Grades 6-8

The Story of the Other Wise Man

Book cover: 'The Story of the Other Wise Man'
Author(s): 
Henry Van Dyke
This is the intriguing and classic story of Artaban, the "other" wise man who searches for Jesus his whole life while "foolishly" spending his treasures - which had been intended as a gift for the newborn king - on the poor and needy. A beautiful and touching story, it is quite short, but the vocabulary is challenging enough to be appropriate for upper grade school or high school.

The Story of the Other Wise Man

Book cover: 'The Story of the Other Wise Man'
Author(s): 
Henry Van Dyke
This is the intriguing and classic story of Artaban, the "other" wise man who searches for Jesus his whole life while "foolishly" spending his treasures - which had been intended as a gift for the newborn king - on the poor and needy. A beautiful and touching story, it is quite short, but the vocabulary is challenging enough to be appropriate for upper grade school or high school

Saint Philip of the Joyous Heart

Author(s): 
Francis X. Connolly
The lovely story of the 16th century priest and saint of Rome whose joy brought many away from the evils of the day. He patiently bore a great deal of emotional persecution from some fellow priests, but eventually won his tormentors over to the love of Christ. Many insights into the meaning of a vocation and how to spread the joy of Christ.

Madeleine Takes Command

Book cover: 'Madeleine Takes Command'
Author(s): 
Ethel C. Brill
The thrilling true story of fourteen-year-old Madeleine de Verchères, who in 1692 defended her family's seigneury (a type of fortess) and its occupants from the fierce Mohawk Indians for an entire week with only the aid of her two younger brothers, an elderly servant, one faithful full-grown man and two cowardly soldiers who were of little help. Although the basic outline of the story is well-documented, this story fills in all of the interesting (and likely) details surrounding this event that is still commemorated near Montreal with a statue of this young heroine.

Mossflower

Mossflower, the second book in the Redwall series, tells the story of the founding of Redwall Abbey and of Martin the Warrior's part in it. The peaceful woodland creatures of Mossflower woods are invaded and conquered by a wild cat and his army of weasel, stoats and ferrets. After mounting an unsuccessful attempt at rebellion, the woodlanders slowly retreat further and further into the woods and out of the grasp of the cat. He dies leaving his evil daughter, Tsarmina to rule.

The Lost Baron

Book cover: 'The Lost Baron'
Author(s): 
Allen French
This is quite simply a great story. Even at almost 300 pages, it's surprisingly quick, enjoyable and a worthwhile read.

It is the year 1200, and England is ruled by the wicked and greedy King John (of Robin Hood fame). When the baron Eric disppears from his castle under mysterious circumstances and is presumed dead, his wife and daughter must learn to live with the baron's legal heir and distant relative - the new baron, Basil - who is gloomy and unpleasant.

Cathedral: The Story of Its Construction

Book cover: 'Cathedral: The Story of Its Construction'
Author(s): 
David Macaulay
An interesting, fully illustrated (with pen and ink drawings) story of the construction of a Medieval Cathedral. The cathedral in the book and the details of the story are fictional, but are based on details of what we know about the construction of real-life cathedrals. (Among other reasons, this technique makes sense because there probably aren't enough details known about the construction of any one Cathedral to make a book of this sort).

Earth Science for Every Kid

Book cover: 'Earth Science for Every Kid'
Author(s): 
Janice Van Cleave

In the Van Cleave tradition, this book presents 101 experiments that are simple, yet informative, and can easily be performed in the home. The book covers seven major segments: Earth in Space, Rocks and Minerals, Crustal Movement, Erosion, Atmosphere, Weather and Oceans.

Wild Animals Coloring Book

Book cover: Wild Animals Coloring Book
Author(s): 
John Green

A very nice, detailed and academic-oriented coloring book for learning about wild animals. In addition to beautiful line drawings of 47 different animals from around the world, the text provides common and scientific names and details about appearance, location, habits, size, etc. The index includes both common and scientific names as well, for easy look-up. Illustrations are royalty free (within certain conditions) and may be copied for use within your family.

Dover offers a couple of examples of how the finished images might look:

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