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:

• If You Were Me and Lived in...Egypt (A Child's Introduction to Cultures Around the World)
• If You Were Me and Lived in... the American West (An Introduction to Civilizations Throughout Time)
• The Crew Goes Coconuts! (A Captain No Beard Story) (Volume 6)
• Oh Susannah: It's in the Bag (An Oh Susannah Story) (Book 1)

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...

• If You Were Me and Lived in...Egypt (A Child's Introduction to Cultures Around the World)
• If You Were Me and Lived in... the American West (An Introduction to Civilizations Throughout Time)
• The Crew Goes Coconuts! (A Captain No Beard Story) (Volume 6)
• Oh Susannah: It's in the Bag (An Oh Susannah Story) (Book 1)

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Heirloom Audio Productions The Cat of Bubastes Review

My family had the privilege of trying the The Cat of Bubastes from Heirloom Audio Productions 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.

My family and I love audio books! We love to listen to them while: I am multitasking, we have a long drive ahead of us, or there is cruddy weather and we are stuck inside. My family usually enjoys them better if they are fun and adventuresome. I believe they are better than movies because audio books require more imagination which is great for growing minds.

The Cat of Bubastes is Heirloom Audio's 6th dramatization which is adapted from a novel by George Alfred Henty. G.A. Henty authored many historical fiction novels in the late 1800's and early 1900's, including The Cat of Bubastes in 1889. All six Christian audio dramas are from Heirloom Audio's series known as The Extraordinary Adventures of G.A. Henty. This audio production and theatrical radio drama consists of 2 and a half hours of masterful storytelling on 2 CDs recommended for ages 6-adult. I cannot say enough good things about this. Really, the presentation is very extraordinary! It brings the history to life.

This audio theater follows the young prince Amuba and his faithful friend and mentor Jethro since their capturing by the Egyptians and enslaved in the city of Thebes. Their loyalty is tested when they are trapped in a murderous plot to attack the family of their Egyptian friends. Along the way, Amuba and Jethro uncover the wonder and truth of the one true God.

I had some definite favorite parts of the Christian radio theatre. The part about Jethro having to dress up to be disguised was funny and interesting. Also, I liked how Ameres was so nice to Amuba and Jethro from the start. They did have God smiling down on them for sure and even their misfortunes lead them to better things.

inside the case to The Cat of Bubastes audio theater

Along with the 2 CD audio theater set I also received many other awesome package bonus downloads. The 2 CD set also has a list of the cast on the back of the case, a pamphlet insert that has a bit about Heirloom Audio's other audio dramas, and in the center under where the pamphlet goes is the 1 Chronicles 17:20 scripture. This inspirational verse also comes as a digital download so you can print it out as a poster to put on your wall.

The Cat of Bubastes Single Package (what I am mentioning in this review) includes:

• The Cat of Bubastes (CD Set - Physical Copy + MP3 Download Version)
• The Cat of Bubastes Study Guide (Digital Download)
• The Cat of Bubastes Soundtrack (MP3 Download)
• Printable copy of the Inspirational Verse Poster (Digital Download)

I want to also mention that Heirloom Audio was being generous to the Schoolhouse Review Crew that received this for review. We received additional bonuses other than that were supposed to be in the Single Package. The additional items are only be available if you buy the Family 4-pack.

The Schoolhouse Review Crew that received this for review received all of the above and these additional bonuses:

• The Cat of Bubastes eBook (Digital Download)
• The Cat of Bubastes Cast Poster (Digital Download)
• The Cat of Bubastes Behind the Scenes Documentary (Digital Download)
• Newsletter Website (Link)

The all-star cast in this audio book is expansive and amazing. Some of the cast consists of Brian Blessed as G.A. Henty (Star Wars, Tarzan, King Lear), Anthony Daniels as Permotep (Star Wars), Sylvester McCoy as Chigron (Dr. Who, The Hobbit), Elizabeth Counsell as Amense (The Chronicles of Narnia), Russel Boulter as Moses (Ben Hur), and John Rhys-Davies as Rabah (The Lord of the Rings, Indiana Jones). It is always great to hear the boisterous voice of Brian Blessed on these productions. All of the cast's performances are wonderful! The character building is wonderful too as long as you can keep up.

I love the music and sound effects that accompany this program. The music that is used on the CDs is adventurous and is also by itself in soundtrack form as MP3 downloads. It is an original score by Emmy-winning composer John Campbell (of Narnia). The foley sound effects make you feel like you are right there with the characters and immerses you more into what's happening.

There is also a study guide that is 50 pages long. It has discussion points and questions to ask your children as they listen to the program. This is wonderful to use as part of a history curriculum while homeschooling. It is really easier to listen to the whole program before you do the study guide and then listen again a second time to do the study guide, in my opinion. It feels awkward to stop and start the program so many times (every 4 to 10 minutes) during play. The study guide does have the tracks and timestamp to stop at marked in the guide so you know where the narrative takes a new turn.

