Interactive History Adventures

If you have an elementary age child who loves history, they will be delighted with these Choose Your Own adventure type books which lead them as a historical figure through that period in time. If you have a child who is disinterested in reading much about history, these books might just be the catalyst by which they tolerate or even, dare I say it, enjoy learning a bit more about history.

I've read a few of these interactive history adventures as a read-aloud, and my kids have read many of them alone. The last couple of summers as we studied both Ancient Greece and Ancient Egypt, I read the accompanying Interactive History Adventure books, several times actually, as we would choose different paths each time. While I wouldn't say they gained a depth of knowledge of those places and periods in history, they certainly covered a few basics, and the enjoyment factor was higher than with other presentations.

Before we went on our road trip last summer, when I knew we would be visiting several historical sights, I bought the Revolutionary War, Battle of the Bull Run, Colonial America, and Civil War adventures for the kids to read before we left. The older kids each took turns trading them around before bedtime, and all were read by each of them by the time we hit the road.

In addition to these, Elizabeth has the Titanic interactive history adventure that she read during her voracious obsession with all things Titanic. When Philip needed a book on the Great Depression, and I wanted him to enjoy his reading, we purchased the interactive history adventure about that topic. And I just purchased the Race to the Moon adventure for Finn to read this summer, now that he's reading chapter books and continues to be preoccupied with all things related to space. Thus far, we have been delighted with all of these books and the portrayal of history within. There are dozens more titles than the ones mentioned here, which means that many periods and events in history are available in this appealingly child-accessible form.