Cultural History

You'll often hear proponents of whole-book education methods talk about the benefit of learning history through literature. They aren't talking about the kind of history you might learn in a textbook—for them, knowing the dates of the Thirty Years' War or the name of the first prime minister of Australia isn't that important. The kind of history you'll learn in novels and diaries and essays is cultural history.

How people live, what they learn in school, the weapons they use, their religion, how they perceive their role in the world: these are all elements of culture that fiction and private documents reveal much better and more thoroughly than books simply detailing facts. Source documents are the product as much of the culture in which they're written, after all, as they are the result of the authors' own invention.

Books simply about the customs and daily life of a people group do have their place, too. You might not have as intimate a portrait of Victorian England after reading What Jane Austen Ate and Charles Dickens Knew as you would after reading Great Expectations, but you'll learn plenty. Sometimes you just need the straightforward facts, and at times like those novels are not your friends.

The real question for many, however, isn't how do I learn about different cultures?, but WHY should I learn about different cultures? Well, there's no law saying you have to, but aside from the fun you can have doing so, learning about foreign or lost cultures is one way to better understand your own place in the grand scheme of things.

It's not that the Chinese New Year festival will shed any great light on your own situation, but the deeper you study the cultural contexts around the globe, the more you realize how similar people really are. Understanding connections is one of the great advantages of a well-rounded education; the connections between people a solid grounding in cultural history can offer are especially poignant.

Of course, reading about the origins of your own culture will help you understand why you do things the way you do, why you think the way you do, why the people around you are the way they are. As Christians, this knowledge can help us share the Gospel easier than if we knew nothing of the background of the people we try to reach, and that is the one reason for studying cultural history that trumps all the others.

Review by C. Hollis Crossman
C. Hollis Crossman used to be a child. Now he is a husband and father, teaches adult Sunday school in his Presbyterian congregation, and likes weird stuff. He might be a mythical creature, but he's definitely not a centaur.Read more of his reviews here.

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195 Items found Print
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A Weed Is a Flower
by Aliki
Reprint from Aladdin Paperbacks
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$6.79
Ada Byron Lovelace and the Thinking Machine
by Laurie Wallmark, illustrated by April Chu
from Creston Books, LLC
for Kindergarten-2nd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$4.80 (1 in stock)
Africa Is Not A Country
by Margy Burns Knight
unknown from Millbrook Press
for 1st-3rd grade
in Africa (Location: HISMC-AFR)
$5.20 (1 in stock)
Africa Is Not a Country
by Margy Burns Knight
2nd edition from Millbrook Press
for 1st-3rd grade
in Africa (Location: HISMC-AFR)
$9.34
Ahoy There, Little Polar Bear
by Hans de Beer
Fir from Scholastic Inc.
for Preschool-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
AIO Imagination Station Book #01
by Marianne Hering & Paul McCusker
from Focus on the Family
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in Imagination Station (Location: SER-AIO)
$6.79
AIO Imagination Station Book #21
by Marianne Hering
from Focus on the Family
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$5.09
All Aboard!
by Monica Kulling; illustrated by Bill Slavin
from Tundra Books (NY)
for Kindergarten-4th grade
in Inventions & Discoveries (Location: SCI-INV)
$7.64
All the Children of the World
by Karen Mezek Leimert
First Edition from Nelsonword Publishing Group
for 1st-3rd grade
in Oversized Picture Books (Location: PIC-OVER)
$6.40 (1 in stock)
Amazing Life of Benjamin Franklin
by James Cross Giblin
from Scholastic Inc.
