History

History CurriculumHistory Resources

As with most things, C.S. Lewis had a unique view of history. For him, the really important bits were the stories—he makes a distinction between actual historical realities and the idealized versions of them handed down which make heroes and villains of mere men and women. It's not that the stories are completely false, but their value is for character-building, not as factual data.

The tales of George Washington's bravery in battle, coolness under pressure, rigorous truthfulness, and unflagging piety may accurately preserve the essence of his temperament and nobility, but not all of them are strictly historical. The point of these stories isn't to impart facts, however, it's to offer an example of goodness for the rest of us to emulate.

Getting the facts right is still important, though. As Christians, we can't afford to have a false understanding of "the old days." Mankind is fallen, and the story of his sojourn on Earth is filled with war, suffering, disease, unfaithfulness, pride and envy; a study of history that omits those elements is both false and useless. False, because it is incomplete, and useless, because it tells us nothing of the human condition or our current situation.

It's a bit of a mystery to us why non-Christians are motivated to study the past. For believers, the end goal isn't just acquisition of facts about events and cultures, it's the instillation of a thoroughly Christian worldview, an understanding of the course of the human endeavour as decreed and guided by God Himself.

The story of Jesus Christ is central. It is the only history story that fulfills the character-building element Lewis looked for, while remaining absolutely true in every detail. Man is fallen and he does struggle against God, but through Christ there is hope of redemption, a chance to connect heaven and earth through the Atonement. Christ is the ultimate example of God's providence.

In the Reformed tradition, God's sovereignty is a very big deal. According to the doctrine of divine decree, God has ordered all things that were, are and will come to be for His own good pleasure and glory. His hand is thus present everywhere, in the privatest private life and the most public and widespread crisis. God is in control, providentially guiding nations, men, and the entire cosmos.

This very doctrine is perhaps what best explains the humanist's interest in history (whether he be atheist, agnostic, pagan). Man's natural bent is to make himself the hero of the story, to show how people can sway the trajectory of all things. God's version is quite different, and the two are naturally in conflict. Resolution may only be found in Christ.

For, while God decrees and guides all things, He has also (paradoxically) decreed man's free will and personal responsibility. Men do change the course of kingdoms, but it is only through God's agency. A proper Christian study of history takes both truths into account, and tells the stories of good guys and bad guys through the light of everything God's Word says about human nature and divine control.

We encourage you to take great comfort and joy in your study of history. Read books, watch movies (carefully noting that a lot of the story is likely to be inaccurate in detail), go on fieldtrips to forts and battlefields and birthplaces. Most of all, talk about these things. The end goal, after all, isn't to know a bunch of trivia, but to understand what God has done and continues to do.

No one knows for sure what the end of history will look like, except that every knee in heaven and on earth will bow to the returned glorious Christ, who comes to judge the living and the dead. What we believe about Him will determine whether that culmination will be filled with joy or loathing (everyone will be terrified). He is the author of history, and its centerpiece; honor Him in your study of it.

