“Children should have the joy of living in far lands, in other persons, in other times – a delightful double existence; and this joy they will find, for the most part, in their story books. Their lessons, too, history and geography, should cultivate their conceptive powers. If the children do not live in the times of his history lesson, be not at home in the climate his geography book describes, why, these lessons will fail of their purpose.”
~Charlotte Mason~
When I was young, I loved historical fiction. The dry textbooks in history class failed to capture my imagination, but I loved books that spirited me away from the familiar—books that brought me to far off times and places.
My oldest daughter would agree. She’s an avid reader. It’s hard to keep up with her appetite for books.
She’s my kindred spirit.
In light of that, I’ve decided to give her the history class I’ve always dreamed of. A history class rooted in rich literature and deep discussion—”living books and narration”, if you’re of the Charlotte Mason tradition.
We’ll be using The Story of the World, Volume 4: The Modern Age as our main text. And, every week, my daughter will read a historical novel. I’ve incorporated selections from Beautiful Feet Books, Sonlight, and my own research. The picture books and shorter chapter books in this list will be read aloud with my younger girls during Morning Time.
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There are over 50 books in this list, arranged by time period. Reading level is based on the publisher’s recommendation, online reviews and internet searches. (Please note: On a tablet or phone, you will need to scroll right to view the column containing the year in which the book takes place and the reading level information.) My hope is that this list will benefit others looking for living books for their modern history studies.
| Title | Author | Country | Year | Reading Level |
| Amos Fortune: Free Man | Elizabeth Yates | Africa (likely Nigeria)/United States | 1710-1801 (to set background for slavery and Civil War) | Grades 6-8 |
| Imprisoned in the Golden City | Dave and Neta Jackson | Burma | 1823-1826 | Grades 4-6 |
| Red Sails to Capri | Ann Weil | Italy | 1826 (rediscovery of the Blue Grotto) | Grade 2 |
| David Livingstone | Geoff and Janet Benge | Africa | 1840s | Grades 4-6 |
| Under the Hawthorn Tree | Marita Conlon-McKenna | Ireland | 1840s (Irish Famine) | Grades 4-6 |
| By the Great Horn Spoon | Sid Fleischman | United States | Early 1850s (California Gold Rush) | Grades 4-8 |
| Carolina’s Courage | Elizabeth Yates | United States | 1850s | Grade 2 |
| Listen for the Whippoorwill | Dave and Neta Jackson | United States | 1853 (Harriet Tubman) | Grades 3-5 |
| Underground to Canada | Barbara Smucker | United States/Canada | 1850s (Underground Railroad) | Grade 6 |
| Freedom’s Wings: Corey’s Underground Railroad Diary | Sharon Dennis Wyeth | United States | 1857 (Underground Railroad) | Grades 1-3 |
| The Drinking Gourd | F.N. Monjo | United States | 1850s (Underground Railroad) | Grades 1-3 |
| Follow the Drinking Gourd | Jeanette Winter | United States | 1850s (Underground Railroad) | Grades K-1 (picture book) |
| The Patchwork Path | Bettye Stroud | United States | 1850s | Grades K-1 (picture book) |
| Florence Nightingale | Lucy Lethbridge | Britain | 1850s (Crimean War) | Grades 1-4 |
| Florence Nightingale | Demi | Britain | 1850s (Crimean War) | Grades K-3 (picture book) |
| Buffalo Bill and the Pony Express | Eleanor Coerr | United States | 1860 | Grades 1-3 |
| Across Five Aprils | Irene Hunt | United States | 1860s (Civil War) | Grades 5-8 |
| Dear Canada: A Trail of Broken Dreams | Sarah Ellis | Canada | 1862 (Cariboo Gold Rush) | Grades 4-7 |
| The Perilous Road | William O. Steele | United States | 1863 (Civil War) | Grades 6-8 |
| The Trouble with Gold | Priscilla Galloway | Canada | 1863 (Cariboo Gold Rush) | Grades 3-5 |
