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These captivating books really help you to imagine life in the past, as you become the main character in an adventure, making decisions that effect your life. By actually taking the role of a person from that era, you, in a sense, “live” history. The presentation is very effective. I literally could not put the book down until I had tried every avenue. While every facet of life is not covered, the aspects of the culture experienced are salient, meaning they will more likely be retained.

Here is an excerpt from Choosing Your Way Through the World’s Ancient Past: “It is 2400 BC. You are a skilled metalworker living in Lagash in a time of war. Should you....

(a) make war materials, or

(b) continue making ornaments

If you decide on (b), you turn to a page which reads: “You choose to keep on making ornaments for the rich, because you would like to keep out of the war. You’re good at your job and soon the king hears of your work and you are summoned to the palace. You wait in a room with an old woman. She says, ‘Are you here to see the king?’ You look at her and say, ‘Yes, he wants to see my work.’ You show her some of it and she says ‘You will probably become a servant of the king, living a merry life as long as the king lives.’ You aren’t sure what she meant by that last part. Should you... :

(a) leave, or (b) stay and meet the king?

We’ll let you decide! Your fate could be wonderful or dreadful, depending on the customs, laws, and circumstances of that time and place. The 200+ page books contain historically accurate accounts/adventures reflective of each civilization or era, followed by true/false questions and project suggestions. - Melissa

Customer Review

 
Marian V. from Michigan wrote the following on 06/13/2007:
I am a librarian, so I know that children love the Choose-Your-Own Adventure series of books, but the adventures are not always as wholesome as I would like for my own children. Choosing Your Way Through the Worlds Medieval Past gives them a chance to learn about World history while enjoying a good story in the Choose-Your-Own Adventure style. We used several books for studying medieval history last year, including Famous Men of the Middle Ages, and Story of the Middle Ages from CLP. This was our favorite. I would say it compares favorably to The Story of the World by Susan Wise Bauer. Like The Story of the World, these stories are short and entertaining, but I think children retain the information better because they have interacted with the story instead of just reading it or hearing it read. I also like the fact that, like Story of the World, these stories cover the whole globe, not just Europe. There are stories from China, Japan, South America, Persia, and Africa as well as Europe. I have never thought it was right that a child could go through 12 years of school, as I did, with the impression that the Western world is all that exists (or all that matters). There is a short quiz at the end of each story so your students can show what they have learned. There is an answer key for the quizzes at the end of the book. I tore out the answer key and let my son take the quizzes right in the book. Each story also has 3-6 ideas for extension activities such as reports, discussions, map work, further reading, art projects, etc. We did not use these much, but they certainly would reinforce the learning, and appeal to children who are kinesthetic or auditory learners. This book requires little to no teacher involvement, but you will want to read it yourself, because it is so much fun to read. It would probably work for 3rd grade through middle school. I used it with my 6th and 7th grader (we took 1 1/2 years on our medieval history unit) and he loved it. This book is a little pricey, in my opinion, but it is reproducible, so you can buy just one and make copies for all your children. You will love it so much you will not regret the price at all.