Review by C. Hollis Crossman
C. Hollis Crossman used to be a child. Now he's a husband and father who loves church, good food, and 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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Stepping Stone: Totally True Adventures!
by Lori Haskins Houran
from Random House
for 2nd-5th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$4.80 (1 in stock)
120 Great History Projects
by Rachel Halstead & Struan Reid, consultants
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$8.00 (1 in stock)
13 Buildings Children Should Know
by Annette Roeder
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18 Penny Goose
An I Can Read Book Level 3
by Sally M. Walker
from HarperCollins
Realistic fiction for 2nd-4th grade
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$4.24
5,000-Year-Old Puzzle
by Claudia Logan, illustrated by Melissa Sweet
1st edition from Farrar, Straus and Giroux
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$21.99
500 Facts: American History for Kids
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$8.00 (1 in stock)
7 Continents: Africa
by Jo Ellen Moore
from Evan-Moor Educational Publishers
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7 Continents: Asia
by Jo Ellen Moore
from Evan-Moor Educational Publishers
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$21.99
A is for Abigail
by Lynne Cheney
1st edition from Simon and Schuster
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in Biography Anthologies (Location: BIO-ANTH)
$16.99
A Weed Is a Flower
by Aliki
Reprint from Aladdin Paperbacks
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$6.79
ABC Book of Early Americana
by Eric Sloane
2012 Dover from Dover Publications
for Kindergarten-4th grade
in Pioneer & Frontier Life (Location: HISA-19PIO)
$10.95
Abe Lincoln Gets His Chance
by Frances Cavanah
from Rand McNally
Biography for 3rd-6th grade
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$4.00 (1 in stock)
Abe's Honest Words
by Doreen Rappaport, illustrated by Kadir Nelson
from Disney-Hyperion
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
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$3.60 (1 in stock)
Abigail Adams Package (FACE)
by Rosalie J. Slater, Evelyn Witter
from Foundation for American Christian Education
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$19.20 (1 in stock)
Above the Trenches
by Nathan Hale
from Amulet Books
for 2nd-6th grade
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$13.59
Abraham Lincoln
by Edgar & Ingri D'Aulaire
75th Anniversary Edition from Beautiful Feet Books
Picture Book Biography for 3rd-6th grade
1940 Caldecott Medal winner
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$15.26
Abraham Lincoln (hardcover)
by Ingri and Edgar Parin d'Aulaire; edited by Rea Berg
75th Anniversary from Beautiful Feet Books
Biography for 1st-6th grade
1940 Caldecott Medal winner
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$18.66
Abraham Lincoln - Coloring Book
Dover Coloring Books
by A. G. Smith
from Dover Publications
for 2nd-6th grade
in History of America Coloring Books (Location: COL-HISA)
$5.09
Abraham Lincoln: A Man for All the People
by Myra Cohn Livingston, illustrated by Samuel Byrd
from Holiday House
for Kindergarten-5th grade
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$5.60 (1 in stock)
Acadia National Park
Road Trip: National Parks
by Kathleen Connors
from Gareth Stevens Publishing
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$3.00 (1 in stock)
Across America, I Love You
by Christine Loomis, illustrated by Kate Kiesler
from Hyperion Press
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$7.99 (1 in stock)
Adam of the Road
Puffin Modern Classics
by Elizabeth Gray
from Puffin Books
Historical Fiction for 3rd-8th grade
1943 Newbery Medal winner
in Puffin Classics (Location: FIC-PUF)
$8.49
Adoniram Judson
by Sharon Hambrick
from Bob Jones University Press
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$4.80 (1 in stock)
Adventures of King Arthur - Coloring Book
by Arkady Roytman
from Dover Publications
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$3.39
Adventures of Munford: Munford Meets Robert Fulton
by Jamie Aramini
Fir from Geography Matters
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$5.00 (1 in stock)
Adventures of Munford: The American Revolution
by Jamie Aramini
1st edition from Geography Matters
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$5.00 (1 in stock)
Adventures of Richard Wagner
by Opal Wheeler
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$12.71
Adventures with the Santa Fe Trail
by Dave Webb, illustrated by Phillip R. Buntin
Revised from Kansas Heritage Center
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$5.00 (1 in stock)
Aesop's Fables
Puffin Classics
by Aesop
Reprint from Puffin Books
Myths, Fairy Tales & Folklore for Kindergarten-4th grade
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$6.79
Africa Is My Home
by Monica Edinger, illustrated by Robert Byrd
from Scholastic Inc.
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$2.80 (1 in stock)
Africa Is Not A Country
by Margy Burns Knight
unknown from Millbrook Press
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$6.50 (1 in stock)
Africa Is Not a Country
by Margy Burns Knight
2nd edition from Millbrook Press
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$10.99
African Plains - Coloring Book
Dover Coloring Books
by Diane Gaspas-Ettl
from Dover Publications
