Literature By Time Period

This classic, by Jean Fritz covers the era of exploration from 1421 to 1522. Like most Jean Fritz books, this one is charmingly illustrated with maps, portraits, and scenes of the period. Jean tells 10 tales of famous explorers and their exploits: Prince Henry the Navigator, Bartholomew Diaz, Christopher Columbus, Vasco da Gama, Pedro Cabral, John Cabot, Amerigo Vespucci, Ponce de Leon, Vasco de Balboa, and Ferdinand Magellan. This book makes an excellent addition to any study of the Renaissance.

This biography of the author of the popular "Little House" books tells her family's real life on the American frontier, and of the events that surpassed the drama of her stories. 

George Washington grew up in the English colony of Virginia. He was tall and strong, fair in judgement, and respected by his friends as a good leader. As he grew older, George saw how England took advantage of the American colonies--and he didn't like it. When the colonies declared their independence, George was chosen to lead their army as its general. And when the colonies won their freedom, George was elected to lead the new nation as its first president.

An exciting mystery for your homeschool library: AD 79, following the eruption of Mount Vesuvius and the destruction of Pompeii. Among the thousands of people huddled in refugee camps along the bay of Naples are Flavia Gemina and her friends Jonathan the Jewish boy, Nubia the African slave-girl, and Lupus the mute beggar boy. Their discovery that children are being kidnapped from the camps--among them the daughter of the powerful Publius Pollius Felix--leads them to solve the mystery of the pirates of Pompeii. A terrifically exciting and dramatic story and a brilliant picture of the aftermath of a great disaster.

When De Witt Clinton, a young politician, first dreams of building a canal to connect the Hudson River with the Great Lakes, folks don't believe such a thing can be done. But eight long years after the first shovelful of earth is dug, Clinton realizes his vision at last. The longest uninterrupted canal in history has been built, and it is now possible to travel by water from the American prairie all the way to Europe!

"Erasmus laid the egg that Luther hatched" is what the people said. And that made young Gerhard Koestler smile. He knew that Erasmus had influenced Luther's thinking. He also believed both men were trying to serve God according to the Scriptures. Young Gerhard Koestler lived in Germany in the 1500s. He inherited money and a castle when his rich parents died. After a series of adventures and narrow escapes, Gerhard arrived in Basel, Switzerland, where he was able to live in the same house as Erasmus. Although Erasmus' enemies accused him of agreeing with Martin Luther, Erasmus said that the Bible was his guide.

A Polish family in the Middle Ages guards a great secret treasure and a boy's memory of an earlier trumpeter of Krakow makes it possible for him to save his father.

"This Country of Ours" contains stories from the history of the United States beginning with a full account of exploration and settlement and ending with the presidency of Woodrow Wilson. The 99 chapters are grouped under 7 headings: Stories of Explorers and Pioneers, Stories of Virginia, Stories of New England, Stories of the Middle and Southern Colonies, Stories of the French in America, Stories of the Struggle for Liberty, and Stories of the United States under the Constitution. 

"In a simple, short biography of Columbus she has been extraordinarily successful in extracting the essence of the man." -- "The Horn Book." "Fritz's unconventional look at the great explorer who accidently discovered the New World reveals the navigator's obstinate as well as his visionary side." -- "School Library Journal"