Read Historical Novels To Your Kids

And fill your bookshelves with them.

If you want to support great books, I’m launching a campaign to get The Dragon and the Raven reprinted in a quality hardback. All new illustrations. Cloth-covered. Included study guide. If you sign up now to get notified on launch, you claim a free custom bookmark when you back it.

One of the best things a father can do is read out loud to his kids. If there were one habit I would recommend, reading out loud every night would be number 2, right after eating dinner together as a family.

But what do you read? The first answer is to read what you love, because your enthusiasm will be contagious. You’ll want to branch out, however, and expose your kids to different literature. Historical novels are great to weave into your list. Several of my read-aloud recommendations are historical novels.

They offer several benefits. I’ll go over those and then give a quick list of book recommendations (which I obviously love to do) to get you started.

History Lives With Flesh and Blood

Historical novels bring history to life in a way that textbooks or rote facts don’t. A kid can read about the Boston Massacre, but if he also has been invested in little Johnny, whose father was one of the people shot, it becomes real.

Or maybe Johnny’s older brother was one of the British soldiers who fired on the crowd, and the novel explores that perspective with nuance that would be hard to convey in a history book that needs to skip along to get to the political ramifications.

Stories are Easier to Remember

Historical novels give readers more handles to remember history. We remember things better in story form, and we remember most stories that make us feel deeply. A well-crafted narrative can leave grooves in our brains that go much deeper. These grooves are more apt to collect important nuggets.

Great characters become old friends, and we’ll remember the details of a battle where one of our friends was wounded and where the sights and sounds and fears were described to us in detail more than a battle described only by dates, army movements, and casualty counts.

Characters Are More Relatable

Third, a child can picture themselves during a specific time period when there is a relatable character. Many of these historical novels are from the perspective of children and common people, whereas history follows the paths of Great Men.

It can be hard to try to follow the footsteps of these Great Men, but put us in the shoes of a 14-year-old apprentice silversmith, and through his eyes, it becomes a little easier.

It also makes it easier to wrestle with the moral questions that resist easy answers.

Absorption of High-Quality Writing

Many historical novels are just good novels. Period. A good story is a good story. To write these types of books, the author has to do a lot of research on the time period and the people. This usually translates to an attention to detail that serves a novelist well.

Creativity thrives in the presence of constraints, and the setting of a historical novel is a huge constraint that refuses to wiggle, rejecting all excuses. Some books are better than others, of course, but historical novels can feel more refined and purified.

Historical Novel Recommendations

These historical novels have been enjoyed by either me or one of my children.

• The Golden Goblet - Follow the life of a boy in ancient Egypt as he tries to get out of the thumb of his abusive older stepbrother. Readers are presented with the harsh life of the lower classes and immersed in their religious beliefs and superstitions. The book has a great payoff and a happy ending.

• Give Me Liberty - Colonial America on the cusp of the revolution. The protagonist is a young indentured servant who must reckon with the ideals of freedom espoused by the revolutionaries and the plight of a runaway slave. Includes a fun appearance from Thomas Jefferson. Fantastic examples of true kindness and generosity and goodwill pervade this book.

• The Little House Series - You can’t go wrong with any of these books about a family settling the American frontier. It’s cliche to recommend these, but they became cliche for a good reason.

• Detectives in Togas - Seven boys solve mysteries in ancient Rome. A picture of what life was like for Patricians during that time period. If your kids like this one, there is a full series with the same characters.

• Crispin: The Cross of Lead - Follow the life of a peasant in medieval Britain as he is falsely accused of theft and murder.

• Night Journeys - Eight years before the American Revolution begins, Peter is adopted by Quakers after the death of his parents. His loyalties will be tested when he is tasked to hunt down runaway indentured servants. Great discussions to be had about pacifism and doing the right thing despite the written letter of the law.

• The Charioteer of Delphi - Another mystery set during ancient Rome, and again, this one is a full series called The Roman Mysteries.

• Carry On, Mr. Bowditch - The life and times of a self-taught man who rose to become the father of modern maritime navigation. Persistence through heartbreak abounds. A great introduction to nautical terms and ideas.

• Wolf Hollow - A beautifully written story about a girl on a farm in Pennsylvania in 1943 and how she deals with a deadly bully. World War 2 glooms over the horizon, but the shadows of the First World War still linger. Themes about the costs of war and having courage in the small moments of your life.

• Guns for General Washington - The story of bookseller Henry Knox securing cannons for Washington during the siege of Boston is worth hearing in every format imaginable. This one takes the perspective of Henry’s younger brother and is short and digestible.

• The Dragon and the Raven - Edmund pledges loyalty to King Alfred to help drive the Vikings from Saxon lands. Battles on land and sea fill the pages, along with discussions on the proper use of violence and warfare. A good introduction to Alfred the Great to pique a boy’s curiosity about one of the most interesting men of history. (As mentioned above, I’m reprinting a new hardcover edition of this book. Sign up to be notified when the campaign launches and claim a free bookmark.)

I recommend picking up A Landscape With Dragons for its appendix of literature recommendations alone. Enough choices to last a lifetime, let alone the school years of your children.