• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer
  • Nav Social Menu

Nicki Truesdell

Homeschooling and Christian Parenting

  • Homepage
  • Blog
  • Shop
  • Homeschool 101
  • Anyone Can Homeschool by Nicki Truesdell
  • Mystery of History, Volume 1
  • Subscribe by Text or Email
  • Contact Nicki
  • Homeschooling in Texas
  • Events
  • Book Lists
Home | Blog | Usborne History Books You Need in Your Homeschool

Usborne History Books You Need in Your Homeschool

Blog, Books, homeschool, Homeschool Curriculum, Lists for Homeschooling

Let me start by saying that I am not a distributor for Usborne Books. I just love and use their history books so much that I wanted to do a roundup of great titles. Many of their older ones are now out of print, but you can still find them used. And, they always introduce new titles that are fabulous. No matter what curriculum you use, there are many Usborne history books you need in your homeschool.

Note: Usborne books are secular. They will not follow a young-earth or creationist history. For our family, this is not a big deal because we already intentionally teach our children from a biblical worldview for every school subject, but they are also very aware that mainstream books and media are secular and evolutionist.

Usborne produces such quality picture books for history that we use them with our Christian homeschool curriculum. There are lots of picture books out there, but over my 20+ years of homeschooling, I have not found any that rival these beautiful history books targeted at multiple age levels.

Current Titles I Recommend (2020)

The Usborne Beginners History books are like easy readers for young readers. They are full of pictures and have plenty of info. World Wars is an excellent, excellent book for middle-and-high school students (and even parents who need a refresher!). All of their current and previous history encyclopedias are worth a space on your bookshelf.

Out-of-Print Titles You Should Find

All of these are great for elementary to middle school. I love the Usborne Book of World History for my youngest children. When we study a particular time in history, I flip to that page and let the student read about it in here. It has lots of illustrations and very short chunks of text. The Great History Search is perfect for kids who don’t read (or read very much), because it’s kind of like a “where’s Waldo” of history.

Search for these everywhere you get used books: yard sales, thrift stores, library sales, Thrift Books, Abe Books, Amazon used, and Instagram sellers. Some of these are old/new editions, so flip through the pages if possible so you don’t make duplicate purchases.

Ancient Egypt

Obviously, there are a gazillion books available on Ancient Egypt. They are all fun! Don’t feel that you need to get them all. Get a couple that are geared to the ages of your children. (I buy them up whenever I see them, and get whatever I find, because my kids are pretty spread out in age.)

Ancient Greece and Rome

Ancient Britain

Ahhh, here’s a topic that doesn’t get addressed as much in children’s books, yet it’s so fascinating! (See my Study Guide on Beric the Briton by G. A. Henty.)

The Middle Ages/Medieval Times

The Americas

How I use these books for history

Since I have a wide age range of children, I use multiple Usborne books at the same time. For instance, if we’re in the middle of an Ancient Egypt study, I’ll assign the few pages from the Usborne Book of World History to my elementary aged kids, as well as one of the books on the Pyramids, and also have them do the Great History Search pages on the Pyramids. The middle-school ages will read several pages on Ancient Egypt in the Encyclopedia of World History, plus the Time Traveler’s book or a title on mummies or pyramids. The high schooler will read the more detailed Egypt sections in Encyclopedia of the Ancient World.

I find that most Usborne books are great up through middle school age, but with exceptions. High schoolers who are visual, or not great readers, or who need a “crash course” in history they have forgotten or missed — all will benefit from the Usborne history encyclopedias.

No matter what curriculum we’re using, I add Usborne books to the reading list. They serve as interesting visual reviews of the major time periods and civilizations.

Read more of my homeschool history posts here:

  • Making History Fun
  • Six Great Children’s Authors for History
  • How to Teach History Without a Curriculum
  • How Not to Teach American History
  • American History Through the Life of George Washington
  • The Culper Spy Ring for Kids
  • Churchill and Henty: A World History Curriculum

Share this:

  • Share
  • Print
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest
  • Reddit
  • Tumblr
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Email

Related

December 13, 2020 · Leave a Comment

Get my book!

Anyone Can Homeschool by Nicki Truesdell

Shop my history series

Knowledge Keepers Bookstore
Previous Post: « True Stories of Nebraska Pioneers: Knowledge Keepers Book series
Next Post: How to Tackle 2021 »

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Footer

Nicki on Instagram

If you want a good movie to enjoy with your family this weekend, check out some (or all!) of my favorites for Independence Day: Dear homeschooling mama, don’t let the pressure of the world around you bring unneeded stress into your home this summer. Don’t let the educational goals of others dictate what happens in your home. Guess what?!? @iew Institute for Excellence in Writing is giving me TWO $50 gift certificates to give to my readers! When did people start fearing babies? They are literally the cutest and most adorable members of the human race. They make life better for everyone who has one. I am the product of a 14-year-old teen mom. I never met my biological father. My mom was not a Christian. She was addicted to drugs. We lived very poorly for years. Everywhere we go I look for opportunities to bring history to life. So a Mississippi Riverboat cruise has been on my list for years! There is so much history on the Mississippi, and I wanted my kids to experience just a little bit of it. Moms, there is no better encouragement, wisdom, inspiration, or instruction for your calling that what is found in the scriptures. There is no better preparation for our day than time spent in God’s word. It strengthens the heart, reminds us of God’s goodness and sovereignty, and builds our confidence as Christians. I would like to remind you that “behind” is a public school notion. You might not be finishing your grade-leveled book by the end of the grade level year, but that really isn’t important. Many traditional homeschool curricula are just copies of public school curriculum. They follow the public k-12 plan with a lot of busywork and repetition. On our recent road trip, we visited Saint Louis and the Gateway Arch. We missed the opportunity to ride up to the top, but the structure itself and the museum below were amazing.

Nicki on Pinterest

Nicki on Facebook

  • Privacy Policy
  • Disclosure
  • Terms and Conditions

Copyright 2009-2021 Nicki Truesdell