All Ye Lands Author(s): Rollin Lasseteret al. I've had a chance to skim the book briefly and read the chapters on the Greeks and on the Aztecs and found them helpful and enlightening. There is a distinct effort to be fair to our Catholic legacy without whitewashing faults. (e.g. I noticed that Charlemagne is treated very favorably with the exception of one paragraph that honestly and without sensationalism explains a terrible thing he did in killing a large group of people who refused to be baptized. It also clears up the false rumors regarding the "evils" of Spain while still criticizing where there is fault). Read more about All Ye Lands
Catholic Children's Treasure Box Author(s): Maryknoll SistersFr. Richard Ginder (Editor)Illustrator(s): Miki This set of colorful books for ages 3-8 are reprints of a Catholic magazine from the 1950s. They are filled with stories, games, picture puzzles, poems, crafts, etc. The pictures are beautiful and I like the very simple moral lessons many of the stories teach. (For example, when my daughter was three, she was very impressed by a story called "Peter the Picky Eater". Read more about Catholic Children's Treasure Box
God King Author(s): Joanne WilliamsonDaria M. Sockey (Introduction) God King is a very engaging tale set in Egypt and Judah in approximately 701 B.C. Like Joanne Williamson's other Bethelehem Books title Hittite Warrior, God King helps the reader connect major stories from the Bible with contemporary events in secular history. The Egyptian perspective gives us a more complete look at the fierceness of the Assyrians and the great danger they posed to all the surrounding nations – providing greater insight into God's miraculous intervention on behalf of Jerusalem and King Hezekiah. Read more about God King
Cobra Island Author(s): Rev. Neil Boyton, S.J. Frank Gaze, known by his friends as Scouty, is accompanying his father on a trip to India during World War I. When an enemy vessel destroys their ship and all on board must flee in lifeboats, Scouty is separated from his father. He and his companions become separated from the other lifeboats and are forced to land on a deserted island in the Indian Ocean. Read more about Cobra Island
The Weka-Feather Cloak Author(s): Leo Madigan I have to be perfectly honest. I didn't expect to like this book. The idea of an overtly Catholic fantasy-adventure story trying to make it's way into the genre dominated by Harry Potter? Well... I skeptically picked up the book and read four or five chapters the night it arrived in the mail. It seemed interesting but things didn't seem to be making much sense yet. I picked it up again the next day and the plot thickened. A few more chapters and I was hooked. Read more about The Weka-Feather Cloak
CHC Lesson Plans: First Grade The First Grade Lesson Plans are similar in format to the Kindergarten Lesson Plans except that they offer a lot more as your child becomes more immersed in school. Now there are four pages dedicated to each week of lessons. the first two pages provide a parent's preparation check list, weekly goals, overviews of week's assignments and much more. The layout is both beautiful and easy-to-use. The final two pages for the week are a planner-format lessons chart with ample room around the edges for notes, additions, changes, etc. Read more about CHC Lesson Plans: First Grade
Silver for General Washington Author(s): Enid LaMonte Meadowcroft Silver for General Washington is an engrossing story about twelve-year-old Gil and his sister, Jen, who are living in Valley Forge with their cousins during the occupation of Philadelphia. Before leaving their well-to-do home in Philadelphia, Gil helped his father bury all the family silver in a chest beneath the house. As the winter progresses and conditions grow worse for the poor soldiers, Gil overhears people saying that what's really needed is money to get food and other supplies. Read more about Silver for General Washington
Boston Tea Party Author(s): James E. KnightIllustrator(s): David Wenzel One of the most famous events leading up to the American Revolution is often not well-understood. Even many history textbooks muddle or even mutilate the facts causing many people to think that those who dumped tea into Boston Harbor on that December night in 1773 were basically looting the ships because they were upset about taxes. The truth is more subtle and a lot more respectable than that and this is a fine book (with lovely pen and ink illustrations) to clear up all the confusion. From the "Adventures in Colonial America" series. 3rd grade and up. Read more about Boston Tea Party
Winter Danger Author(s): William O. Steele This is a somewhat unusual, but highly rewarding story of a half-wild woodsman (who "lived by the woods. He had no trade, he couldn't farm a lick or keep a store or run a tavern. All he knew to do was follow the bear and deer through the woods and sleep in caves and hollow trees.") and his eleven year old son Caje. Caje and his father travel through the wilderness – living off the land and escaping from unfriendly Indians. Although Caje would love to settle down in a real house among civilized people, his father is happier in the woods and frets about being "beholden to others". Read more about Winter Danger
Snow Treasure Author(s): Marie McSwigan This is the exciting story of the heroic children of Norway who secretly smuggled their country's wealth in gold on sleds past Nazi occupiers so that it could be shipped to America and kept out of the hands of the Nazis. The story is exciting and involves great dangers, but is carefully crafted within a setting that is not too intense for children. Written in the early years of World War II, it includes interesting details that our modern history books seem to forget. Read more about Snow Treasure
