Customer Reviews

A Child's History of the World

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I wanted to let you know that I looked at my copy of A Child's History of the World and could not find what they were talking about. I could not find anything racist or anything that says that everyone came from a white man or anything like that. Here is what it is like,"One group or family of people called Semites lived in the land that we now call the Middle East, near the Mediterranean Sea and the Tigris and Euphrates. Modern Arabs and Jews are Semites. They speak Semitic languages thaere are part of one language famly and sound very similiar....Another group of people lived along the Nile. In Egypt and other parts of North Africa, Egyptians and people called Berbers wer related to the Middle Eastern Semites. Nubians who came from part of Africa south of Egypt belonged to a group of people called Nilo-Saharans. If you look at a map, you can see how they got their name...Another group of people came from the area that is now Iran. They are called Indo-Europeans, and they spread eastward into northern India and westward into Europe. Today people in Europe, Iran and India are descended from these early Indo-Europeans. Just like the Semites, they speak languages that are related to each other." This is the only section I could find about how people descended from each other. I didn't find it rascist, but I guess some people do. Even if they did, I would hate for these small sections make one not look at the rest of the book, which is just lovely.

In my 23 years of secular homeschooling, I have yet to find an engaging history book that is completely secular. A Child's History of the World, is one of the most engaging even for very young children. I find it very easy to edit on the fly. I also love Story of the World, but I have to edit so heavily in a few chapters, that it is easier for me to just skip them.

This is my 4th time through this book, and I love it more and more each time. My children love the words that shoot all over the page. The questions keep them on their toes, they can't wait for the next one, the illustrations are just enough.

Sonlight uses this book in Core 1 ( A ) and Core 2 ( B ) or 1st and 2nd. Calvert uses it in 4th. I much prefer it at a younger age. This is truly a book that has with stood the test of time, my mother remembered it from when she was a child. My grandson is almost of an age where I can share it with him, a new generation ! ;-)

I have gone through this book twice now and really enjoy reading it to the kids. We use it in our Sonlight Homeschool Lessons. The Chapters are easy to read. There are only a very few pictures, just black and white drawings. Mainly it is to listen to being read. The chapters are just the right amount that it challenges the kids but does not loose them. The way it is read is easy for kids to listen to and understand. I am learning so much myself.

The only problem with this book is that it's an updated edition of an older book that DID in fact contain some racist theories about various civilizations. Many, many older books did, and most are out of print. This book deserves to be preserved, and in this hard-cover edition has been expertly made relevant for the modern age in this hard-cover edition (look for the picture of the boy blowing bubbles on the cover!).

Any reviews that mention the origins of mankind in 3 races are of the OLD version. I can assure you, there is no such thing in the next text. One reviewer called this version a "whitewash" but in my opinion, it's a better thing to rework an excellent text as we acquire new information (that's called LEARNING, not "whitewashing") than to publish a new text every two years that may be up-to-date, but is lifeless and uninteresting. The new book covers historical periods up to the end of the Cold War, another perk of the newer edition.

My kids are 6 and 4, so definitely at the young end of the age range. But for the most part, they are simply fascinated by the story of it. And I'm happy to have invested a book that will "grow" with them as they're able to understand more. The chapter lengths are just perfect for read-aloud - nobody ever gets fidgety.

The text is somewhat strangely written - oddly formal in places, with some strange language choices, and it makes references to many things they don't understand, but those are endearing quirks. I LOVE that the kids beg to read history at the end of a long day, and I think they "get" that this book will, with honesty and a sense of humour, bring them up to speed on important secrets about the world.

I really didn't expect to like this book so much. I bought it as a supplement to our Story of the World Ancient History. I figure we can read it again next year when we're doing the Middle Ages, and again the following year or a year after. Or they can pick it up for themselves by Grade 4 or so.

The text is so readable that I have even found myself sneaking glimpses ahead when I want to understand chapters of recent history - like the Cold War - a little better. Grown-up history texts are probably better for depth, but I'm not always feeling that smart. :-)

Being Jewish, I find it slightly annoying to rework every reference to dates which are either given as "before" or "after the birth of Christ." I do a quick "add 2000" in my head and say "3500 years ago" or whatever.

I personally enjoyed how the author dodges the "creation" issue with the vagueness of the first chapter, and believe creation is beyond the purview of a history of civilization text, but I understand it may disturb some Christians who want the exact origin of mankind spelled out more precisely. I'm happiest with vague. :-)

This book won't provide all the details, but it DOES offer kids a glimpse of the fascinating story characters that have made the world what it is today.

I am finding this edition of the book to be very open-minded and non-Euro-centric, covering African, Asian and Indian history as well as the standard Egypt, Greece, Rome. However, because the book's origins are in European and American history, those regions are emphasized a great deal throughout, and it is assumed throughout that children live in the United States. which is also a bit irksome, because mine don't)

Really, that's just a minor flaw, and I love this book for what it offers my kids, which I never had - a child's view of world history that is easy to understand yet opens the door wide to the fascinating complexity of the ongoing human story.

WOW what a great book, I wish I had read this as a child. I feel like I missed out in History at school, it was so dry and boring with so much useless memorisation of dates...I love the way history is in chronological order in this book...we are reading a chapter a week at home with the boys and they are asking so many questions and we doing lots of art around history thanks to this book!

Easy and interesting, simple enough for kids to understand.
Interesting enough for adults to read, too.

This book is a very broad general history of the world.
I would like to find some more substantial history books as readable as this one.

Years ago a friend of mine who was in her early 80's told me about this particular book. Her parents had read it to her as a child and she thought it was the most wonderful story she had ever heard. Now that I am a homeschooling parent I have to agree with my friend. The book was written in the 1930's by the headmaster of Calvert School. V.M. Hillyer. It has been updated over the decades so its contents are current (to mid-twentieth century). Throughout the book are illustrations which in my opinion are works of art that add to the story. We are currently reading this story to our six year old daugther and she loves it! I would recommend this book for reading aloud with your family or for your school world history text.