Story of the World Volume 2: The Middle Ages Book List

Share This

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Here is the start of my book list for The Story of the World: History for the Classical Child: The Middle Ages: From the Fall of Rome to the Rise of the Renaissance. I am using Story of the World Volume 2 for grade 2, 4, 6, and 8. We will spend 1-2 years on it, exploring things that interest my boys in-depth, knights, Mongols, and we will spend a lot of time on Ireland. I will add to this list as we go along.

Chapter 1 — The Glory That Was Rome
Outcast
Between the Forest and the Hills (Adventure Library)
Attila the Hun: Leader of the Barbarian Hordes (Wicked History)

Chapter 2 — The Early Days of Britain
The Ancient Celts
Life in Celtic Times (Dover History Coloring Book)
Beowulf: A New Verse Translation (Bilingual Edition)
Dragonslayers: From Beowulf to St. George (Myths and Legends)
The Capricorn Bracelet
The Smashing Saxons (Horrible Histories)
Favorite Celtic Fairy Tales (Dover Children’s Thrift Classics)

Chapter 3 — Christianity Comes to Britain (We are spending extra time on Ireland here) 
Augustine Came to Kent (Living History Library) age 12 and up. 597A.D.
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight; Pearl; [and] Sir Orfeo
The Shining Company Ages 12 and up. Britain in 600 A.D.
Otto of the Silver Hand

Ireland
The Tain (Penguin Classics) Story of Cù Chulainn
The High Deeds of Finn MacCool (Rosemary Sutcliff) Age 9 and up
The Hound of Ulster(Rosemary Sutcliff) Age 9 and up
Atlas of Irish History
St. Patrick of Ireland: A Biography
The Story of Ireland: A History of the Irish People with DVD Story of Ireland
The Story of Ireland
The King of Ireland’s Son
A Treasury of Irish Myth, Legend & Folklore: Fairy and Folk Tales of the Irish Peasantry
Ireland Our Island Story: A History of Ireland for Children
Irish Legends For Children Beautifully illustrated.
Best-Loved Irish Legends: Mini Edition Pocked sized book, not as nice as above one, but a good cheaper option.

Chapter 4 — The Byzantine Empire 
Famous Men of the Middle Ages. Free e-book. This read-aloud features the life of Justinian in Chapter 6.
Sailing from Byzantium: How a Lost Empire Shaped the World

Chapter 5 — The Medieval Indian Empire
Chapter 6 — The Rise of Islam
Chapter 7 — Islam Becomes an Empire 
Mosque

Chapter 8 — The Great Dynasties of China
Science in Ancient China
Where the Mountain Meets the Moon
Spirit Hunter

Chapter 9 — East of China  
Easy Origami (Dover Origami Papercraft)
Folded Fun Beginner’s Origami
Decorative Origami Boxes (Dover Origami Papercraft) One of my boys loves to make these boxes.
Star Wars Origami: 36 Amazing Paper-folding Projects from a Galaxy Far, Far Away…. My boys love this book, but not for beginners.

No history here, but I have to mention this series. It is a HUGE hit with my boys. (Language warning: crap, jerk, bejeezus,  etc)   

Chapter 10 — The Bottom of the World  
Call It Courage Story of a Polynesian islander before European missionaries.

Chapter 11 — The Kingdom of the Franks  
Famous Men of the Middle Ages. Free e-book. This book contains chapter on Clovis.

Chapter 12 — The Islamic Invasion
One Thousand and One Arabian Nights (Oxford Story Collections)
Seven Daughters and Seven Sons
Shadow Spinner (A Jean Karl Book)

Chapter 13 — The Great Kings of France
Famous Men of the Middle Ages. Free e-book. Includes a section on Charlemagne.
Son of Charlemagne age 10 and up. The year is A.D. 781.

Chapter 14 — The Arrival of the Norsemen
The Story of Rolf and the Viking Bow
The Saga of the Volsungs (Penguin Classics)
The Prose Edda: Norse Mythology (Penguin Classics)
Viking Ships At Sunrise (Magic Tree House, No. 15)
The Vikings: Revised Edition
Viking: The Norse Warrior’s Manual
The Children of Odin: The Book of Northern Myths
D’Aulaires’ Book of Norse Myths
The Vicious Vikings (Horrible Histories)

Chapter 15 — The First Kings of England   
Cathedral: The Story of Its Construction
Sword Song
Knight: The Medieval Warrior’s (Unofficial) Manual
The Reluctant Dragon
The Stormin’ Normans (Horrible Histories)

Chapter 16 — England After the Conquest
Adam of the Road (Puffin Modern Classics) Eleven-year-old Adam in 13th Century England
The Knight at Dawn (Magic Tree House, No. 2)
Life in a Medieval Castle
Life in a Medieval City
Life in a Medieval Village
The Castle in the Attic and The Battle for the Castle

