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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 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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Acadia National Park
Road Trip: National Parks
by Kathleen Connors
from Gareth Stevens Publishing
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$3.00 (1 in stock)
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by James Houston
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$12.00 (1 in stock)
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by Natalie M. Rosinsky
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$4.00 (1 in stock)
Amelia Earhart
Lives to Remember
by Burke Davis
from G.P. Putnam's Sons
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$14.00 (1 in stock)
American Revolution
Revolution!
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Among the Plains Indians
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$6.00 (1 in stock)
Ancient Greeks
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$4.00 (1 in stock)
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People of the Ancient World
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$7.00 (1 in stock)
Art of the Spanish in the United States and Puerto Rico
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$5.00 (1 in stock)
Art of the Woodland Indians
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$5.00 (1 in stock)
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Assyrians
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$6.00 (1 in stock)
Athenians In the Classical Period
Life Long Ago
by Leonard Weisgard (pictures and text)
from Coward McCann
for 2nd-5th grade
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$48.00 (1 in stock)
Battle of Valcour Bay
Triangle Histories: The Revolutionary War
by Scott Ingram
from Blackbirch Press
for 3rd-6th grade
in American Revolution (1765-1783) (Location: HISA-18REV)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Bears, Pirates and Silver Lace
by Anne B. Fisher; illustrated by Phil Nesbitt
from Binford & Mort Publishing
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$7.00 (1 in stock)
Ben Franklin
See and Read: Beginning to Read Biography
by Estelle Friedman, illustrated by James Caraway
from G.P. Putnam's Sons
for 1st-3rd grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Benjamin Franklin
Makers of America
by Ruth Cromer Weir, illustrated by Rus Anderson
from Abingdon Press
for 2nd-4th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Benjamin Franklin: Printer, Scientist, Author, and Diplomat
Spirit of America: Our People
by Ann Heinrichs
from Child's World
for 3rd-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Beorn the Proud
by Madeleine Polland, Illustrated by William Stobbs
from Holt, Rinehart and Winston
Historical Fiction for 5th-8th grade
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$12.00 (1 in stock)
Big Wave
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$8.00 (1 in stock)
Biography of Tea
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$8.00 (1 in stock)
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from Macrae-Smith Company
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$10.00 (1 in stock)
Black Hawk, Sac Rebel
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$6.00 (1 in stock)
Blowing-Wand
Land of the Free Series
by Elsie Reif Ziegler, illustrated by Jacob Landau
from John C. Winston
Historical fiction for 6th-10th grade
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$18.00 (1 in stock)
Bound for America
Great Journeys
by Milton Meltzer
from Benchmark Books
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$4.50 (1 in stock)
California Plant & Animal Communities
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from California State Department of Education
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$8.00 (1 in stock)
Castles
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$4.00 (1 in stock)
Cave Man to Space Man
by Margaret Friskey, illustrated by Mary Gehr
from Children's Press
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$38.00 (1 in stock)
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by John Michael
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$6.00 (1 in stock)
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by Joan. Anderson
from Clarion Books
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$8.00 (2 in stock)
Christopher Columbus and His Legacy
Opposing Viewpoints Series
by Mary Ellen Jones, Editor
from Greenhaven Press
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$7.00 (1 in stock)
Christopher Columbus and the Discovery of the New World
by Jim Gallagher
from Chelsea House Publishing
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$5.00 (1 in stock)
City! San Francisco
by George Ancona, Shirley Climo
from Simon and Schuster
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$2.00 (1 in stock)
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American War Series
by Zachary Kent
from Enslow
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in American Civil War (1860-1865) (Location: HISA-19CW)
$3.50 (1 in stock)
Claim to the Wilderness
by Peter John Stephens
First Edition, First Printing from W. W. Norton and Co.