At the beginning of the study guide there is a list of the cast and crew, a brief introduction, and short descriptions about G.A. Henty and Moses. Each track has questions in the study guide having three parts: Listening Well, Thinking Further, and Defining Words. There are questions in the Listening Well section which are to see if you and your child are really paying attention. There are questions in the Thinking Further section that helps you understand deeper and get you and your child thinking more. The Defining Words section is a list of words that will enhance the vocabulary of your child and places more meaning for the story. Having a dictionary handy might be appropriate because the definitions are not already spelled out.

At the end of the study guide there are five main parts. The first gives us a recommended reading list for learning more about Ancient Egypt. After that there are three Bible Studies: one on God Meant it For Good, one on The Knowledge of God, and one on Idolatry and Tyranny. Lastly there is some historical background for The Cat of Bubastes.

My children learned and understood so much more with this study guide. We used the questions and Bible study section throughout and it made for a very lengthy, but interesting discussion session with my older kids. I am very glad that it was included. I love the scriptures it had you look up and ponder too. I also love that there were Expand Your Learning sections throughout the guide for sources for further reading and other information to further your knowledge. I do wish, however, that there was an answer guide as well to the questions, because it would make the whole thing flow better in my opinion.

This was a very good production and my family enjoyed listening to it thoroughly. Even in the face of adversity the main characters discovered how the truth sets you free. This audio book would be a wonderful addition to a Christian homeschooling curriculum and perfect to go along with an Ancient Egypt or Moses study.

BUY IT
Three options to choose from: Download version for $19.97, Single Version for $29.97, and the Family Four Pack for $99.97.

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Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HeirloomAudio
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Home School in the Woods Project Passport World History Study: Ancient Egypt Review

My family had the privilege of trying Home School in the Woods Project Passport World History Study: Ancient Egypt for this review to use in conjunction with our own homeschool curriculum. This is a Schoolhouse Review Crew Review. All opinions expressed are my own or those of my family.

Home School in the Woods is a family run business that creates Christian based history curriculum for homeschooling. This curriculum immerses your student in the topic. It is very hands-on with lapbooks, timelines, recipes, art, creative writing, notebook projects, dramatized audio theater, maps, crafts, projects, re-enactments, file-folder games, vocabulary to learn, etc.

My family got to pick one of three different Project Passport World History Study curriculum: Ancient Egypt (3100 BC to 30 BC), The Middle Ages (400 AD to 1500 AD), and Renaissance & Reformation (1100 AD to 1660 AD). Home School in the Woods will also eventually be expanding the series to include studies of Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome! We picked Ancient Egypt because it is just such a fascinating subject. As I have said before, my whole family are history enthusiasts. We love learning about ancient history the most! We also love learning about different cultures and even though we were not new to learning about Egypt, this study didn't disappoint and we learned a lot on the journey.

There are icons that help along one side and buttons that link to nice clear photos of the finished projects.

The Project Passport World History Studies are a virtual trip through history. These are recommended for grades 3-8. There are two different versions you can purchase, a CD version or a digital download version. With the CD version everything that you access and print is on the CD. With the digital download version you download a zipped file, place all of the contents into a folder on your computer, and access it by the start.htm file that is in that folder. We received the digital download version. This "trip" is supposed to last roughly 6-12 weeks depending upon how quickly everything is completed. For Each Project Passport World History Study you make a passport and "luggage" folder to hold some of the stuff you print off and make along the journey. Each "trip" has 25 chapters called "stops", where you observe action-packed events and meet fascinating people along the way. At each stop you come to there will be "Guide Book Text" which is information for the student to read about a certain topic explored and a "Travel Itinerary" that covers the project choices and directions. There are also helpful icons that let you know what you will be doing and color photos of all the completed projects so you know how they are supposed to look like when finished. There are a lot of printables of information and projects to do. Masters are available for all printables. There are so many things to do on the trip, for example: creating a "Scrapbook of Sights" (notebook for storing the notebook projects), dining on local cuisine with the "Dining out Guide" (recipes to create food and drink that was popular in the area at the time), taking pictures ("Snapshot Moments in History" scrapbook timeline), reporting on important people and happenings (a newspaper creative writing assignment - In the Ancient Egypt study it is called "The Kemet Chronicle"), making "souvenirs" to remember your stay (craft/art projects), dressing like the locals (fun dress up craft), making a lapbook, playing games (file-folder games), collecting postcards, listening to tour guides (dramatized audio theater - there are 8 of these), and so much more!

