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About two years ago, I had the opportunity to introduce you to a new series of books that is both informative and enjoyable, The Who, What, Why series. The first set was about protestant church history; I am excited to share that there are three new books available in the series.
This set includes What Was the Underground Railroad, Who Were the Abolitionists, Why Did Slavery End?
In today’s world, books share many messages, and it can sometimes be hard to know which books to buy for your children. If you are like me, you want books that are fun and interesting. More importantly, you want books that share your Christian worldview. This series fits that bill perfectly.
Who What Why Series
These books, like the others in the series, are brief chapter books geared toward students who are eight to eleven years old. The books are informative but engaging and sometimes humorous. I think that younger students could enjoy them and learn from them through a family read-aloud.
In addition, older students would find them to be very simple but still educational. I have been reading them aloud, specifically to my five and nine-year-old sons, but I think even my teenagers could benefit from them.
Each book contains illustrations that help the reader understand the book (and are often quite humorous), a timeline of events, and a works cited section so that you know where she derived the historical information.
Who Were the Abolitionists?
This book covers ten different abolitionists. Some of whom I was familiar with, but there were several whose stories I had never heard.
- Granville Sharp
- Phillis Wheatley
- Olaudah Equiano
- Thomas Clarkson
- William Wilberforce
- Zachary Macaulay
- William Knibb
- Soujourner Truth
- Frederick Douglas
The book was interesting and engaging. It covered a very challenging topic in a way that wouldn’t be overwhelming to younger students. The book did a great job telling the story of the abolitionists and slavery through a biblical lens. Each chapter is only about six to seven pages, so it makes for a very easy read-aloud.
What Was the Underground Railroad?
This book is written in such a way as to make it easy to understand and engaging for children, but it covers a great deal of important historical information.
Each chapter is about nine or ten pages, and they work their way through the story of the Underground Railroad. I really appreciated the chapter that explained how we know about the Underground Railroad and how the stories were preserved.
In addition to the historical lessons on the Underground Railroad, it includes a section on what the Bible says about the evils of slavery and how we should treat one another.
Why Did Slavery End?
Unlike most books I have reason slavery, this book doesn’t just cover slavery in America, but slavery dating back to Biblical times and going through modern times.
I really appreciated how she covered slavery in other countries and times to help students understand more about the history of slavery. (While there is one statement about people in the Civil War dying for or against slavery that I feel does not clearly take into account the many different aspects, of which slavery was one, of the Civil War, overall, I think this book does a good job showing the varied history of slavery.)
It talks about the evil sinfulness of slavery and shows what the Bible says about how Christians should respond to slavery.
Conclusions
The Who, What, Why series is a great addition to any home library. They can be used as read-alouds or independent reading. They are a great supplement to any history program that is covering slavery, but could also just be used as independent reading.
These books are available to purchase at Thinking Kids Press (individually or save money and buy them as a bundle) or on Amazon.
Which title most interests you? What other titles would you like to see added to the series?
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