History
Abe Lincoln Crosses a Creek
Another fun book we found at our library on Abe Lincoln! A good way to help celebrate President's Day!
Little is known about Lincoln's playmate and the event told in this darling book. I liked the perspective the author and illustrator take to retell the tall, thin tale...!
Addition by Suchi, Feb 2024: Lincoln's friend, Austin Gollaher, told the tale of the 1816 event as follows.
I once saved Lincoln's life. We had been going to school together one year; but the next year we had no school, because there were so few scholars to attend, there being only about 20 in the school the year before.
Consequently Abe and I had not much to do; but as we did not go to school and our mothers were strict with us, we did not get to see each other very often. One Sunday morning my mother waked me up early, saying she was going to see Mrs. Lincoln, and that I could go along. Glad of the chance, I was soon dressed and ready to go. After my mother and I got there Abe and I played all through the day.
While we were wandering up and down the little stream called Knob Creek Abe said: 'Right up there' - pointing to the east - 'we saw a covey of partridges yesterday. Let's go over and get some of them.' The stream was swollen and was too wide for us to jump across. Finally, we saw a narrow foot-log, and we concluded to try it. It was narrow, but Abe said, 'Let's coon it.'
I went first and reached the other side all right. Abe went about half-way across, when he got scared and began trembling. I hollered to him, 'Don't look down nor up nor sideways, but look right at me and hold on tight!' But he fell off into the creek, and, as the water was about seven or eight feet deep, and I could not swim, and neither could Abe, I knew it would do no good for me to go in after him.
So I got a stick - a long water sprout - and held it out to him. He came up, grabbed with both hands, and I put the stick into his hands. He clung to it, and I pulled him out on the bank, almost dead. I got him by the arms and shook him well, and then rolled him on the ground, when the water poured out of his mouth.
He was all right very soon. We promised each other that we would never tell anybody about it, and never did for years. I never told any one of it until after Lincoln was killed.
Abe's Honest Words
We are enjoying two new and fun books we found at our library on Abe Lincoln! A good way to help celebrate President's Day!
This one, Honest Abe's Words, is one. The other is Abe Lincoln Crosses a Creek.
Lincoln's depth of thought, integrity and faith comes alive in this gorgeous book. The illustrations, fonts and innovative approach in presenting his life to young readers make this book a gem! For one, the cover is the picture of his face-- the title is on the back cover!
Abigail and the Widow Mary
Mr. Trimming has created several very engaging stories about some of Jesus' most beloved miracles told from the point of view of children. These stories fall into the category of historical fiction. In other words, they are based on real events, but include some fictitious characters and dialogue. This technique allows us to see the story from a different point of view (in these stories, it is from a child's point of view) and more fully understand the story because of historical details such as customs and ettiquette of the day. The author develops these stories in such a way that children more fully understand the significance and joy of these miracles. For example, the first story is of the miracle of the Wedding at Cana, when Jesus turned the water into wine. This is told from the viewpoint of Abigail, the young sister of the bride. The story relates how important certain customs related to the wedding ceremony are and how nervous everyone is about the wine being in short supply. We see that running out of wine during the celebration would be a devastating blow to the family and the bridal couple and how even young Abigail fearfully awaits what will happen. After understanding this background, how much more joyous, particularly to the young reader, is it when they see how Jesus (with some encouragement from his mother - "the Widow Mary") comes to their aid? I believe these kind of stories are an excellent way of portraying to children how great Jesus' love is for us.
My children were familiar enough with these stories from the Bible that they delighted in figuring out which story was being told (the background development gives them a little chance for guessing). So enjoyable was this story, in fact, that I was coerced by my daughter into reading the entire book in one sitting. I have to admit that I found the task not at all unpleasant.
In order to give you a sampling of the book, the story of Reuben's Basket, which is about the miracle of the multiplication of the loaves and fishes, may be read online. Note: A character in one of the stories makes a joke that some may find offensive. Keeping in mind that the author is British (and some of the words involved in the joke have different connotations to British than to Americans); I don't think the joke is a real problem, but you can decide for yourself as the joke in question is included in the chapter that you can read on their website listed above.