We found that there was a lot of preparation that needed to happen before getting started. There is a lot of things needing printed, items needing prepared for crafts and other projects, and general preparation of materials before one can begin the journey. The Travel Itinerary and Travel Planner: Quick Stop Itinerary helps with this a lot!

You will need a few items to get you through the lessons:

• Working Printer
• Color and Black Ink for the printer to cover all the printing that will be happening
• White and Colored Printer Paper
• White and Colored Cardstock (this is best, but admittedly we didn't have any of this and used only white printer paper and it worked OK)
• One 3-Ring Binder for the Guide Book (teacher binder for Introduction, Travel Tips, Travel Planner: Quick Stop Itinerary, Travel Itinerary, Guide Book Text, and Additional Resources)
• One 3-Ring Binder for the Scrapbook of Sights (student binder for all notebook projects)
• Colored File Folders or Colored Pocket Folders with Fasteners
• Scissors and/or an X-acto Knife (when using an X-acto Knife you will need a thick piece of cardboard or self healing mat to use as a cutting surface)
• Crayons, Markers, or Colored Pencils to color the pictures, if desired
• Glue
• Other Craft supplies specified for each of the different projects that your student wants to do

This is what the Project Passport World History Study: Ancient Egypt covers:

1. Laying the Foundation – Part I
2. Laying the Foundation – Part II
3. Everyday Life – Part  I
4. Everyday Life – Part II
5. Everyday Life – Part III
6. Agriculture, Trade and Transportation 
7. Education
8. Literature and Writing 
9. The Sciences
10. Medicine and Disease 
11. Ancient Egyptian Arts 
12. The Great Builders 
13. Religion and the "gods" 
14. Governing the Land 
15. The First Dynasties 
16. From Chaos to Order and Back Again to Chaos 
17. A Land Divided 
18. The New Kingdom Begins 
19. Egypt's Most Famous Woman 
20. The Conquering Pharaoh 
21. Akhenaten and Tutankhamen 
22. Egypt Fades Away 
23. Ancient Egypt and the Bible 
24. Bringing Back the Past 
25. The Final Stop - Packing Up!

How We Are Using It:
I was initially going to do this with my boys who are going into 8th and 9th grades next year, but they were not wanting to test this out with me, so I enlisted my daughter Teela who is going into 2nd grade next year. Since this is supposed to be for 3rd through 8th graders I thought it would prove a bit difficult for her, but most of the projects she did very well on. She did need my help with some of the more advanced projects and writing assignments and it took her a lot longer to get through some of the stops than it might have taken for my boys. I learned quite a bit too while helping her with this study.

Teela coloring and cutting out her passport, Scrapbook of Sights Cover, and luggage tag.

When I first looked this study over I was a bit overwhelmed by the grandeur of it. It seemed complicated at first, but I quickly got the hang of using the program. The instructions were not hard, there was just a lot of things to set up and print out initially and throughout the program. We still have not gotten through all the stops, but we have enjoyed everything that we have done thus far. I love that it is from a biblical Christian perspective too.

Teela making the Egyptian woman paper doll.

Teela really liked our project time together. She loves art and making things. Her favorite thing she made was a Reed Boat. Although the Reed Boat was time consuming for her she stuck with it and completed the project. We are on a very tight budget for everything, including homeschool, because my husband is doing school himself and not currently working so we don't have a lot to spend on extras at the moment. Because of this our Reed Boat didn't look quite like the one in the picture. It was hard to find actual reeds growing in our area, so we found a plant of a reasonable facsimile to use for the reeds and instead of a fabric sail we used a napkin...hey, we improvised with what we had.  The other project that was her favorite was the What did Egyptians Wear? paper dolls. She learned a lot about: how the Ancient Egyptians dressed, what they ate, what jobs they had, how they mummified their dead, how they grew their crops, how and what they traded and with who, what they used as transportation, their education, and so much more! There were so many projects to do to go with all the reading, creative writing, and listening to the audio tours. We did so many fun things and learned so much about the culture so far. I can't wait to get all the way through the whole program with my daughter. We are looking forward to learning more about Ancient Egypt.

Teela making the Reed Boat and the finished project.

I highly recommend the Project Passport World History Study: Ancient Egypt from Home School in the Woods. This is great for anyone homeschooling who might need some help with teaching Ancient Egypt in a highly educational, fun, and very hands-on way. This would also be perfect for those wanting something fun to do with their kids in the summer time. I am looking forward to reviewing more from Home School in the Woods in the future.

BUY IT
You can purchase the download version of the Project Passport World History Study: Ancient Egypt for $33.95 and CD version for $34.95.

Download the scope and sequence, listen to a sample audio tour, see photo examples of projects, and watch a video of "What is a Project Passport" when you click the link above, to get more of an idea about the program.

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