for 1st-4th grade
2001 NCTE Orbis Pictus Honor Book
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$6.79 $3.60 (1 in stock)
Amazing Pop-Up Pull-Out Space Shuttle
by David Hawcock
from DK Publishing
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$12.00 (1 in stock)
American History for Young Students I
by Michelle Miller
from TruthQuest History
History Curriculum for 1st-5th grade
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$17.50 (1 in stock)
Animals Robert Scott Saw
by Sandra Markle
from Chronicle Books
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$4.00 (1 in stock)
Art Smart: Spot the Details and Find Out the Facts
Act from Dover Publications
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$8.49 $4.80 (1 in stock)
Artist Who Painted a Blue Horse
by Eric Carle
from Philomel Books
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$4.80 (1 in stock)
Astronauts on the Moon - Hallmark Pop-Up Book
by Al Muenchen and Stanley Hendricks
from Hallmark Publications
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$12.80 (1 in stock)
Baby Blessing
by Welleran Poltarnees
from Laughing Elephant
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$3.20 (1 in stock)
Bad River Boys
by Virginia Driving Hawk Sneve, illustrated by Bill Farnsworth
from Holiday House
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in Lewis & Clark Expedition (1801-1803) (Location: HISA-19L&C)
$3.20 (1 in stock)
Balto and the Great Race
Totally True Adventures
by Elizabeth Cody Kimmel
1st Printing from Random House Books for Young Readers
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$5.94 $2.80 (1 in stock)
Beatrice's Goat
by Page McBrier
Reprint from Atheneum
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$7.20 (1 in stock)
Because Barbara
by Sarah Mackenzie, illustrated by Eileen Ryan Ewen
from Waxwing Books
for Preschool-2nd grade
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$16.14
Beethoven's Heroic Symphony
Once Upon a Masterpiece
by Anna Harwell Celenza, illustrated by JoAnn E. Kitchel
from Charlesbridge
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Music History (Location: ELE-MUSHIS)
$14.41
Blockhead: The Life of Fibonacci
by Romola Anderson, R. C. Anderson
1st edition from Henry Holt and Company
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$16.99
Boy Who Drew Birds
by Jacqueline Davies
from Houghton Mifflin
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$15.29
Boy Who Loved Math
by Deborah Heiligman, illustrated by LeUyen Pham
from Roaring Brook Press
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$4.80 (1 in stock)
Bravest Dog Ever
Step Into Reading Level 3
by Natalie Standiford
from Random House
Animal Stories for 1st-3rd grade
in Step into Reading (Location: EAR-STEP)
$5.09
Breaking Into Print
by Stephen Krensky, illustrated by Bonnie Christensen
from Little, Brown & Company
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$5.60 (1 in stock)
Brother Hugo and the Bear
by Katy Beebe
from Eerdmans
for Kindergarten-4th grade
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$15.29
Changing Weather
by Ashlee Klemm, illustrated by Vanessa Toye
from The Good and the Beautiful
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$5.10 (2 in stock)
Charles Darwin's Around-the-World Adventure
by Jennifer Thermes
from Abrams Books for Young Readers
for Preschool-2nd grade
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$6.40 (1 in stock)
Child's Book of Art
by Lucy Micklethwait
from DK Publishing
for Preschool-1st grade
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$5.60 (2 in stock)
Child's Geography Volume V (old)
by Terry Johnson
from Knowledge Quest
for 1st-8th grade
in Old Edition History & Geography (Location: OHIS)
$20.00 $14.00 (1 in stock)
Child's Story of the Child's Book
by Raven
from F. A. Davis Company
for Kindergarten-2nd grade
in Vintage Nonfiction (Location: VIN-NFIC)
$4.80 (1 in stock)
