2 More Superb Living History Picture Books by Carole P. Roman {A Review}

Disclaimer: I received a FREE copy of this product through the HOMESCHOOL REVIEW CREW in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way.

For a couple of years, we have had the privilege of reviewing selections from Carole P. Roman's assorted series and have come to appreciate her historical book series (which we previously reviewed selections from) the most.  Thus, we were delighted to review another two books from this series Carole P. Roman recently: If You Were Me and Lived in... The American West and If You Were Me and Lived in... Elizabethan England.

What Did We Think of If You Were Me and Live in... The American West?

I asked my nine-year-old to review this book. He said:

If You Were Me and Lived in... The American West is 40+ page softcover picture book which helps you travel back in time to the "Great Migration of 1843" which is better known as the Oregon Trail or the Wagon Train of 1843.

The book is told in a second person point of you so you can imagine yourself being there. You can experience harsh weather, sleeping on the Oregon Trail, doing daily chores, and facing mud and river crossings. You can also settle out west, building a one room cabin and having town build up.

Some things I found interesting were that they took dried out buffalo poop, called buffalo chips, to burn and that oxen were used instead of horses because needed grain which was heavy to carry and oxen could just feed on the grasses along the way. 

I liked this book and the other one. I would recommend this book to kids ages 7-12 who want to learn about the wild west!

I enjoyed witnessing my youngest read, learn, and remember things from this book, and would like to mention that there is a helpful list of famous people from the American West and a glossary at the end of the book. It is a great little history book that engages!

What Did We Think of If You Were Me and Live in... Elizabethan England?

I asked my twelve-year-old to review this book. She said:

If You Were Me and Lived in... Elizabethan England is a softcover, illustrated book with about 41 pages of illustrations and text followed by Important People to Know in Elizabeth's Era and a Glossary.

In the beginning of the book, you see what England looks like now and what it looked like in Elizabethan times. Then, it tells you a little bit about what was going on when Elizabeth was queen. After that, it tells you about the life of a commoner and also about the life of rich people whose lives you might long for.

It told you about:

• the simple pleasures of poor peoplesuch as having an annual fair and getting to go watch plays for a penny

• what and when they ate- such as eating twice a day with dinner between eleven and noon and supper at about nine in the evening

• what they wore - such as boys wearing skirts when they were younger and women wearing dresses and corsets

• and what the currency and wages were like -such as most things being paid for with pennies.

I liked most of the illustrations, except the picture of the modern girl on the first page. The illustrations were simple but good for helping you picture Elizabethan life.

Something I found interesting was the amount people made a year, with the queen earning 60,000 pounds a year while butlers earned 8-10 pounds per year, bakers earned between 150-200 pounds per year, and farmers only earned about five pounds per year. That shows how hard it was to be a farmer, since a good shirt cost about one pound per year!

I also found it interesting that when it talked about thatched roofs in the countryside, it said that often rats and cats lived in the packed straw, so when it rained, animals fell off the slippery surface and that may be where we got the saying, "It's raining cats and dogs."

I would recommend this book to people between the ages of eight - maybe even younger - to ten or twelve years old. For older children, it is a good way to have a quick read to learn about Elizabethan times and for younger kids it would be a fun way to approach history, because it is told as a story "if you were me".

As you can see, my daughter was taken by some of the facts in the book and came away with new knowledge and understanding of Elizabethan times. I just love when a new-to-us resource and builds upon and adds to prior learning and that is just what this did for my history-loving daughter!

My children enjoyed both books which offered them an engaging way to review some things they already knew about each time period and to pick up a few new facts. We are happy to have these books and recommend them to others who like to learn about history from a personal point of view, imagining they had gone back in time.

Fact-filled and interesting, the Carole P. Roman historical book series is one we like!

Who is Carole P. Roman?

If you haven't read hear about Carol P. Roman's backstory before, let me reshare it as it is an interesting one.

Carole is a mom who took a dare from one of her sons to write a book and has since gone on to author over 50 children's books and to win over 100 awards for both her fiction and non-fiction books.

Carole P. Roman's "If You Were Me and Lived in..." series encourages children ages 8-15 or so to explore what life would have been like for people that lived in different places around the globe during various time periods. Each book in the series focuses on a specific historical location and time and introduces readers to the clothing, food, education, games, religion, etc. that were common to day-to-day life .

Carole P. Roman also has authored the following books and series:

• If You Were Me and Lived in… Cultural (for ages 4-9+), which takes readers into geography and culture

• Captain No Beard (for ages 3-8), which offer male and female characters (modeled after Carole's grandchildren) who get up to fun and adventure as they use their imaginations and teach tender lessons about sharing, stranger dangers, asking for help, bullying, and more

• Bedtime Series, One to Ten (for ages 4-8), which teaches readers to evaluate a problem by giving it a number and to put it into the right perspective.

• Rocket-Bye (for ages 2-8), which was Carole's love letter to my grandsons in the form of a trip to the stars

• Can a Princess be a Firefighter? (for ages 2- forever), which was Carole's love letter to her granddaughters, encouraging you to reach for your dreams and not let people put you down because of gender

• Oh Susannah (for ages 7-12), which is Carole's newest series which presents life lessons in short chapter books 

and more!

She also offers bonus materials on her website in the form of free worksheets, etc to go along with some of her books.

Learn More

If you'd like to hear more about Carole P. Roman's multiple book series, be sure to click over to all of the Homeschool Review Crew reviews. More than seventy families reviewed 2-4 of Carole's different titles!

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