Wednesday, September 13, 2017

Carole P. Roman Books Review


We got to read these books from Carole P. Roman for this review to use in conjunction with our own homeschool curriculum. This is a Homeschool Review Crew Review. All opinions expressed are my own or those of my family. Affiliate links may be in this posting. Thanks for supporting my blog.

The four books we received are:

Carole P. Roman is the author of many books including the Captain No Beard series, Oh Susannah series, If You Were Me and Lived in... Cultures Around the World series, and the If You Were Me and Lived in... Civilizations Throughout History series. She loves combining her teaching past with her love of exploration and interest in the grand world all around us. She also loves sharing history and culture with her readers.

If You Were Me and Lived in... Cultures Around the World Series currently consists of 21 books with more to come later. These softcover books take you to explore different cultures. Discover Mexico, Australia, Turkey, Hungary, Poland, France, India, Portugal, Scotland, Italy, South Korea, Peru, Kenya, China, Russia, Norway, Greece, Egypt, Brazil, Israel, and Germany. These give you an inside look into what culture is like in these countries. You can become a "world traveler" in the comfort of your own home. Recommended for ages 4 to 9.

If You Were Me and Lived in... Civilizations Throughout History Series currently consists of 10 books with more to come later. These softcover books take you back through time to visit different civilizations throughout history. Discover Ancient Greece, Renaissance Italy, Elizabethan England, Colonial America, Ancient China: The Han Dynasty, Middle Ages, American West, Viking Europe, Mayan Empire, and Ancient Mali Empire. These follow what it would have been like to live and grow up in these places through the eyes of a young person. This makes the books more relatable to children who read them. These physical books cover occupations, food, clothing, recreation, important people, etc. Recommended for ages 8 to 15.

The Captain No Beard Series currently consists of 10 books with more to come later. These softcover books are about two young cousins, Hallie and Alexander, and their imaginative, swashbuckling adventures that bring their stuffed animals to life as part of the crew of a pirate ship.
These books always have a great message at the end of the story. Recommended for ages 3 to 8.

The Captain No Beard books are as follows:
  1. Captain No Beard: An Imaginary Tale of a Pirate's Life
  2. Pepper Parrot's Problem with Patience
  3. Stuck in the Doldrums: A Lesson in Sharing
  4. Strangers on the High Seas
  5. The Treasure of Snake Island
  6. The Crew Goes Coconuts!
  7. Captain No Beard and the Aurora Borealis
  8. Fribbet the Frog and the Tadpoles
  9. A Flag for the Flying Dragon
  10. Being a Captain is Hard Work

The Oh Susannah Series currently consists of 2 books with more to come later. These early chapter reader books are softcover and are all about a little girl by the name of Susannah Maya Logan. In these chapter books Susannah goes through issues that every child can relate to. The first book in the series is Oh Susannah: It's in the Bag and the second book in the series is Oh Susannah: Things That Go Bump. These also end with a great message as well. Recommended for ages 7-12.

Zari and Teela enjoying the Carole P. Roman books.

How We Used This and Our Thoughts:
We had been given the option of picking out two books from the ones we were offered to review and then the author would pick out two more from her past knowledge of what we had reviewed from her in the past and the information we gave her about our kids' ages.

I received only one of my picks, If You Were Me and Lived in...Egypt. I initially asked for Egypt and Australia. I was fine with the other books she picked for me though because I didn't have any of them yet. I didn't think at first that The Crew Goes Coconuts! book, part 6 of the Captain No Beard series, was going to be a good fit because I didn't have any of the rest of the series, but it turned out fine. In reading these books to my children I have grown to love Carole P. Roman's writing even more. I was very grateful for the author's painstaking task in preparing different bundles of books for each of the Homeschool Review Crew members that were reviewing and I want to thank her for all her hard work.

If You Were Me and Lived In...Egypt is a softcover book by Carole P. Roman and Illustrated by Kelsea Wierenga. The illustrations are fun and done in dark classic colors. This book has 36 pages with a pronunciation guide in the back. We learned about what the country looks like and a bit about it, about its capital, what the popular names for boys and girls there are, what you would call your mom and dad & grandfather and grandmother there, what money is called, what a favorite treat there is, places to see there, about a sailboat, what food they enjoy there, what sports they enjoy watching, what they like to read about, toys and games they might like to play, and holidays they celebrate. I would love to try the food there, especially the halawa and Kushari. I would love to see the Great Pyramids and the Sphinx and ride on a felucca. We are going to be using this with our unit study of Egypt.

If You Were Me and Lived In...The American West is a softcover book by Carole P. Roman and Illustrated by Paula Tabor. These cartoon like illustrations are more realistic than the other books. This book has 58 pages with a special section on Famous People from the West and Glossary in the back. This focused on life on the Oregon Trail in the 19th century. We thought it interesting: that you could make butter with all the movement of the wagon so you wouldn't have to churn it, that pioneers walked 10-20 miles per day, Indians were mostly friendly with the pioneers to trade, wagons were nicknamed Prairie Schooners, they floated their wagons across the Columbia River (which is neat since this river is right next to where I live in Oregon), and they got 640 acres of free land to farm once they got to Oregon. This would be great to use with a unit study of the Oregon Trail, Pioneers, American West and Wagon Trains.

The Crew Goes Coconuts! is a softcover book by Carole P. Roman. This book has fun colorful illustrations and is part 6 of the Captain No Beard Series. Even though I do not have any of the other books in this series, this one read well on its own. It has a great message of how to deal with bullying and not giving in to peer pressure. My younger kids liked the goat in the story and felt bad for her at first, but everything turned out well in the end. My younger kids were glad the story had a happy ending. I liked the good message and that it has strong male and female characters.

Oh Susannah: It's in the Bag is the first early reader chapter book in the Oh Susannah series. It didn't take my daughter Teela who is 9 years old very long to read. I also read it as well and thought the theme to be very relatable. The little girl, Susannah, in the story is in 3rd grade and having problems...each one she stuffs away in her backpack. My daughter thought the banana in the story was pretty funny. The illustrations are adorable and done by Mateya Arkova. The message at the end is a good one and Susannah learns how to deal with her problems and ask for help when she needs it.

The If You Were Me and Lived In...series are great for use with homeschool unit studies. We love these books. They are very informative. The Captain No Beard Series and Oh Susannah Series is wonderful for the great messages they have. I would highly recommend all of these.

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BUY IT
You can purchase these books on Amazon at these links...

Read other homeschool curriculum reviews for Carole P. Roman...
Oh Susannah, Bedtime Stories, Captain No Beard, If you were Me ... {Carole P. Roman Reviews}

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