Children from Australia to Zimbabwe
by Anna Rhesa Versola, Maya Ajmera
Revised ed. from Charlesbridge
for 1st-3rd grade
in Diversity & Multicultural Books (Location: HISMC-MUL)
$9.60 (1 in stock)
Children Just Like Me
by Anabel Kindersley, Barnabas Kindersley
from DK Publishing
for 1st-3rd grade
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$18.69 $8.00 (1 in stock)
Children Just Like Me: Our Favorite Stories
by Jamila Gavin, illustrated by Amanda Hall, photographs by Barnabas Kindersley
from DK Children
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$4.00 (1 in stock)
Christopher Columbus
by Elaine Murray Stone
500 Anv from Tyndale House
Biography for Preschool-3rd Grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
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City Book
by Lucille Corcos
from Golden Press
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Vintage Nonfiction (Location: VIN-NFIC)
$4.80 (1 in stock)
Civil War Artist
by Taylor Morrison
from HMH Books for Young Readers
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$3.00 (1 in stock)
Clara Barton: Amazing Civil War Nurse
Amazing Americans
by Mary Dodson Wade
from Enslow
for 1st-3rd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Classical Acts and Facts Science Cards: Seeking to Know
2nd edition from Classical Conversations
for Kindergarten-8th grade
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$28.20 $17.50 (1 in stock)
Claude Monet: Sunshine and Waterlilies by Steven Packard
Smart About Art
by True Kelley
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 1st-3rd grade
in Artists & Illustrators (Location: ELE-ARTISTS)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Columbus
by Edgar & Ingri D'Aulaire
First BCE from Doubleday & Company
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$28.00 (1 in stock)
Come Look With Me: American Indian Art
by Stephanie Salomon
1st Edition
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Art History & Appreciation (Location: ELE-ARTHIS)
$4.80 (1 in stock)
Come Look With Me: Artist at Work
by R. Sarah Richardson
from Charlesbridge
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in Art History & Appreciation (Location: ELE-ARTHIS)
$14.41
Come Look with Me: Enjoying Art with Children
by Gladys S. Blizzard
from Charlesbridge
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$12.00 $10.00 (3 in stock)
Come Look With Me: Exploring Landscape Art With Children
by Gladys S. Blizzard
from Charlesbridge
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in Art History & Appreciation (Location: ELE-ARTHIS)
$14.41
Day of Ahmed's Secret
by Florence Parry Heide, Judith Heide Gilliland
1st Mulberry ed from HarperCollins
for 1st-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$9.99 $5.00 (2 in stock)
Discovering Great Artists
by MaryAnn F. Kohl & Kim Solga
2nd edition from Chicago Review Press
for Preschool-6th grade
in Art History & Appreciation (Location: ELE-ARTHIS)
$18.69
Discovering Great Artists (old)
by MaryAnn F. Kohl & Kim Solga
from Bright Ring Publishing
for Preschool-6th grade
in Clearance: Art & Music (Location: ZCLE-ART)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Early American History for Primary Grades - Guide
by Rea Berg
3rd edition from Beautiful Feet Books
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Beautiful Feet Books (Location: HISCUR-BFB)
$29.95 $20.00 (2 in stock)
Eat My Dust! Henry Ford's First Race
Step Into Reading Level 3
by Monica Kulling, Illustrated by Richard Walz
from Random House Books for Young Readers
for 1st-3rd grade
in Step into Reading (Location: EAR-STEP)
$5.09
Emperor's Egg
by Martin Jenkins, illustrated by Jane Chapman
from Candlewick Press
for Kindergarten-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$7.64 $4.00 (1 in stock)
Emperor's Egg
by Martin Jenkins, illustrated by Jane Chapman
from Candlewick Press
