My younger son is a huge fan of Carole's If You Were Me series. This one seems to be geared towards both young and older reader. With a five year age gap between my children, it is rare that I can find a book that they will both enjoy. I downloaded it and gave it to my almost thirteen year old son to read first. He enjoyed the illustrations, but more importantly, he enjoyed the immense amount of knowledge that fills the beautifully illustrated pages.
Parents should know that this book seems to be more advanced than the previous series and you should be prepared to read the book to smaller children. My younger son is in the second grade and he was able to read most of it without too much help. It did take a while to get through it because he had to sound out quite a few words before he felt confident enough to move on. My older child breezed through it and was familiar with some of the material covered.
There are many key points throughout that are great starting points for creative conversations along the way. We used to homeschool and all I can think of is how great this would be for a homeschool family because it appeals to children on so many levels. As a parent, I learned a few interesting things as well.
I asked my younger son a few questions as we read it together. I had to help him a few times as he struggled with some of the words. I was able to see the wheels turning as I asked him to compare things in the book to modern day times. The glossary was especially helpful for him since he was unfamiliar with this period. As his understanding and knowledge grows, we can come back to the book and dig a little deeper. That is exciting for me! For my older son, I asked him more complex questions and he was inspired to do more research. The information shared is so entertaining and presented in such a way that my children didn't want to put the book down. This series has so much to offer and I am excited for what's to come!
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