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Clara Barton: Civil War Nurse
Historical American Biographies
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$4.00 (1 in stock)
Cleopatra
by Diane Stanley & Peter Vennema
from HarperCollins
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in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Cliff Dwellers of Walnut Canyon
by Carroll Lane Fenton and Alice Epstein, illustrated by Albert Orbaan and Carroll Lane Fenton
from The John Day Company
for 1st-3rd grade
in Vintage Nonfiction (Location: VIN-NFIC)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Closer Look at Vikings
from Hamish Hamilton
for 3rd-6th grade
in Middle Ages (Location: HISW-MID)
$7.50 (1 in stock)
Colonial People: The Silversmith
by Wil Mara
from Marshall Cavendish Education
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in Colonial America (1690-1765) (Location: HISA-17COL)
$7.00 (1 in stock)
Colonial Places
by Sarah Howarth
from Millbrook Press
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in Colonial America (1690-1765) (Location: HISA-17COL)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Confederate Girl: The Diary of Carrie Berry, 1864
by Carrie Berry; edited by Christy Steele and Anne Todd
from Capstone Press
for 3rd-6th grade
in American Civil War (1860-1865) (Location: HISA-19CW)
$5.00 (2 in stock)
Constitution
American Symbols and their Meanings
by Hal Marcovitz
from Mason Crest Publishers
for 5th-9th grade
in New Nation (1783-1800) (Location: HISA-18NN)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Countries of the World: Sweden
by Janet Riehecky
from Bridgestone Books
for 2nd-4th grade
in Diversity & Multicultural Books (Location: HISMC-MUL)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Country Boy
by Homer Davenport
from M. A. Donohue & Company
for 7th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$18.00 (1 in stock)
Cowboy Soldier
by Donald Russell, illustrated by Max Ranft
from Benefic Press
for 3rd-4th grade
in Vintage Readers & Textbooks (Location: VIN-READ)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
Crazy Horse: The Story of an American Indian
by John R. Milton
Second Printing 1975 from Dillon Press
for 3rd-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
Cuba
Countries of the World
by William P. Mara
from Bridgestone Books
for 1st-3rd grade
in Latin & South America (Location: HISMC-LAT)
$2.00 (1 in stock)
Dakota Dugout
by Ann Turner; illustrated by Ronald Himler
from Macmillan
for 2nd-4th grade
in Pioneer & Frontier Life (Location: HISA-19PIO)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Dark Venture
by Audrey White Beyer, illustrated by Leo & Diane Dillon
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
for 7th-12th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$14.00 (1 in stock)
Dear Levi
by Elvira Woodruff
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
for 4th-6th grade
in Oregon Trail (Location: HISA-19OR)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Discoverer: The Story of a Satellite
by Michael Chester and Saunders B. Kramer
from G.P. Putnam's Sons
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Science & Math (Location: VIN-SCI)
$18.00 (1 in stock)
Drinking Gourd
An I Can Read Book Level 3
by F. N. Monjo
from HarperCrest
Historical Fiction for 2nd-4th grade
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$4.00 (1 in stock)
Early American Industrial Revolution
Let Freedom Ring
by Katie Bagley
from Bridgestone Books
for 3rd-5th grade
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$5.00 (1 in stock)
Earthquake!
by Kate Wilson
from Steck-Vaughn Company
for 3rd-5th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Edgar Degas
Artists Through the Ages
by Alix Wood
from Windmill Books
for 2nd-5th grade
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$6.00 (1 in stock)
Egyptian Pyramid
Inside Story
by Jacqueline Morley, Mark Bergin, John James
from Peter Bedrick Books
for 4th-6th grade
in Ancient Egypt (Location: HISW-ANEG)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Eliza Pinckney
Weekly Reader Heroes of the Revolution
by Susan & John Lee
from Children's Press
for 2nd-6th grade
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$3.50 (1 in stock)
Empire State Building
by Meish Goldish
from Bearport Publishing
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$8.00 (1 in stock)
Enchantment of America: New England Country
by Dorothy Wood, illustrated by Tom Dunnington
Second Printing from Children's Press
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Readers & Textbooks (Location: VIN-READ)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
Explorers of the Arctic and Antarctic
by Edward F. Dolan
from Crowell-Collier
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$5.00 (1 in stock)
Fall of Constantinople
by Ruth Tenzer Feldman
from Twenty-first Century Books
for 4th-7th grade
in Middle Ages (Location: HISW-MID)
$20.00 (1 in stock)
Fast Forward Egyptian Mummies
by Henrietta McCall, illustrated by Dave Antram
from Franklin Watts
for 3rd-6th grade
in Ancient Egypt (Location: HISW-ANEG)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Ferdinand Magellan
by Milton Meltzer
from Benchmark Books
for 4th-6th grade
in Age of Exploration (1450-1700) (Location: HISA-16EXP)
$6.50 (1 in stock)
Ferdinand Magellan and the Discovery of the World Ocean
by Rebecca Stefoff
from Chelsea House Publishing
for 4th-6th grade
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$3.00 (1 in stock)
Ferdinand Magellan and the First Voyage Around the World
by Jim Gallagher
from Chelsea House Publishing
for 4th-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$3.00 (2 in stock)
Festivals of the World: Trinidad
by Royston Ellis, edited by Fiona Conboy
from Gareth Stevens Publishing
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in Latin & South America (Location: HISMC-LAT)
$3.50 (1 in stock)
First Book of Ancient Rome
by Charles Alexander Robinson, Jr., Revised by Lorna Greenberg
Revised Edition from Franklin Watts
for 3rd-6th grade
in Ancient Rome (Location: HISW-ANRO)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
First Olympic Games
from Silver Burdett Press
for 3rd-6th grade
in Ancient Greece (Location: HISW-ANGR)
$3.50 (1 in stock)
Follow the Dream
by Peter Sís
from Dragonfly Books
for Kindergarten-2nd grade
in Age of Exploration (1450-1700) (Location: HISA-16EXP)
$7.50 (1 in stock)
Forts in the Wilderness
by Edith S. McCall
from Children's Press
for 4th-6th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Francisco Coronado and the Exploration of the American Southwest
Explorers of New Worlds
by Hal Marcovitz
from Chelsea House Publishing
for 4th-6th grade
in Age of Exploration (1450-1700) (Location: HISA-16EXP)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Francisco Vasquez de Coronado
Latinos in American History
by Jim Whiting
from Mitchell Lane Publishers
for 3rd-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Freedom's Fruit
by William H. Hooks
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$6.50 (1 in stock)
From Sea to Shining Sea: Americans Move West 1846-1860
How America Became America
by Jack Rakove, Sheila Nelson
from Mason Crest Publishers
for 4th-7th grade
in Western Expansion (1800-1898) (Location: HISA-19WES)
$7.00 (1 in stock)
Future in Space
Isaac Asimov's Library of the Universe
by Isaac Asimov
from Gareth Stevens Publishing
for 3rd-6th grade
in Space Race & Exploration (Location: HISA-20SPR)
$2.00 (1 in stock)
Gasoline Buggy of the Duryea Brothers
by Robert B. Jackson
from Henry Z. Walck, Inc.
