Reading aloud historical fiction is the easiest (and most enjoyable) way to explore history. Are they your family’s too? One of my favorite resources for Christian historical fiction is YWAM Publishing. Our most recent exploration took us on a journey with the Corps of Discovery. Meriwether Lewis – Off the Edge of the Map by Janet & Geoff Benge is part of the Heroes of History series. This series gives us not only a look at great people from history but also a real look at life in their time period. Add in the Study Guide and you have history, fun and easy.
We may not be quite to the era of American history that covers the Louisiana Purchase and the Corps of Discovery, but that didn’t hold us back. We sometimes use the audiobook version of our YWAM reads, but I read Meriwether Lewis aloud myself. Two days a week I read 2-3 (or 4) chapters. On our third history day, we utilized the study guide. We orally went through the comprehension questions and used our favorite visual tools for history – maps and timelines. Included in the study guide are both. The timeline has 21 events from the life of Meriwether Lewis to place on the timeline, from his life to his death and important events in between.
The first chapter throws us into the middle of the journey before bringing us back to Meriwether’s childhood for the second chapter. We see how level-headed, brave, and adventurous he has been since youth. We follow him from Virginia to Georgia and back to Virginia again. After some time spent in the army, Meriwether takes a position as a private secretary to current president (and long-time family friend and neighbor), Thomas Jefferson. It is this position that puts him on the path to lead the Corps of Discovery – the biggest adventure of Meriwether’s life.
It was interesting to see all the preparations that went into getting things ready for the expedition. The timing of the Lousiana Purchase and events in Europe were interesting to see. Even during this time, the events of the world were interconnected more than we realized. When Thomas Jefferson settled on Meriwether Lewis to lead the exploration, the things he needed to learn to prepare were interesting, too. It would be fun to put together a course for learning the same skills – from astronomy to botany to navigation to mapmaking.
Each person Meriwether worked with for his crash course on needed skills dropped more historical figures onto our radar. From Dr. Andrew Ellicott to Dr. Benjamin Barton to Dr. Benjamin Rush we have more people to research and learn about. I’ll save them for when we actually reach the time period (in the near future). YWAM Publishing just happens to have a new title in the Heroes of History series coming out later this month – Benjamin Rush. We’ll be adding this as soon as it is available. Dr. Rush was not only a medical doctor, but a signer of the Declaration of Independence as well. I’m sure we’ll find him a fascinating figure of history.
The historical fiction series’ written by Janet & Geoff Benge, along with the study guides, are an easy way to make history more fun, exciting, and memorable. Check out all the titles the Crew reviewed this time around by clicking the image below. Which one do you want to read next?
