I love a good storyteller

We love audiobooks around here.  We play them in the car, listen to them over breakfast, and everybody has them on their iPods.  I do like reading aloud to the kids, but there's only so much reading aloud one mom can do.  Audiobooks to the rescue.

Our very, very favorite lately is Jim Weiss.  We started out listening to his retelling of the Greek myths, and couldn't get enough.  He's taken us through the middle ages with Robin Hood and King Arthur and Archimedes, and now through the Renaissance with Galileo, Shakespeare, The Three Musketeers and Queen Elizabeth.  The kids can't get enough, and these are the quietest car rides we've ever had.  I can't recommend his stories enough.

If you do a classical 4-year history cycle in your homeschool, Jim Weiss also narrates the Story of the World books by Susan Wise Bauer.  The kids read the books at home, but the audio versions make for a great refresher and a chance for us to talk about the stories as a family.

Happy listening!

The Goldsmith's Daughter

If you love historical fiction the way I do, here's a great new YA title to check out by author Tanya Landman (I Am Apache).  The Goldsmith's Daughter releases Tuesday, September 8.

 

Set in the Aztec city of Tenochtitlan during the Spanish conquest of Mexico, this story explores the devastating collision of cultures through the eyes of the teenage Itacate.  I haven't found too many novels written in this setting, so this is definitely one to add to the list for a study of pre-U.S. American history.

Recommended for grades 7 and up.