If You Were Me and Lived in..... A Review

About four weeks ago I was sent four books that were Brought to you by Carole P. Roman and Awaywegomedia.com. This review of If You Were Me and Lived in...the Middle Ages (An Introduction to Civilizations Throughout Time) (Volume 6) and If You Were Me and Lived in... Elizabethan England (An Introduction to Civilizations Throughout Time) (Volume 3) along with If You Were Me and Lived in...the American West (Volume 7) and If You Were Me and Lived in...Ancient Greece (An Introduction to Civilizations Throughout Time) (Volume 1). It has been our pleasure to read these books in order to review them for you.  THEY ARE GREAT!!!

We received these four books:

• If You Were Me and Lived in...Ancient Greece (An Introduction to Civilizations Throughout Time) (Volume 1)
• If You Were Me and Lived in... Elizabethan England (An Introduction to Civilizations Throughout Time) (Volume 3)
• If You Were Me and Lived in...the Middle Ages (An Introduction to Civilizations Throughout Time) (Volume 6)
• If You Were Me and Lived in...the American West (Volume 7)

My son and I like to read books at night before he heads to bed. Currently a lot of the books we are reading right now are history books.  As soon as my lad saw these, he asked if we could start reading them, so we added them to our stash. He was very eager to get started with them as he’s enjoyed another series from Carole which we reviewed here and here. I consider that a sign of a well loved book when a lad remembers reading them three years after the fact.  :)  Though I have to admit, the lad has read ahead rather than wait for me to read the next section, he then proceeded to tell me what I missed...he likes them THAT MUCH.  :)   It's a good thing. 

It's wonderful to read a cultural book and then have a boy say "Mom, correct me if I am wrong, but salt was considered to be really valuable right?"   with my affirmation, go on to tell me they should it have used it to buy and sell things as not only was it useful, but everybody wanted it.    Or when he learned about the bathroom shute into the moat!   Oh my... that provoked a grin and a "MOM, they should have put piranha's in the moat instead!!!"

Can you see that boy reading to me?   :)   His cat at hand, he's considering the next word and sounding it out in his head.   Thankfully, tough words on broken down to help with pronunciation.

As these books are part of a larger series, it is good to note how they are similar and yet different.  :)

How they are the same:

1. For each two page spread, there was a paired reading page with a full page, full colour illustration to match it.
   
2. A listing of famous people of the age, sometimes with pics, sometimes without.
3. A well written glossary
4. Important words are phonetically spelled
5. The reader is brought into the life of a middle to upper class family, and walked through life with them.
6. They are all history books that focus on the culture of the time, written for children at a level they can easily understand. 
7. Each presents history in a storybook fashion.

How they differ from each other:
Of the four books I received, two different illustrators, each with their own style.   Mateyna Arkova illustrates in a water colour type style, and Paula Tabor with a full colour illustration. 

Different fonts used, a larger font for shorter books, a small rounder font for the longer books. Both were quite readable though.

  Let me walk you through the books we received a bit.  If you click on each books image, you'll be taken to my affiliate link, this is no additional cost to you and is just a way of you blessing me.  :)

This book was different, the famous people section was a listing of the Greek Gods and Goddesses instead.

Interesting fact, Hercules is actually Hercales in Greek.   Different pronunciation and spelling.

54 pages in total.

Laughter from my boy child. 

"SO THAT's why they say it's raining cats and dogs.  Mom.. that would have been funny to walk in the rain and have a cat fall on your head!   Why do you think the cats went up there?   Did the dogs chase them up on the roof?"

 50 pages in length.

This is the book my son most wanted to read.   Knights, castles, feudalism, etc.  He knows ALOT about this time period.

This book provoked the most discussion and comments from him.  From the need to keep piranhas in a moat (instead of letting your bathroom waste go there) to the usefulness of salt and it's desirability as a sale item.

Longest book at 97 pages.

The images in this book caught my lad's eye, from watching how the boys dressed differently from the girls, to fording dangerous rivers.  

"The lady did a good job with the pictures mom" said my young artist. "You can see the cow didn't want to go in that river!"

54 pages long.

We finished two books completely and are well on our way to finishing the third.  My lad would like me to pick up the rest of the series as well.   As the kindle prices are quite reasonable, we just might do that.   The softcover prices range from $14.99 to $19.99 of the books we read.

The others in the series are:

• If You Were Me and Lived in...Renaissance Italy (An Introduction to Civilizations Throughout Time) (Volume 2)
• If You Were Me and Lived in...Colonial America (An Introduction to Civilizations Throughout Time) (Volume 4)
• If You Were Me and Lived in...Ancient China: The Han Dynasty
• If You Were Me and Lived in...Viking Europe

Share the pleasure that I and the rest of the Homeschool Review Crew had in this books by clicking the image below.  :)  100 of us reviewed them, each with a different set of four books.

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