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$5.09
Ahoy There, Little Polar Bear
by Hans de Beer
Fir from Scholastic Inc.
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$3.00 (1 in stock)
AIO Imagination Station Book #01
by Marianne Hering & Paul McCusker
from Focus on the Family
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$6.79
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by Marianne Hering & Paul McCusker
from Focus on the Family
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$6.79
AIO Imagination Station Book #03
by Marianne Hering & Paul McCusker
from Focus on the Family
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$6.79
AIO Imagination Station Book #04
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 #05
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$6.79
AIO Imagination Station Book #06
by Marianne Hering & Marshal Younger
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$6.79
AIO Imagination Station Book #07
by Marianne Hering & Marshal Younger
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$6.79
AIO Imagination Station Book #09
by Marianne Hering, Marshal Younger
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$5.09
AIO Imagination Station Book #10
by Marianne Hering, Wayne Thomas Batson
from Focus on the Family
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$6.79
AIO Imagination Station Book #11
by Marianne Hering, Wayne Thomas Batson
from Focus on the Family
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$6.79
AIO Imagination Station Book #12
by Marianne Hering, Nancy I. Sanders
from Focus on the Family
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in Imagination Station (Location: SER-AIO)
$6.79
AIO Imagination Station Book #13
by Marianne Hering, Nancy I. Sanders
from Focus on the Family
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in Imagination Station (Location: SER-AIO)
$6.79 $3.20 (1 in stock)
AIO Imagination Station Book #14
by Marianne Hering, Nancy I. Sanders
from Focus on the Family
for 1st-3rd grade
in Imagination Station (Location: SER-AIO)
$6.79
AIO Imagination Station Book #15
by Marianne Hering, Nancy I. Sanders
from Focus on the Family
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in Imagination Station (Location: SER-AIO)
$5.09 $2.80 (1 in stock)
AIO Imagination Station Book #16
by Marianne Hering, Paul McCusker
from Focus on the Family
for 1st-3rd grade
in Imagination Station (Location: SER-AIO)
$5.09 $2.80 (1 in stock)
AIO Imagination Station Book #19
by Marianne Hering
from Focus on the Family
for 1st-3rd grade
in Imagination Station (Location: SER-AIO)
$5.09
AIO Imagination Station Book #20
by Marianne Hering
from Focus on the Family
for 1st-3rd grade
in Imagination Station (Location: SER-AIO)
$5.09
AIO Imagination Station Book #21
by Marianne Hering
from Focus on the Family
for 1st-3rd grade
in Imagination Station (Location: SER-AIO)
$5.09
AIO Imagination Station Book #22
by Marianne Hering & Sheila Seifert
from Focus on the Family
for 1st-3rd grade
in Imagination Station (Location: SER-AIO)
$5.09
AIO Imagination Station Book #23
by Marianne Hering & Sheila Seifert
from Focus on the Family
for 1st-3rd grade
in Imagination Station (Location: SER-AIO)
$5.09
AIO Imagination Station Book #24
by Marianne Hering & Sheila Seifert
from Focus on the Family
for 1st-3rd grade
in Imagination Station (Location: SER-AIO)
$5.09
AIO Imagination Station Book #27
by Marianne Hering & Sheila Seifert
from Focus on the Family
for 1st-3rd grade
in Imagination Station (Location: SER-AIO)
$6.79
Airplanes of the Second World War - Coloring Book
Dover Coloring Books
by Carlo Demand
from Dover Publications
for 2nd-6th grade
in Transportation Coloring Books (Location: COL-TRANS)
$5.09
Airplanes of World War I - Coloring Book
by Carlo Demand
from Dover Publications
for 2nd-6th grade
in Transportation Coloring Books (Location: COL-TRANS)
$5.09
Akavak
by James Houston
from Harcourt, Brace & World
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$9.60 (1 in stock)
Akimbo of Africa
by Alexander McCall Smith
from Notgrass Company
for 2nd-4th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$5.91
Aladdin and Other Tales from the Arabian Nights
Puffin Classics
by N.J. Dawood, illustrated by William Harvey
from Puffin Books
Fairy Tales for 2nd-6th grade
$6.79
Alamo All Stars
Nathan Hale's Hazardous Tales #6
by Nathan Hale
from Amulet Books
for 3rd-8th grade
in Comic Books & Graphic Novels (Location: FIC-COMIC)
$13.59 $8.95 (1 in stock)
Alaska Bush Pilot
by Charles Coombs
from Purple House Press
for 3rd-6th grade
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$11.04
Alaskan Wildlife - Coloring Book
Dover Coloring Books
by Jan Sovak
from Dover Publications
for 2nd-6th grade
in Animal Habitat Coloring Books (Location: COL-HAB)
$3.39
Alexander Hamilton - Coloring Book
by Steven James Petruccio
Clr Csm from Dover Publications
for 2nd-Adult
in History of America Coloring Books (Location: COL-HISA)
$5.09
Alexander Hamilton: The Outsider
by Jean Fritz; illustrated by Ian Schoenherr
from Puffin Books
for 3rd-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Alexander the Great
by Andrew Langley
Reissue from Oxford University
for Preschool-3rd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$5.94
Alexi's Secret Mission
by Anita Deyneka
from School of Tomorrow
for 1st-4th grade
in Clearance: Fiction (Location: ZCLE-FIC)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Alice Waters Cooks Up a Food Revolution
by Diane Stanley
from Simon and Schuster
