Heroes of History - Davy Crockett is a biography of his life, written as a chapter book. The suggested age is 10+ but my 3rd grader easily read the book. It is written in third person omniscient point of view, making it easy to follow along with the story line and events. It tells the story of David Crockett's life in a way that makes it fun for children. Getting into the politics side might seem boring for some people, but this book is written in a way that made it easy to follow along with. There is quite a large selection of Heroes of History books, and they make a great way for children to learn more about a specific person. You can also use these books as the spine to a unit study with the available study guides.
The Study Guides are a downloadable PDF. I printed it and spiral bound it so we could use it more easily. It is made to open in a browser and look and navigate like a webpage, but all of the information is on your computer. There are two parts to the unit study, the first part contains all the information you need to turn the chapter book into a complete unit study curriculum. There are quotes to memorize, comprehension questions (and answers), essay and writing ideas, and plenty of suggested projects and crafts. The guide includes suggested places to visit, social studies and geography activities, vocabulary words, other books to look for, and ideas for a celebration of learning to end your unit study. There is so much information included that you can cover a variety of subjects while focusing on Davy Crockett's life!
The second part of the unit study contains some reproducible pages that each child can use to write facts about Davy Crockett, create a timeline of his life, and map the places he visited and lived.
There are also Overview guides for using the study guide in a homeschool, classroom, or group environment as a standalone unit or as part of a complete year plan.
How did we use this book?
As soon as the book came, my 8th grader took it. She read through it in just a few days. She says, "It was a really interesting and fun book. It was easy to read. I didn't know that when he was young he ran away from his dad to avoid a beating, and stayed away from his family for a long time. I didn't know that he was a politician. I think this book is appropriate for all ages, older kids might be able to read it alone and do the worksheets with it. I would be interested in reading more Heroes of History books."
I began reading it aloud to my other children in 6th, 3rd, and K. I also printed the student pages for them to use. My 6th grader says, "The book is fun, I thought it would be a boring history book but it was nothing like that! I thought it was interesting that he walked to so many states, and I liked reading about when he fought and was working in the government. It was interesting but also disgusting when it talked about his father cleaning out the bullet wound."
I made the mistake of reading the second chapter to the children while they were eating dinner. Don't do that! My kids twisted their faces and put down their spoons because the book talked about cleaning out the wound of a man who had been shot. Otherwise, everyone enjoyed the book and always begged me to keep reading!
I like how much information is in this 189 page book. There is a bibliography page in the back for anyone interested in reading more. I remember learning about Davy Crockett as a child, but the information I've retained goes a little like this -
Born on a mountain top in Tennessee,
Greenest state in the land of the free,
Raised in the woods so he knew ev'ry tree,
Kilt him a b'ar when he was only three!
etc....
This book goes into so much more information than I remember learning, and I'm glad my kids enjoyed it because it allowed them to learn a lot more about David Crockett as a person and why he has a significant place in history.
In addition to the Heroes of History books, YWAM Publishing also offers their Christian Heroes: Then and Now series of books and Study Guides. These are biographies of ordinary men and women who have accomplished extraordinary things. Check out what books other Crew Members reviewed here.
Where to find YWAM Publishing:
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