for 4th-8th grade
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$7.00 (1 in stock)
George Washington Carver
by Carol Greene
from Children's Press
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
George Washington: Man and Monument
by Frank Freidel and Lonnelle Aikman
from Washington National Monument Assoc.
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$6.00 (1 in stock)
Geronimo: Apache Freedom Fighter
Native American Biographies
by Spring Hermann
from Enslow
for 4th-8th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Giotto
Getting to Know the World's Greatest Artists
by Mike Venezia
from Children's Press
for 4th-6th grade
in Artists & Illustrators (Location: ELE-ARTISTS)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Glorious Days, Dreadful Days
Stories of America
by Philippa Kirby
from Steck-Vaughn Company
for 4th-6th grade
in American Revolution (1765-1783) (Location: HISA-18REV)
$5.50 (1 in stock)
Going to War in the 19th Century
Armies of the Past
by Craig Dodd
from Franklin Watts
for 3rd-6th grade
in Military & Weapon History (Location: HISV-MILIT)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Golden Coyote
by Eileen Thompson, illustrated by Richard Cuffari
from Simon and Schuster
for 5th-8th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
Good Women of a Well-Blessed Land
by Brandon Marie Miller
from Lerner Publishing Group
for 5th-8th grade
in Colonial America (1690-1765) (Location: HISA-17COL)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Grand Papa and Ellen Aroon
by F. N. Monjo, illustrated by Richard Cuffari
1st edition from Holt, Rinehart and Winston
for 3rd-7th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
by Santana Hunt
from Gareth Stevens Publishing
for 1st-3rd grade
in Landmarks & Symbols of the United States (Location: HISV-LANUS)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Hans Brinker
Windermere Readers #7
by Mary Mapes Dodge, illustrated by Milo Winter
1954 Edition, 2nd printing from Rand McNally
for 4th-9th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$10.00 (2 in stock)
Harriet Tubman
Triangle Histories: The Civil War
by Lisa Halvorsen
from Blackbirch Press
for 4th-8th grade
in Clearance: Biographies (Location: ZCLE-BIO)
$2.00 (1 in stock)
Henry Hudson
Library of Explorers and Exploration
by Josepha Sherman
from Rosen Central
for 4th-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Her Story, Her Words
by Frances E. Ruffin
from Rosen Central
for 2nd-4th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Hernando de Soto and the Exploration of Florida
by Jim Gallagher
from Chelsea House Publishing
for 4th-6th grade
in Age of Exploration (1450-1700) (Location: HISA-16EXP)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
History Beneath Your Feet: Ancient Rome
by Sean Sheehan
from Raintree Steck-Vaughn Publishing
for 3rd-6th grade
in Ancient Rome (Location: HISW-ANRO)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
History of the World: Early Middle Ages
from Heinemann Educational Books
for 7th-9th grade
in Oversized History Books (Location: HISW-OVER)
$8.50 (1 in stock)
History of the World: Late Middle Ages
by Monica Dombrosio, Roberto Barbieri
from Steck-Vaughn Company
for 7th-9th grade
in Oversized History Books (Location: HISW-OVER)
$8.50 (1 in stock)
Homes: Shelter and Living Space
by Joanna Foster, illustrated by Kathleen Heiden
from Parents Magazine Press
for 2nd-5th grade
in Vintage Nonfiction (Location: VIN-NFIC)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Horse in Art
by Ruth Zuelke
from Lerner Publishing Group
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Nonfiction (Location: VIN-NFIC)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Houses of Parliament
by Nigel Smith
from Steck-Vaughn Company
for 3rd-6th grade
in International Landmarks & Symbols (Location: HISV-LANINT)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
How and Why Wonder Book of the Polar Regions
by Irving Robbin, illustrated by Shannon Stirnweis
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 3rd-6th grade
in How and Why Wonder Books (Location: VIN-H&W)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
How Men Discovered the World
by Hans R. Hecke, illustrated by Nikolaus Plump, freely translated by Moya Gillespie
from Lerner Publishing Group
for 3rd-6th grade
in Age of Exploration (1450-1700) (Location: HISA-16EXP)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
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