for 2nd-4th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$16.14
All Aboard!
by Monica Kulling; illustrated by Bill Slavin
from Tundra Books (NY)
for Kindergarten-4th grade
in Inventions & Discoveries (Location: SCI-INV)
$8.99
All About Famous Inventors and Their Inventions
All About Books #18
by Fletcher Pratt
from Random House
for 3rd-6th grade
in All About Books (Location: VIN-ALL)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
All About Niagara Falls
by Linda Granfield
from Morrow Junior Books
for 3rd-6th grade
in International Landmarks & Symbols (Location: HISV-LANINT)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
All About Rockets and Space Flight
All About Books #50
by Harold Goodwin
from Random House
for 3rd-8th grade
in All About Books (Location: VIN-ALL)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
All About Undersea Exploration
All About Books #35
by Ruth Brindze, illustrated with more than 60 photographs
from Random House
for 3rd-6th grade
in All About Books (Location: VIN-ALL)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
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)
All-of-a-Kind Family
by Sydney Taylor, illustrated by Helen John
from Yearling
Family Stories for 2nd-6th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$6.79 $2.80 (1 in stock)
All-of-a-Kind Family Downtown
All-of-a-Kind Family Series #2
by Sydney Taylor, illustrated by Beth & Joe Krush
from Lizzie Skurnick Books
Family Stories for 2nd-6th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$11.01
All-of-a-Kind Family Uptown
All-of-a-Kind Family Series #4
by Sydney Taylor, illustrated by Mary Stevens
from Lizzie Skurnick Books
Family Stories for 2nd-6th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$11.01
Almost Home
Daughters of the Faith
by Wendy G. Lawton
from Moody Press
Historical Fiction for 3rd-6th grade
in Daughters of the Faith (Location: SER-DAU)
$7.64 $4.00 (3 in stock)
Alvin Ailey
by Andrea Davis Pinkney; illustrated by Brian Pinkney
from Hyperion Books for Children
for Preschool-3rd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$3.60 (1 in stock)
Always Inventing
by Tom L. Matthews
from National Geographic
for 3rd-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$7.64
Always Room for One More
by Sorche Nic Leodhas
from Henry Holt and Company
for Preschool-3rd grade
1966 Caldecott Medal winner
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$9.34
Amazing Impossible Erie Canal
by Cheryl Harness
from Aladdin Paperbacks
Historical Non-Fiction for 3rd-6th grade
in Western Expansion (1800-1898) (Location: HISA-19WES)
$7.99
Amazing Life of Benjamin Franklin
by James Cross Giblin
from Scholastic Inc.
for 1st-4th grade
2001 NCTE Orbis Pictus Honor Book
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$6.79 $3.60 (1 in stock)
Amazing Pop-Up Pull-Out Space Shuttle
by David Hawcock
from DK Publishing
for 1st-4th grade
in Space Race & Exploration (Location: HISA-20SPR)
$15.00 (1 in stock)
Amazing World Atlas
by Alexa Ward
from Lonely Planet
for 2nd-5th grade
in Oversized Geography (Location: GEO-OVER)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
Amazon River
by Sangma Francis and Romolo D'Hipolito
from Flying Eye Books
for 3rd-6th grade
in South America (Location: HISMC-LAT)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
Amelia Earhart: Young Aviator
Childhood of Famous Americans
by Beatrice Gormley
from Aladdin Paperbacks
Biography for 3rd-6th grade
in Childhood of Famous Americans (Location: BIO-COFA)
$6.79
Amelia to Zora
1st edition from Charlesbridge
for 3rd-5th grade
in Biography Anthologies (Location: BIO-ANTH)
$6.76
America At War: Korean War
by John Perritano
from Scholastic Inc.
for 3rd-6th grade
in Korean War (1950-1953) (Location: HISA-20KW)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
America In Korean War
by KidCaps
from BookCaps
for 3rd-5th grade
in Korean War (1950-1953) (Location: HISA-20KW)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
America in the Time of Abraham Lincoln
by Sally Senzell Isaacs
from Heinemann Library
for 1st-4th grade
in American Civil War Era (1850-1865) (Location: HISA-19CW)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
America in the Time of Lewis and Clark
by Sally Senzel Isaacs
from Heinemann-Raintree
for 2nd-5th grade
in 19th Century America (Location: HISA-19C)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
America's First Ladies - Coloring Book
Dover Coloring Books
by Leslie Franz
Revised Edition from Dover Publications
for 2nd-6th grade
in History of America Coloring Books (Location: COL-HISA)
$5.09
America's Paul Revere
by Esther Forbes
from Sandpiper Books
Biography for 2nd-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$11.04
America's Story 1
by Angela O'Dell
1st edition from Master Books
for 2nd-4th grade
in Master Books History (Location: HISCUR-MB)
$34.39 $28.00 (1 in stock)
America's Story 1 - Teacher Guide
by Angela O'Dell
from Master Books
for 2nd-4th grade
in Master Books History (Location: HISCUR-MB)
$26.39
America's Story 2
by Angela O'Dell
from Master Books
for 3rd-5th grade
in Master Books History (Location: HISCUR-MB)
$34.39 $28.00 (1 in stock)
America's Story 2 - Teacher Guide
by Angela O'Dell
from Master Books
for 3rd-5th grade
in Master Books History (Location: HISCUR-MB)
$26.39 $20.00 (1 in stock)
America's Struggle to Become a Nation
by Rick & Marilyn Boyer
from Master Books
for 3rd-5th grade
in Master Books History (Location: HISCUR-MB)
$24.50 (2 in stock)
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