Abraham Lincoln
Adventures of Saint Paul
For the learning reader, you will want to assist the child with some of the words they will struggle with like Macedonia and synagogue.
All Ye Lands
It is quite specifically Catholic in mentioning many great saints and Catholic figures and the role of Christianity in shaping Western Culture (without ignoring the contributions of the Hebrews, Egyptians, Greeks and Romans) and being written from a Catholic point of view even where Catholics aren't specifically mentioned. There is a significant focus on World Cultures including chapters on many non-Christian cultures - eg. Japan, China, India and the Middle East - as well as a great deal about the largely Christian west. I think it is important for our children to understand these cultures and it is so helpful to have a book that honestly highlights the good and beautiful things from these cultures without acting like it doesn't matter that they weren't Christian (In other words, it's NOT in any way new-age or modernist in presenting these other cultures). I think this is an excellent antidote to modern multiculturalISM.
The book is very visually appealing without being overly-busy. It has beautiful full-color pictures throughout with informative captions. There are some fun features as well, such as a "Let's Eat" segment for each culture with information on what people ate and some simple recipes. The book is intended for 6th grade, but would be profitable and enjoyable to anyone wishing to get a better sense of history and culture. This is the first book being published in a series of Catholic history textbooks. (6-21-03)
The book describes the "Legend" of Samson which some have taken as unnecessarily calling into question the historicity of the Bible. Since there is no other indication of a flawed theology in this regard, I would encourage people to simply interpret this as one of the other meanings of "Legend" which is simply "Story".
There's a confusing typographical error on pg. 133 referencing the life of St. John Chrysostom as "(A.D. 550-407)" I believe it should read "(A.D. 350-407)".
America's Great (and not so great) Catholic Moments: A Perpetual Calendar
This would make a fun family project to share at meal-time and might lead to further "explorations" about particularly interesting entries. It would also make a great gift for a college student, history buff or homeschool parent.
Binding details: desk-calendar sized stand)
American History for Young Catholics, Grade 1
American History, Grade 5
The seven units and twenty-eight chapters are fairly brief at an average of ten pages, and the reading level is appropriate for fifth and sixth grade students. In the chapters are loads of black and white illustrations, maps and timelines. The end-of-chapter questions are all discussion and short answer or essay type, with a list of persons, places, and terms that might be useful for a timeline book assignment. In addition, there are some "Interesting Things to Do" that are more research and hands-on oriented. The end-of-unit questions are also discussion or essay type, critical thinking questions. Also included are a section called "Linking Geography to History", more "Interesting Things to Do", and a list of additional books to read. Many of the titles on the book list are familiar to me as they are what is presently being discarded from the library. Many of them are are out-of-print, but others are currently being reprinted in inexpensive paperback editions. If essay questions are more than your student is able to tackle, the corresponding test booklet includes tests in the typical multiple-choice and fill-in-the-blank format.
The Teacher's Manual contains the unique part of this course, and I would recommend its purchase as essential to getting the best out of this course. The reprinted edition is 95 pages long and is comb-bound. Its focus is on Christian social principles, which are outlined as an introduction to the Teacher's Manual and the course. Each unit has introductory information for the teacher, as well as an introduction to each chapter's material. These background notes are keyed to the list of Christian social principles and historical perspectives detailed in the introduction. Without this teacher's guide, I'm positive that I would have missed all of this. There is also a suggested test for the unit. For each chapter, the teacher's manual also includes a list of important terms and concepts, a useless-to-me list of related educational films and filmstrips, the answers to all of the student's questions, "Ideas to be Developed", and "Teaching Procedures". Because of the chronological arrangement of information, I think that the background information in the teacher's manual would be useful no matter which text you use.
Also available are a test booklet mentioned above and the answer key to the tests.
Nihil Obstat and Imprimatur