no chemical fertilizers, and oh, make sure no one goes hungry too. These are people who want to have their cake and eat it too, as the saying goes.
On that note; the NSA still can't legally spy directly on citizens without a warrant. Even after all the Snowden docs released, no one pays attention to this little tidbit. They haven't been spying on citizens. They can spy on corporations without a warrant... and if you give your personal data to Facebook, Google, whatever, then NSA spies on Facebook.. well they'll get your data too. That's how it works. That's why this is still a personal decision for people to make. I don't have a Facebook. That's my personal decision made. The day the government tries to mandate people all get a Facebook, then I'll get all up-in-arms with my Constitutional self. But that's never gonna happen.
Why mention self-publication? I'm not following you on that point.
Goddamn This War by Jacques Tardi is tremendous. It's dark but so is ever WWI book.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/1606995820/
For a lighter, more humourous WWI graphic novel, Nathan Hale's Hazardous Tales: Treaties, Trenches, Mud, and Blood is great.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/1419708082/
This is an amazing resource for kids. It's densly packed with great information and puts it in a way kids can follow and get wrapped up in it. I'm not trying to sell it...really...it's just my friend put a lot of work into it, and it's made the NYT Bestseller list for graphic books. Really well done. He has such a love for history that really comes out in his books.
http://www.amazon.com/Nathan-Hales-Hazardous-Tales-Treaties/dp/1419708082/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1416771479&amp;sr=8-1&amp;keywords=nathan+hale%27s+hazardous+tales+treaties+trenches+mud+and+blood
It is!
Stick and Stone Age (Cartoon History of the Earth)
Stick and Stone Age (Cartoon History of the Earth)
This is fairly good to look at with children.