England Week - Queen Elizabeth

What was so good about Queen Bess? As you’ll learn in Good Queen Bess: The Story of Elizabeth I of England, a lot. As the book jacket states, her “strong will, shrewd diplomacy, religious tolerance, and love for her subjects won the hearts of her people and the admiration of her enemies.”

The wives of Henry VIII, the sister named Mary and the Catholic/Protestant power play can be a little murky to understand but this book proceeds through Elizabeth’s life in an organized fashion and makes all that stuff crystal clear. And the icing on the cake? The illustrations! They’re a treat.

If you have any desire to learn about Queen Elizabeth, this is the book for you.

Ages 9-12
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Activity: Give this Queen Elizabeth crossword puzzle a try.

Happy Thanksgiving from Florida!

When we think of Thanksgiving we think of Plymouth Rock Pilgrims joining the Wampanoag tribe for a harvest feast in the fall of 1621. But 56 years before this celebration, Pedro Menéndez de Avilés arrived in present day St. Augustine, and he wanted to show his gratitude to God for a safe journey and a new land. The explorer planned a Thanksgiving feast that was enjoyed by the Spanish, with the local tribe of Timucuas as guests. This September 8th will mark the 445th anniversary of this event.

You will learn about this and other Florida history facts in Robyn Gioia’s, America's REAL First Thanksgiving. The contents of this 44 page book include.
1. The World in 1565
2. Uncharted Lands
3. Spain in the 1560s
4. Florida in the 1560's
5. The Timucua, St. Augustine's Native Americans
6. The Founding of St. Augustine, 1565
7. Day of Thanksgiving
8. St. Augustine Today

Also included are a cocido recipe, a timeline and a glossary. This is a must-have book for any child studying Florida history.

Ages 9-12
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Activity: On September 8, celebrate the first Thanksgiving with a big pot of cocido, a traditional Spanish stew. You’ll find the recipe at Spain Recipes.com.

UNCHARTED TERRITORY WEEK: Magellan

TITLE: Who Was Ferdinand Magellan?

AUTHOR: S. A. Kramer

WHAT TERRITORY WAS EXPLORED AND WHEN? It took awhile, from 1519 to 1522, but this was the first time a route around the circumference of the globe was sailed.

WHO DID THE EXPLORING? Portuguese born Ferdinand Magellan convinced King Charles I of Spain to supply him with five ships, supplies for two years and a crew of about 250 men so he could sail west and find the elusive route to the Spice Islands.

HOW WAS THE TRIP? Magellan overcame many obstacles... mutiny attempts, storms at sea, endless days of no wind, a supply ship that deserted him, a hard to find passage to the Pacific Ocean, a wrecked ship, a Pacific Ocean that was far wider than imagined, and rampant starvation and scurvy among his crew. After all of that he met his end in the Philippines where he was killed by a band of angry natives. Lacking it's fearless leader, one of the five original vessels limped back to Spain with eighteen souls on board.

WHAT WAS GAINED? A boat load of spices for Spain and knowledge of the size of the world and a better understanding of it's geography. This opened the door for more trade and exploration.

We like this Who Was....? series! I have also reviewed: Who Was Amelia Earhart? and Who Was Leonardo da Vinci?

Ages 9-12
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Activity: How well do you know him? Test your Magellan knowledge here.

Leonardo da Vinci

This painting, Young Girl with Ermine, and the most famous painting ever, the Mona Lisa, are two of only ten paintings that Leonardo da Vinci was known to have finished. I took Art History in college but I don’t recall learning that, along with so much more I found in the 100 pages of Who Was Leonardo da Vinci? This book is an artist’s delight with it’s tales of making brushes, painting techniques, and determining subject matter.

Leonardo was born out of wedlock to a well-to-do young man and a peasant girl, neither of which cared to raise him. It’s hard to believe that someone from these awkward and lonely beginnings wound up immortalizing himself through his creative mind and outstanding abilities. To put the timing of his life into perspective, he was finishing his masterpiece The Last Supper the same year Christopher Columbus was making his third voyage to the New World. Besides having a gift for capturing a mood with a paintbrush he was also an adept inventor, musician, engineer and scientist. The book details many of his clever ideas, loosely replicating his work in a casual pen and ink style that made me long to see the real thing. I do feel this book is a great children’s introduction to this 15th century genius.

Also included are sidebars on the making of parchment and paper, art apprenticeships, the Renaissance, astronomy, Raphael, Michelangelo, and drawing techniques.

Ages 9-12
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Activity: Can you imagine if the Mona Lisa was painted today? What would she be wearing? What would be in the background? Print out this Mona Lisa template and with markers, create your own modern day masterpiece.

Remember the Ladies

Betsy Ross, Harriet Tubman and Annie Oakley are among the 100 American women highlighted in Remember the Ladies: 100 Great American Women. This attractive collection of movers and shakers of the female persuasion also contains unfamiliar names that Shannon and I would like to research further. Women like Sylvia Earle, who walked untethered on the ocean floor, further down than any other human at 1,250 feet! And Sybil Ludington, who at sixteen rode her horse through the night during the Revolutionary War to warn that the British were attacking Connecticut. “I had NO idea that women did that!” was Shannon’s reaction.

We enjoyed reading this, and together discovering just what women are capable of. The illustrations are wonderful. The chronological order is well handled, with each spread dedicated to a designated time period from the New World to Turn of the Millennium. I question some of the author's choices, like Martha Stewart, who, granted, built an empire, yet she excluded Mary Kay Ash, who built an empire that provided so many other women an opportunity to succeed.

Warning: In the sixties area of the book the birth control pill and abortion are brought up. My daughter is ten and at first I was a little uncomfortable discussing these topics with her. But it did lead us to a great mother/daughter talk on pro-life and pro-choice views.

Ages 9-12
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