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in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Encounter
by Jane Yolen
1st edition from Voyager Paperbacks
for 1st-6th grade
in Age of Exploration (1450-1700) (Location: HISA-16EXP)
$8.49 $3.60 (1 in stock)
Etcher's Studio
by Arthur Geisert
from Houghton Mifflin
for Preschool-2nd grade
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$2.40 (1 in stock)
Everybody Cooks Rice
from First Avenue Editions
for Nursery-1st grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$3.20 (1 in stock)
Families Around the World
by Jo E. Moore
from Evan-Moor Educational Publishers
for Preschool-1st grade
in Diversity & Multicultural Books (Location: HISMC-MUL)
$2.40 (1 in stock)
Famous Children: Brahms
by Ann Rachlin
from Barron's
for 1st-3rd grade
in Music History (Location: ELE-MUSHIS)
$4.50 (1 in stock)
Famous Children: Haydn
by Ann Rachlin
from Barron's
for 1st-3rd grade
in Music History (Location: ELE-MUSHIS)
$3.50 (1 in stock)
Famous Children: Mozart
by Ann Rachlin
from Barron's
for 1st-3rd grade
in Music History (Location: ELE-MUSHIS)
$3.50 (2 in stock)
Famous Children: Picasso
by Tony Hart, illustrated by Susan Hellard
from Barron's
for 1st-3rd grade
in Artists & Illustrators (Location: ELE-ARTISTS)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Farmhouse
by Sophie Blackall
from Little, Brown & Company
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$16.14
Flight
by Robert Burleigh; illustrated by Mike Wimmer
from Philomel Books
for Preschool- 3rd Grade
1992 NCTE Orbis Pictus Award
in Aviation History (Location: HISV-AVIA)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Food and Recipes of Westward Expansion
Cooking Throughout American History
by George Erdosh
1st edition from PowerKids Press
for 1st-4th grade
in Western Expansion (1800-1898) (Location: HISA-19WES)
$3.60 (1 in stock)
Francisco Pizarro
Discover the Life of an Explorer
by Trish Kline
from Rourke Publishing
for 1st-3rd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$6.40 (1 in stock)
Girl Who Thought in Pictures
by Julia Finley Mosca, illustrated by Daniel Rieley
from The Innovation Press
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Glorious Flight
by Martin & Alice Provensen
from Puffin Books
Historical Non-Fiction/Picture Books for 1st-3rd grade
1984 Caldecott Medal winner
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$7.64 $4.00 (1 in stock)
Go In and Out the Window
by Dan Fox
from Henry Holt and Company
for Kindergarten-5th grade
in Music History (Location: ELE-MUSHIS)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
God’s Very Good Idea
by Trillia Newbell and Catalina Echeverri
from Good Book Company
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Diversity & Multicultural Books (Location: HISMC-MUL)
$14.44
Golden Book of Space Exploration
by Dinah L. Moche
from Golden Books
for Preschool-3rd Grade
in Space Race & Exploration (Location: HISA-20SPR)
$3.20 (1 in stock)
Gonna Sing My Head Off
by Kathleen Krull
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
for Preschool- 3rd Grade
in Music Education & Reference (Location: ELE-MUSREF)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Gonna Sing My Head Off
by Kathleen Krull, illustrated by Allen Garns
First Printing from Scholastic Reference
for Preschool- 3rd Grade
in Music Education & Reference (Location: ELE-MUSREF)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Granny Smith Was Not an Apple
by Sarah Glenn Fortson, illustrated by Kris Aro McLeod
from Peter Pauper Press
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$14.44
Greek and Roman Eras
Journey Through History
by Carme Peris, Glòria & Oriol Vergés
from Barron's
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Ancient Greece (Location: HISW-ANGR)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Growing Up in Ancient Rome
by Mike Corbishley
from Troll Publishing
for 1st-3rd grade
in Ancient Rome (Location: HISW-ANRO)
$2.80 (1 in stock)
Hairdo!