| Goldtown Adventures (Series) | Susan K. Marlow | United States | 1864 (just after California Gold Rush) | Grades 4-6 |
| Turn Homeward, Hannalee | Patricia Beatty | United States | 1865 (final days of Civil War) | Grades 6-8 |
| Shades of Gray | Carolyn Reeder | United States | 1866 (immediately following Civil War) | Grades 5-8 |
| Old Yeller | Fred Gipson | United States | Late 1860s | Grades 5-8 |
| The Railway Children | E. Nesbit | England | Written in 1906 but gives a sense of Victorian Era | Grades 4-6 |
| The Gate in the Wall | Ellen Howard | England | Late 1800s (Victorian Era) | Grades 3-5 |
| Lumber Camp Library | Natalie Kinsey-Warnock | United States | Early 1900s | Grades K-2 |
| Little Pear | Eleanor Frances Lattimore | China | Early 1900s | Grades 1-2 |
| Strawberry Girl | Lois Lenski | United States | Early 1900s | Grades 4-8 |
| Dragonwings (I’ve not yet read this so can’t vouch for content) | Laurence Yep | United States (Chinese immigrant) | 1909 | Grades 7-8 |
| Dear Canada: That Fatal Night | Sarah Ellis | Canada | 1912 (Titanic) | Grades 4-7 |
| Go Home Bay | Susan Vande Griek | Canada | 1914 (Tom Thompson) | Grades K-1 (picture book) |
| The Singing Tree | Kate Seredy | Hungary | 1914-1918 (WWI) | Grades 5-8 |
| Angel on the Square (I’ve not yet read this so can’t vouch for content) | Gloria Whelan | Russia | 1914 | Grades 2-5 |
| Terror in the Harbour | Sharon E. McKay | Canada | 1917 (Halifax explosion) | Grades 3-5 |
| Rascal | Sterling North | United States | 1918 | Grades 6-8 |
| Young Fu of Upper Yangtze | Elizabeth Foreman Lewis | China | 1920s | Grades 6-8 |
| Dear Canada: A Prairie as Wide as the Sea | Sarah Ellis | Canada | 1926 | Grades 4-7 |
| Roll of Thunder, Hear my Cry | Mildred D. Taylor | United States | 1930s (Great Depression) | Grades 6-8 |
| The House of Sixty Fathers | Meindert DeJong | China | 1939-1945 | Grades 5-8 |
| The Little Riders | Margaretha Shemin | Holland | 1940s (WWII) | Grades K-3 |
| Journey Through the Night | Anne De Vries | Holland | 1940s (WWII) | Grades 6-8 |
| The Endless Steppe | Esther Hautzig | Poland/Russia | 1941-1945 (WWII) | Grades 4-7 |
| Number the Stars | Lois Lowry | Denmark | 1943 (WWII) | Grades 4-7 |
| When I was Eight | Margaret Pokiak-Fenton | Canada | 1944 (residential schools) | Grades 2-4 (picture book) |
| The Winged Watchman | Hilda van Stockum | Holland | 1944-1945 | Grades 4-6 |
| Twenty and Ten | Claire Huchet Bishop | France | 1944-1945 | Grades 3-4 |
| Candy Bomber: The Story of the Berlin Airlift’s Chocolate Pilot | Michael O. Tunnell | Germany | 1945 | Grades 4-7 |
| The Year of Impossible Good-byes | Sook Nyul Choi | North Korea | 1945 | Grades 5-9 |
| In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson | Bette Bao Lord | United States | 1947 | Grades 3-5 |
| I am David | Anne Holm | Eastern Europe (possibly Bulgaria) | Late 1940s (Cold War) | Grades 5-8 |
| Gladys Aylward: The Adventure of a Lifetime | Janet and Geoff Benge | China | Mid 1900s | Grades 4-6 |
| Ruby Bridges Goes to School | Ruby Bridges | United States | 1960 | Grades K-1 |
| The Wall | Eve Bunting | United States | Modern day but discusses Vietnam War (1965-1975) | Grade K (picture book) |
| Water Buffalo Days: Growing Up in Vietnam | Quang Nhuong Huynh | Vietnam | 1965-1975 (Vietnam War) | Grades 3-6 |
We’ll also be supplementing these books with snippets from The Kids Book of Canadian History (a textbook) and Simply Charlotte Mason’s Stories of America.
I can’t wait to discuss these books with my daughter as we discover modern history together!
The Grace-Filled Life 
Agreat cimpilation here…I’ll refer to it for all my students.
A Night Divided is a great book about living behind the Berlin Wall. About 5th-7th grade.
Also don’t forget Animal Farm for a satyrical look at Russian communism and also A Chinese Cinderella about living in Communist China.
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