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Novel Inquiries, Volume 1: Ancient Civilizations, Grades 5-6

Book cover: 'Novel Inquiries, Volume 1: Ancient Civilizations, Grades 5-6'
Author(s): 
Margot Davidson

A Set of Guides for Four Novels Integrating Composition and Higher Level Thinking

This set of study guides for grades 5-6, written by a Catholic homeschool mother of five, provides a literary guide with in-depth study questions, writing assignments and analyses for four historical novels on Ancient Civilizations: The Golden Goblet by Eloise Jarvis McGraw, Tirzah by Lucille Travis, Hittite Warrior by Joanne Williamson and The Children's Homer by Padraic Colum.

Pamela Walks the Dog

Book cover: "Pamela Walks the Dog"
Author(s): 
Christine Marlin
Illustrator(s): 
Hilda van Stockum

This latest title in the Bethlehem Books Lamb Time series is a short but sweet (and very funny) story about a busy little girl going through the very important and imaginative process of getting ready to walk the dog. Any parent with small children will appreciate the humorous truth about how children are that the author so clearly understands, even in such a simple story. This shouldn't surprise fans of the author's grandmother and the book's illustrator, Hilda Van Stockum, whose own books portray a beautiful understanding of small children.

To Kill a Mockingbird

Book cover: To Kill a Mockingbird
Author(s): 
Harper Lee

This modern classic, set in the segregated South of the 1930s, is the story of two young children who learn about life and the great character of their father, Atticus Finch, as he struggles with a difficult case in which he must defend a black man wrongfully accused of raping a white woman.

Lord of History Card Game

Book cover: 'Lord of History Card Game'
These playing card-sized history supplements portray 24 important figures in Catholic history (the remaining card is a cover card with instructions for games that can be played with the set). There is one card for each of the following people: Alfred the Great, St. Joan of Arc, Prince Henry the Navigator, Christopher Columbus, Mary Queen of Scots, Marco Polo, John Henry Cardinal Newman, Fr. Jacques Marquette, King St. Louis IX, Queen Isabel of Castile, Charlemagne, St. Francis Xavier, Dante Aleghieri, Emperor Constantine the Great, St. Thomas More, G.K. Chesterton, Junipero Serra, St.

My Catholic Speller (Level E)

Book cover: 'My Catholic Speller (Level E)'
Author(s): 
Nancy Nicholson

Level E is the 5th-6th grade text in this series, providing 34 weeks of spelling lessons with quarterly reviews. The book is now bound with a lay-flat spiral binding, making it easier for the student to write in the book. Spaces for the student's work include a dashed middle line, allowing for handwriting practice–-an important and overlooked element in teaching spelling. The particular copy of the text that I have is printed on a smooth, erasable, bright-white paper, but there is some show-through of the ink from the printing on the other side of the paper.

The Story of the Trapp Family Singers

Book cover: The Story of the Trapp Family Singers
Author(s): 
Maria Augusta Trapp

This is the actual book, written in 1949, which inspired the script of the movie the Sound of Music. It is Maria and her family's autobiography, covering some early details of the Captain and Maria's separate lives and the history of the family from Maria's position as teacher to the young Maria all the way through the late 1940s. After reading the World of the Trapp Family (reviewed below), I finally picked up this book which I had started to read years earlier, but never finished.

The World of the Trapp Family

Book cover: 'The World of the Trapp Family'
Author(s): 
William Anderson

Whenever I hear the phrase "based on a true story", I want to know what the true story was. The World of the Trapp Family will provide just that for anyone interested in the real family behind The Sound of Music. The movie is just factual enough that Sound of Music fans will surely enjoy the flesh and blood behind the story. However, the real family is so much more vivid and fascinating than the movie that this book will probably be enjoyed even by those who didn't care for the movie (or grew tired of seeing it too many times.)

Reclaiming America's Children

Book cover: 'Reclaiming America's Children: Raising and Educating Morally Healthy Kids'
Author(s): 
Michelle Willis
(M. V. Willis)

This is essentially a brief training manual written to help parents successfully raise children in difficult times. It appears to be written especially for caring parents whose children are attending public or private schools. Although it is not explicitly Catholic in content, the teachings and basic principles presented are essentially Catholic (and the author is Catholic).

The Essence of Holy Mass

Book cover: 'The Essence of Holy Mass'

This book is divided into two sections. The first, 44 pages long, discusses the purpose of Holy Mass and its essential parts (in such a way that it would be equally useful for those attending a Tridentine Indult or a Novus Ordo Mass). The text is very simple and could be ready by many first or second graders. The large typeface and full-color photos (of children re-enacting scenes from Our Lord's life) make it very appealing. My oldest read through the book rather quickly in second grade and like it very much.