Peter Kent's Engaging Historical Books

One thing lead to another and we ended up with four of Peter Kent's books (borrowed from the library). Peter Kent is the author and illustrator of these great books that are engaging my son so thoroughly. They are a great way to provide simple historical overviews as a supplement or introduction.


















Hidden Under the Ground: The World Beneath Your Feet
Complete with a table of contents, this fascinating book takes the reader on a journey through time and into underground spaces. Lots of trivia is interspersed with his detailed drawings. The usual and obvious under worlds are covered: caves, caverns, a tomb, and animal habitats. However, he gets creative and includes afterlife underworlds (middle ages perspective), cliff dwellings, hidden rockets, power plants, the street beneath our feet, and dungeons. Throughout the pages are questions to engage the reader into the pictures. The questions are mostly searching for 'how many' of something.
This book has a table of contents, introduction, a glossary, and an answers section.



Great Buildings: Stories of the Past
After the introduction, Kent takes the reader to the great pyramids, the Great Wall of China, the Beauvais Cathedral, the Eddystone Lighthouse, the Brooklyn Bridge, the Eiffel Tower, the Panama Canal, the Woolworth building, the Chek Lap Kok airport, and finishes off with a summary of seven more great buildings of the world. The buildings that are focused on are covered over two double page layouts with lots of pictures and interesting facts.
 This book has a table of contents, introduction, and an index.























Peter Kent's City Across Time: From the Stone Age to the Distant Future

This was one of my son's favourites. He enjoyed seeing the progression of cities from the old stone age through the ages to modern times and into the distant future. The detailed illustrations are what really brings this book to life as this book has the least amount of text out of the four books. However, what is said is still interesting.
This book has a table of contents, introduction, a glossary, an index, and further information. The further info are online sources of information that complement what was covered in the book.



Peter Kent's Big Book of Armor: From Armadillos to Armored Cars
This was my son's favourite and he even wants to buy his own copy. Again, this is where Kent gets creative and really investigates what can be included as armor. The usual armor, throughout the ages, is discussed and illustrated in detail, but he also goes into safety suits, armored vehicles, forts, athletic gear, and animal armor.
This book has a table of contents, introduction, a glossary, an index, and further information. The added information here are lists of where to see the various armor, tanks, ships, trains, and forts in their museums around the world.


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Book: The Picture History of Great Explorers

The Picture History of Great Explorers by Gillian Clements is a very fun and colourful way to explore history's famous explorers and get a nice over view with time lines. This was a library find that my son was very enthusiastic about for a while. Now he gives it 3.5 out of 5 (=Good).

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Product Review: Oh, The Wondrous Places You'll Go--Travel Cards

Spontaneous buying. Ya, not often a brilliant idea. However, once in a while those whims turn out to be fantastic.

And so our household came to have these Dr. Seuss 51 and a half travel cards to "tickle your travel bug." Each card "features stunning photography, unbelievable facts, surprising history, and brain-twisting trivia about a different amazing destination. From famous landmarks to hidden gems, a world of adventure awaits!" The back of the cards show the place location on a globe and then from a more local perspective.

My son loves these cards and pulls them out often. He enjoys reading the cards, answering the questions, and imaging going to these places. I think this may be the beginning of his very own... 51 and 1/2 places to go before he's... not interested in travelling  ;-)

I think these cards are great and spark interest in learning about new places. Did you know that "before Mesa Verde was made a national park in 1906, campers burned all the cliff dwellings' roof timbers for firewood?"  Sad but true.

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Famous Birthday Celebrations-- A Past Example

On January 27, 2009 we celebrated Mozart's birthday (born in 1756). This was our very first endeavour and we eased into our new idea with a famous person we already knew and loved.

The kitchen table was decorated with a display of library books and CDs and we ate breakfast while listening to Mozart's classical music. A great way to start the day, wouldn't you say?!

This was followed by the Classical Kids' story about the Magic Flute, Mozart's Magic Fantasy and Mozart's Magnificant Voyage, a biography told with music. It was a very auditory day and right up my son's alley. Two other CDs we listened to were The Mozart Effect and The Magic of Mozart.

A couple of the books included Clothes of the Early Modern World by Christine Hatt and Young Mozart (a picture book) by Isadora.

Since it was one of the instruments Mozart played and one my son was unfamiliar with, we googled harpsichords, looked at the pictures, and listened to examples on YouTube. Colouring pages of harpsichords and Mozart were found and printed off.

We took a virtual tour through the Miracle's Wax Museum in Salzburg, Austria. The link I had no longer works. I tried a quick search and couldn't find it, sorry.

As I noted at the time, other options could have been to explore the country of origin, foods, and customs. Really, there are no limits!

Idea: Celebrating Famous People's Birthdays

The North Saskatchewan River & Downtown Edmonton

Dead or Alive!

One of our ideas is to celebrate famous people's birthdays, whether they have been long deceased or are alive and kicking. Some times I choose the person, sometimes our son does. This represents a unique and fun way to learn about someone without it being an in-depth study, but allow for the opportunity to be a jumping board into something more substantial.

We don't eat birthday food and cake. We don't decorate. But that's just us. I can see where a very crafty/artsy family may wish to decorate or bake a cake. We chose not to... so, what do we do?

Typically, I would do the research on the person and find all kinds of resources: library books, movies, documentaries, music, art, quotes, magazine articles, websites, YouTube videos, stories, the person's favourites, etc. I would also brainstorm possible activities or field trips. Since the purpose of this exercise is to provide a glimpse into the life and achievements of the person, I try not to go too overboard. Still, if I have too much material and the interest goes beyond a day of celebrations, all the better!

On the birthday, we look over the plundered information and pick and choose. It is supposed to be fun and stimulating, not gruelling! Usually some form of biography is in order and then, from there, there is no order. We read, listen, create, visit, and enjoy delving into the life and times of the famous person. And, if we find ourselves going off on a tangent, we go full throttle!

I suppose you can take the birthday out of the equation and just have a day that focuses on a particular person. We find it more fun to honour the person's birthday. Besides, the challenge of finding a birth date and corresponding person, at any given moment, is fun too! It often instigates examination of an unfamiliar person.

Resources

HistoryOrb.com  From this website, you can find famous birthdays, famous deaths, and famous events

Internet
local public library
local archives and museums
your imagination