A Knight of the White Cross by G.A.Henty from Jim Hodges Productions {Schoolhouse Crew Review}

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Jim Hodges Productions Review

We all enjoy a good living history book here.  A tale almost always full of adventure and definitely rich in historic details, what’s not to love?  It’s no secret that we love audio books.  So, obviously, our favorite audio books are living history books.  Those authored by G. A. Henty are at the top of our list.  Jim Hodges Productions offers wonderful family friendly audiobooks, many of them Henty titles.  You can listen to a recording by Jim Hodges on the benefits of Henty books in many subject areas.  We chose to review A Knight of the White Cross: A Tale of the Siege of Rhodes (mp3 CD $25 or mp3 download $18).  We also received and used a coordinating study guide download ($12 pdf).   

Jim Hodges Productions Review

Living history books are my favorite way to include all ages in our history studies.  They usually follow a fictional character that interacts with historical figures and events or, follow a historical figure in a storyline outside of known history.  Living history books are great to explore history in-depth and outside of boring text.  The books are excellent examples of strong grammar and vocabulary.  Because most living history books were written long ago, the characters exhibit great character (or are learning how to) – yet another facet of the story to learn from.  From our youngest to our oldest (and even mom & dad), we are drawn into the story and the history.  

New to living history?  An audiobook of a Henty title is a great introduction.  Adventure. Character. History. A read-aloud read by someone else – in my world that is a wonderful thing!  We often do “listening lunches” and listen to a segment or chapter during lunch.  We have to set a timer to stop, because we want to keep going.  Audiobooks are also great for roadtrips, mama’s migraine days, or sick days.  You can choose titles to correspond with your current history studies or anything that sounds interesting.  We selected A Knight of the White Cross simply because it sounded fun.

A Knight of the White Cross: A Tale of the Siege of Rhodes is set in the mid-1400s, during the War of the Roses.  The young man we follow throughout the story, Gervaise Tresham, leaves England and joins the Order of the Knights of St. John.  He quickly attains knighthood and is made a Knight of the White Cross for his bravery.  Many skirmishes with the pirates in the Mediterranean make this a book full of action.  Our young knight is even captured and sold into slavery, but of course escapes.  Throughout the 23 chapters (nearly 13 hours of listening) we experience much follow our young knight – including winning the hand of his wife (very mild, sweet bit of romance). 

You can check out Chapter 15 to listen to as a sample.  All of the selections reviewed by the Schoolhouse Review Crew are recommended for ages 10 and up.  With the battle action involved, it may not be appropriate for some younger listeners.  We are not opposed to this for our family, so we all listened together.  The reading level of the Henty books is especially appealing to middle schoolers.  The study guide can be used as a family, though for independent work, that ages 10 and up applies here as well. 

CHAPTER
TIME
1:
 The King-Maker 36:25
2:
 The Battle of Tewekesbury 33:34
3:
 The Grand Master’s Page 32:44
4:
 A Professed Knight 32:53
5:
 Scourges of the Sea 30:37
6:
 Knighted 31:32
7:
 A First Command 33:25
8:
 An Evening of Rhodes 32:59
9:
 With the Galley-Slaves 31:19
10:
 A Plot Discovered 30:12
11:
 In Command of a Galley 31:07
12:
 The Boy-Galley 29:31
13:
 The First Prizes 39:46
14:
 The Corsair Fleet 30:55
15:
 A Splendid Exploit 27:43
16:
 Festivities 37:47
17:
 Captured 36:53
18:
 A Kind Master 40:51
19:
 Escape 34:15
20:
 Beleaguered 32:26
21: The Fort of St. Nicholas 32:19
22:
 The Struggle at the Breach 43:35
23: The Reward of Valor 26:00
Total Time: 12 Hours, 49 Minutes

Even though this was a “just for fun” listen, we made use of the coordinating study guide.  We did much of it orally while sitting around the table after lunch.  As a game (well, the younger ones bought it), I printed out the page with the vocabulary so that they could “listen for their words”.  The older girls would write their understanding of the definition of the word as used.  The younger ones checked off when they heard their word.  We also listened while on the road (easy to import the CD and add to my iPad).  With the pdf of the study guide loaded on the iPad, I or an older sister could read the questions (5 per chapter) and we discussed them.  The questions ranged from comprehension questions – especially when things were said differently than we would say them today – to thought provoking questions on someone’s character or actions to “who am I?” questions.  There were also activities (3 to choose from each chapter) involving map work and art.  All in all this is a well rounded study guide bringing in more than just the typical language arts questions.  It would work well in a group or individually.  

The study guide for A Knight of the White Cross is divided by chapter just like the audio files, making it easy to work through as you listen.  There are also 4 quizzes and answers for both the chapter questions and the quizzes.  Each chapter also includes a vocabulary section with lines for writing out the definitions.  There could be more room for writing or you could write them in a separate “word notebook”.  The words are great examples of the vocabulary found in these great older books.  They are listed in the order in which they are heard throughout the chapter – working well for my “game” for my younger listeners.  The study guide makes a great addition to the story.

We reviewed many of these great Henty titles from Jim Hodges Productions.  Be sure to read the reviews and decide which one(s) to add to your own listening library.

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Thank you Jim Hodges Productions!

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