Review: Carole P. Roman

Issac enjoys reading short stories that are related to history and/or geography. He enjoys hearing about different time periods in history or reading about a specific area.  He always enjoys when there are beautiful graphics that grab his attention.  We recently had the opportunity to pick two books from the multiple series that Carole P. Roman has written.  Our choices were from the following: If You Were Me and Lived in… Cultural series
Australia, Brazil, China, Cuba, Egypt, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, India, Italy, Kenya, Mars, Mexico, Norway, Peru, Portugal, Russia, Scotland, South Korea, Turkey

If You Were Me and Lived in… Historical series
Ancient China, Ancient Greece, the Ancient Mali Empire, the American West, Colonial America, Elizabethan England, the Mayan Empire, the Middle Ages, Renaissance Italy, Viking Europe

Captain No Beard (A Captain No Beard Story - The Series)
Captain No Beard: An Imaginary Tale of a Pirate's Life
Pepper Parrot's Problem with Patience
Stuck in the Doldrums: A Lesson in Sharing
Strangers on the High Seas
The Treasure of Snake Island
The Crew Goes Coconuts!
Captain No Beard and the Aurora Borealis
Fribbet the Frog and the Tadpoles
A Flag for the Flying Dragon
Being a Captain is Hard Work

Bedtime Stories
Can a Princess Be a Firefighter?
I Want To Do Yoga Too
One to Ten: Squirrel's Bad Day
Rocket-Bye

Early Chapter Reader Books - Oh Susannah series
Oh Susannah: It's in the Bag
Oh Susannah: Things That Go Bump

So MANY great choices that it was hard to know what to chose! Issac and I looked over them and he chose If You Were Me and Lived in...Viking Europe as well as If You Were Me And Lived In...Elizabethan England.  We were also blessed to be given two additional books that were the author's choice.  We received A Captain No Beard Story: Being a Captain is Hard Work as well as if you were me and lived in...Colonial America. There are truly so many great choices and I think Issac would have been happy with pretty much any book that was sent to us.  I let Issac chose which book to read first and he picked If You Were Me And Lived In...Elizabethan England.  We typically read when he gets in bed at night, so these books seemed like the perfect size.  There were 41 pages, basically one large paragraph per page. There were two pages listing important people to know of the era and then seven pages of vocabulary words.  There is also additional resources on her blog at caroleproman.blogspot.com.  The book started out with two pictures of London, one from the 1600's and the other from current time.  The question is broached asking what the differences are in the pictures? We learned that things were changing after the Middle Ages.  It was a time of Renaissance, or rebirth, and that it's referred to as the Elizabethan Age because Elizabeth I was the queen of England.  We learned what some of the common names were such as Mary or John.  We read about where you might have lived and how your home life might have been.  We learned that the streets were dirty and that people often threw their trash into the streets to rot! We read about the differences in eating and dressing habits were for the merchants and the rich.  School was not something that everyone got to attend.  Girls didn't attend and usually only the oldest son was sent to school.  The cost was high and the son was expected to come back into the family business and help with what he had learned.  The pages were short and easy to read, but each and every line imparted so much information.  These would be great for a child that is interested in learning many new things, but struggles with reading large books.  We were very pleased with our first choice and couldn't wait to move on to the next one.  
Next we jumped into If You Were Me and Lived in...Viking Europe.  I think this one interested Issac because he remembered reading about Erik the Red and Leif Erikson last year.  This book was a bit longer then the first.  It had about 61 pages with about four additional pages of Norse Gods and important Vikings in history.  There were also seven pages of vocabulary.  I really enjoyed having the vocabulary in the back of the books for the additional information it gives.  Often times we think we know what a words means, but just aren't sure. This way it's easy to flip to the back and look at the word. Issac also enjoyed just flipping around the pages at the back of the book to see what words were there.  This book had multiple paragraphs on the pages, but again it wasn't overwhelming.  We started the book out looking at what a typical  home on the coast of Norway could have looked like around 870 AD.  Some say the word Viking means bay or creek while others say it means overseas expedition.  Either way the people associated it with those that came from the north.  A Viking was one that explored and often did not have good reputations.  Vikings traveled by ships while Scandinavians stayed home and tended their farms.  Those that moved and settled in foreign lands were known as Norsemen.  We learned that the only coins minted in Scandinavia were pennies.  We also learned that when you were born into a Viking family you were one of three classes.  If your parents were wealthy then you might be a Jarl.  Those that owned land and lived a life of hard work were considered to be Karls.  The lowest class were the Thralls.  They did all the hard labor and were often brought back from raids to be slaves. These are just a few of the things we learned in this book. It seems like every sentence is something new to learn and you could easily read the books over and over and continue to pick up new and additional information each time.   Issac then chose to look at A Captain No Beard Story: Being a Captain is Hard Work. This book was a little shorter than the others.  There were about 27 pages of text with an additional page that was a cloud key. Helped Issac and I to understand the difference in the clouds.  This book had a fun font which I enjoyed because it added a little whimsy to the book.  In this book we start off with Captain No Beard on the deck of his ship watching his crew.  Mongo tells the captain that there are storm clouds and they could be in for a rough patch.  The captain doesn't want to hear that because he has plans to be at Dew Rite Volcano by dark.  He checks the sky and sees that it's just cumulus clouds and explains that they are fluffy, but don't bring any rain. Mongo disagrees with the captain that the clouds are actually stratocumulus and they mean rain.  The captain decides he wants some chocolate pudding, so he orders some to be made. Others try to tell the captain that it's looking stormy, but he's not to be deterred from his own thoughts and plans.  As the storm approaches closer and closer the captain tells everyone to stop worrying, he's the captain and he knows what he's doing. As the story continues the captain learns that even though he is the captain everyone has to work together and look our for each other.  This was a cute book and I think children as young as two or three would enjoy it as well. It's a great book to read to a child or for him or her to read to themselves. The final book that we got to enjoy was if you were me and lived in...Colonial America.  I think this series really works well with children because they can see what kids their age would have been doing in a different time period.  I think when books have too many dates and facts that don't relate to children it's hard for them to understand sometimes.  This book had about 53 pages of text, two pages about people of the era and about six pages of vocabulary words.  Issac enjoyed reading about the people from that time. He liked when he recognized names such as Myles Standish and Captain John Smith. We learned some of the common names from colonial days as well as how important the Protestant religion was to the people. Issac was shocked to read that in England in the 1600's it was illegal to be a part of a church other than that of your rulers.  We learned about how the Mayflower Compact was written to ensure that everyone could survive in the new land.  Many people died and it wasn't an easy transition.  Issac struggled to understand that the people couldn't just go to the store for food. If they didn't grow it, hunt it, trade it, etc. then they didn't have it.  Children were busy helping their parents to just get through the daily chores, but there was occasion to still have fun.  Life then was centered more on work and less on play where we seem to be the opposite today.  Issac and I talked about how life is so much easier for us than it was long ago.  

These books are all wonderfully written and beautifully illustrated.  The pictures easily draw the reader right into the story.  We were all fortunate to get multiple books and from different series.  You'll have to check out Carole P. Roman to see all the books she's written as well as keep updated on new books in the future.  You can follow her on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest or Goodreads as well as read what the other members were fortunate enough to read.