Maths books about a Knight.
Sir Cumference and the First Round Table
Sir Cumference and the Dragon of Pi
Sir Cumference and the Great Knight of Angleland
Sir Cumference and the Isle of Immeter
Sir Cumference and All the King’s Tens
Sir Cumference and the Viking’s Map
Sir Cumference and the Off-the-charts Dessert
Sir Cumference and the Sword in the Cone

Chapter 17 — Knights and Samurai 
You Wouldn’t Want to Be a Samurai!: A Deadly Career You’d Rather Not Pursue
You Wouldn’t Want to Be a Medieval Knight!: Armor You’d Rather Not Wear
The Sword and the Circle: King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table
Tristan and IseultThe Measly Middle Ages (Horrible Histories)
Samurai: The Japanese Warrior’s [Unofficial] Manual
The Samurai’s Tale
The Sign of the Chrysanthemum (Harper Trophy Book)
Day Of The Dragon-King (Magic Tree House 14, paper)
Black Horses for the King (Magic Carpet Books) Fictional story about King Author before he was king
Night of the Ninjas (Magic Tree House, No. 5)
The Ordinary Princess
The Hero and the Crown
The Blue Sword (Newbery Honor Roll)

Chapter 18 — The Age of Crusades  
You Wouldn’t Want to Be a Crusader!: A War You’d Rather Not Fight
A Year in a Castle Age 5 and up
Make This Model Crusader Castle (Usborne Cut-Out Models)

Chapter 19 — A New Kind of King  
The Adventures of Robin Hood (Puffin Classics)
Castle Diary: The Journal of Tobias Burgess
Terry Jones’ Medieval Lives

Chapter 20 — The Diaspora

Chapter 21 — The Mongols Devastate the East  
Genghis Khan: 13th Century Mongolian Tyrant (Wicked History)
The Rise and Fall of the Second Largest Empire in History: How Genghis Khan’s Mongols Almost Conquered the World

Chapter 22 — Exploring the Mysterious East
Chapter 23 — The First Russians 
The Trumpeter of Krakow 1462, A teenage boy in medieval Poland

Chapter 24 — The Ottoman Empire  

Chapter 25 — The End of the World  
The Door in the Wall

Chapter 26 — France and England at War  
You Wouldn’t Want to Be Joan of Arc!: A Mission You Might Want to Miss

Chapter 27 — War for the English Throne 
You Wouldn’t Want to Be in a Medieval Dungeon!: Prisoners You’d Rather Not Meet

Chapter 28 — The Kingdoms of Spain and Portugal  
Chapter 29 — African Kingdoms  
Chapter 30 — India Under the Moghuls  

Chapter 31 — Exploring New Worlds  
You Wouldn’t Want to Sail With Christopher Columbus!: Uncharted Waters You’d Rather Not Cross
Pocahontas and the Strangers (Scholastic Biography)

Chapter 32 — The American Kingdoms
You Wouldn’t Want to Be an Aztec Sacrifice! Gruesome Things You’d Rather Not Know (You Wouldn’t Want To)
You Wouldn’t Want to Be an Inca Mummy!: A One-Way Journey You’d Rather Not Make
You Wouldn’t Want to Be a Mayan Soothsayer!: Fortunes You’d Rather Not Tell
The Incredible Incas (Horrible Histories)
Angry Aztecs
Mayas,

Chapter 33 — Spain, Portugal, and the New World
Chapter 34 — Martin Luther’s New Ideas  

Chapter 35 — The Renaissance 
Rats, Bulls & Flying Machines: A History of the Renaissance & Reformation
Knowledge Foundation Hardcover
Leonardo Da Vinci and His Super-brain (Dead Famous)
Chapter 36 — Reformation and Counter Reformation 

Chapter 37 — The New Universe       Our Astronomy Books
Galileo and the Solar System
Galileo for Kids: His Life and Ideas, 25 Activities (For Kids series)

Chapter 38 — England’s Greatest Queen  
You Wouldn’t Want to Be Mary, Queen of Scots!: A Ruler Who Really Lost Her Head
The Perilous Gard
Elizabeth I and Her Terrible Temper (Horribly Famous)
Tudors: A High-Speed History (Horrible Histories)
The Terrible Tudors (Horrible Histories)
Red Hugh, Prince of Donegal

Chapter 39 — England’s Greatest Playwright  
You Wouldn’t Want to Be a Shakespearean Actor!: Some Roles You Might Not Want to Play
Tales from Shakespeare Free kindle e-book.
Shakespeare Stories
William Shakespeare and His Dramatic Acts (Horribly Famous)
The Shakespeare Stealer (Shakespeare Stealer, Book 1)
Shakespeare’s Scribe (Shakespeare Stealer, Book 2)
Shakespeare’s Spy (Shakespeare Stealer, Book 3)

Chapter 40 — New Ventures to the Americas 
North American Indians (Step Into)

Chapter 41 — Explorations in the North
Chapter 42 — Empires Collide

We also used these books.
The New Penguin Atlas of Medieval History: Revised Edition
World History
The Story of Mankind, by Hendrik Willem van Loon Really like this one.
The Kingfisher History Encyclopedia, 3rd edition
The Usborne Encyclopedia of World History (With Internet Links)