by Ruth Freeman Swain, illustrated by Cat Bowman Smith
from Holiday House
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Everyday Life in History (Location: HISV-EVERY)
$4.80 (1 in stock)
Hedy Lamarr's Double Life
People Who Shaped Our World #4
by Laurie Wallmark, illustrated by Katy Wu
from Union Square Kids
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$6.40 (1 in stock)
Here and There
by Susie Rae, illustrated by Greg Paprocki
from Kane Miller
for 1st-4th grade
in Diversity & Multicultural Books (Location: HISMC-MUL)
$5.20 (1 in stock)
History of Counting
by Denise Schmandt-Besserat, illustrated by Michael Hays
from Morrow Junior Books
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Math Picture Books (Location: MATR-PIC)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Horn for Louis
Stepping Stones
by Eric A. Kimmel
from Penguin Random House
for Kindergarten-2nd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Hot Air
by Marjorie Priceman
from Atheneum
for Preschool-3rd grade
2006 Caldecott Honor Book
in Oversized Picture Books (Location: PIC-OVER)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
Hot Peas & Barley-O - Book & CD
by Susan Brumfield
from Hal Leonard Corp
for 1st-6th grade
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$5.00 (1 in stock)
House on Maple Street
by Bonnie Pryor
Reprint from Mulberry Books
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$3.20 (2 in stock)
How to Make an Apple Pie and See the World
by Marjorie Priceman
from Dragonfly Books
Humor for 1st-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$7.64 $3.20 (1 in stock)
I am Sacagawea
Ordinary People Change the World
by Brad Meltzer, illustrated by Christopher Eliopoulos
from Dial Books for Young Readers
for 1st-3rd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
I Spy a Freight Train: Transportation in Art
by Lucy Micklethwait
from Greenwillow Books
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Art History & Appreciation (Location: ELE-ARTHIS)
$4.80 (1 in stock)
I Survived the Sinking of the Titanic, 1912 - Graphic Novel
by Lauren Tarshis, art by Haus Studio
from Scholastic Inc.
for 3rd-5th grade
in Comic Books & Graphic Novels (Location: FIC-COMIC)
$4.40 (1 in stock)
If the World Were 100 People
by Jackie McCann, illustrated by Aaron Cushley
from Crown Books for Young Readers
for Kindergarten-6th grade
in Diversity & Multicultural Books (Location: HISMC-MUL)
$15.29
If the World Were a Village
by David J. Smith
1st edition from Kids Can Press
for Kindergarten-4th grade
in Diversity & Multicultural Books (Location: HISMC-MUL)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
If You Were Me and Lived In... Australia
A Child's Introduction to Culture around the World Volume 8
by Carole P. Roman
from CreateSpace
for 1st-3rd grade
in Australia & Oceania (Location: HISMC-AU)
$10.99 $7.50 (1 in stock)
If You Were Me and Lived in... China
An Introduction to Civilizations Throughout Time
by Carole P. Roman
from CreateSpace
for 1st-3rd grade
in China (Location: HISMC-CHI)
$9.34
If You Were Me and Lived in... Egypt
A Child's Introduction to Cultures Around the World Volume 17
by Carole P. Roman
for 1st-3rd grade
in Near & Middle East (Location: HISMC-NME)
$9.34
If You Were Me and Lived in... Elizabethan England
An Introduction to Civilizations Throughout Time Volume 3
by Carole P. Roman
from CreateSpace
for 1st-3rd grade
in Great Britain / England (Location: HISMC-BRIT)
$14.99 $8.00 (1 in stock)
If You Were Me and Lived in... Italy
by Carole P. Roman
for 1st-3rd grade
in Europe (Location: HISMC-EUR)
$9.34
If You Were Me and Lived in... Peru
by Carole P. Roman
from CreateSpace
for 1st-3rd grade
in Latin American & Hispanic Culture (Location: HISMC-LAT)
$9.34
If You Were Me and Lived in...Portugal
by Carole P. Roman
from CreateSpace
for 1st-3rd grade
in Europe (Location: HISMC-EUR)
$9.34
Inventor's Secret
by Suzanne Slade; illustrated by Jennifer Black Reinhardt
from Charlesbridge
for 1st-4th grade
in Inventions & Discoveries (Location: SCI-INV)
$15.29
Isaac Newton and the Laws of Motion
by Andrea Gianopoulos
1st edition from Capstone Press
for 1st-4th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$6.76 $4.00 (1 in stock)
Jazz on a Saturday Night
by Leo & Diane Dillon
from Blue Sky press
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$4.80 (1 in stock)
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