We are a book-loving family. From Mama and Daddy to the youngest learner, we all have a love of books. I have a special weakness for children’s picture books. Obviously, the illustrations catch our eye first, but it is the great story that keeps us coming back again and again. And not just to that book, but more from the same author. That has been the case with Carole P. Roman. These books, anything written by Carole, you will want on your shelves. They are stories to treasure, to re-read and to keep.
If You Were Me and Lived in . . . Renaissance Italy is a title I have wanted since first learning that Mrs. Roman was writing a new take on her “If You Were Me and Lived in . . . ” world culture series. From the beginning, If You Were Me and Lived in . . . Renaissance Italy has similarities to the cultural series. The story is spoken to the reader, putting you into the action of the story. My younger children especially love this. As we read through, they remembered things we had covered in our history studies last year. The last pages feature famous people from the Italian Renaissance as well as a glossary.
If You Were Me and Lived in . . . Elizabethan England is the other book we selected. Yes, we like history. Having recently learned about this time period, this title was another fun one as a review (that is a pun, review here in this post as well review our history studies *grin*). The dress and daily life are shown well in the illustrations, but it is Mrs. Roman’s words that bring it all to life. Even the pages of the book feel rich. Featured famous people include Elizabeth and Shakespeare as expected as well as a couple of others we were familiar with from our studies. We also had two new names to look up. This let me include even our older children as we researched a bit more on these two historical figures.
Oh Susannah: It’s in the Bag and the follow up, Oh Susannah: Things That Go Bump are Mrs. Roman’s first early reader chapter books – and we hope that there will be more! The first in the series, It’s in the Bag, is a lesson in worries and letting them pile up – or in this case, fill up Susannah’s backpack. My daughter and I read this together, sharing the reading. The ending of this led right into the next book. We were very happy to have it on hand. No waiting, Yay! This second title, Things That Go Bump, is all about fear. The sleepover, brought up in the first book, at Susannah’s best friend’s house has Susannah afraid. The house is the oldest in their neighborhood and thought to be haunted. While Susannah deals with her own fear, she sees that others also have fears and how they deal them. The cover of the book has jack o’lanterns and other spooky elements. We do not partake in Halloween, so I am going to pre-read this one before reading with my daughter. I think the lesson on fear will be a good one – I am hoping that comes through more than the haunted and spooky things.
Carole P. Roman has not let us down for imaginative, well-written, creative children’s books. There is a small collection of printable resources found on her website for some of the titles. We also have titles from the Captain No Beard series in our home library. These are stories to treasure, to re-read, to keep, to give and to share. For reviews on an assortment of titles of these wonderful children’s books, click the image below.
