Having reviewed books from the Heroes of History line from YWAM Publishing, I knew we would not be disappointed with any of the choices that were offered to us. For this review, our first choice was Laura Ingalls Wilder: A Storybook Life. My oldest daughter had just finished reading one of Laura’s books and I thought she would love to read more about her growing up years and her family.
YWAM, which stands for Youth With A Mission, publishes different biographies to encourage Christians to make a difference. in the world.
Laura Ingalls Wilder was written by Janet and Geoff Benge. Janet and Geoff are a married couple who have twenty years of writing experience. They desire to make history come alive.
This biography is less than 200 pages and has 15 chapters. It could be read fairly quickly or you could read it slowly over a period of time. This book would make a great read aloud book or you could choose to have your children read through it themselves. The book covers Laura’s life from when she was a small child until her death. It talks about the hardships the family encountered, but it also talks about the fun they had as well.
These books have an accompanying digital unit study that can be used with them. The unit study is a downloadable pdf that includes study questions, ideas for a display, essay and creative writing, and hands-on projects. There is also a fact sheet that you can fill out that lists the full name, date of birth, parents, siblings, and date of death. A timeline of important events during the person’s life is included, as well as some maps of the area where the person lived or traveled.
In the past, I have used this books as a read aloud for my children. This time I decided to let my 7th grade daughter read the book on her own. She had just finished reading one of Laura’s books and I thought she would like to read about the author’s life. My daughter read through about a chapter a day. She did know some of the things she read just by reading Laura’s books and also by watching Little House on the Prairie. She enjoyed learning about some things she didn’t know like Laura’s Christmas present of a doll one year.
When my daughter had finished the chapter, I would go over the questions with her. I had her pick one hands-on project to do after she finished
reading the book. She picked to make a rag doll like Laura’s. We found some instructions online and made a no sew one easily and quickly with some scrap fabric I had laying around. I was hoping she would want to bake or make something to eat, but she said she wanted the doll because Laura’s doll was named Charlotte and that is my daughter’s name.She enjoyed reading the book, going through the questions, and making her new doll. I also had her fill out the fact sheet and had her look at the states where Laura lived and traveled through. We also went over some of the events on the timeline.
My daughter enjoyed the book and said she would love to read another biography soon. I had her look through some of them and she mentioned Amy Carmichael might be one she would enjoy.
