You Wouldn’t Want To Be…. Oblivious to this Series!
I love teaching my boys history, and it’s so easy to teach with the great books that are out there now. History no longer has to be the boring reading out of dry books that we often knew as a kids. Let me show you this great series, You Wouldn’t Want To Be, that has helped liven up our history lessons.
These books are great for kids of any age. My youngest started ‘reading’ them when he was 4, and my oldest, 14, still reads every one that comes into the house. The colorful illustrations and often gory historical facts help keep even the most book phobic kids engaged.
I could take some picture of mine so you can have a look inside, but I can do way better than that. Here is a link to 4 books to read online. They are: You Wouldn’t Want to be a Roman Gladiator, You Wouldn’t Want to be an Egyptian Mummy, You Wouldn’t Want to be a Polar Explorer, and You Wouldn’t Want to Sail on a 19th Century Whaling Ship. Isn’t that great? Now you can really see what these books are like.
We have used lots of these books with SOTW, and I have put most, I think, of the available titles in the following list.
The Story of the World: Volume 1
Introduction: What is History
Chapter 1: Earliest People (6000 BC)
You Wouldn’t Want to Be a Mammoth Hunter!: Dangerous Beasts You’d Rather Not Encounter
Chapter 2: Egyptians Lived on the Nile River (3000BC)
Chapter 3 The First Writing (3200 BC)
You Wouldn’t Want to Be an Egyptian Mummy!: Disgusting Things You’d Rather Not Know
Chapter 4 The Old Kingdom of Egypt (2550)
You Wouldn’t Want to Be a Pyramid Builder!
Chapter 5: The First Sumerian Dictator (2335 BC)
You Wouldn’t Want to Be a Sumerian Slave!: A Life of Hard Labor You’d Rather Avoid
Chapter 6: The Jewish People
Chapter 7: Hammurabi and the Babylonians
Chapter 8: The Assyrians
Chapter 9: The First Cities of India
Chapter 10: The Far East: Ancient China
Chapter 11: Ancient Africa
Chapter 12 : Middle Kingdom of Egypt
Chapter 13: New Kingdom of Egypt
You Wouldn’t Want to Be Cursed by King Tut!: A Mysterious Death You’d Rather Avoid
Chapter 14 The Israelites Leave Egypt
Chapter 15 The Phoenicians (1200-850 BC)
Chapter 16 The Return of Assyria (1300-627 BC)
Chapter 17: Babylon Takes Over Again!
Chapter 18: Life in Early Crete
Chapter 19: The Early Greeks
You Wouldn’t Want to Be a Slave in Ancient Greece!
Chapter 20: Greece Gets Civilized Again (800 BC)
You Wouldn’t Want to Be a Greek Athlete: Races You’d Rather Not Run
Chapter 21: The Medes and the Persians
Chapter 22: Sparta and Athens (800-600 BC)
Chapter 23: The Greek Gods (800 -600 BC)
Chapter 24: The Wars of the Greeks (431 BC)
Chapter 25: Alexander the Great (336 BC)
You Wouldn’t Want To Be In Alexander The Great’s Army!: Miles You’d Rather Not March
Chapter 26: The People of the Americas
Chapter 27: The Rise of Rome
Chapter 28: The Roman Empire
You Wouldn’t Want to Be a Roman Gladiator!: Gory Things You’d Rather Not Know
Chapter 29: Rome’s War with Carthage
Chapter 30: The Aryans of India
Chapter 31: The Mauryan Empire of India
Chapter 32: China: Writing and the Qin
You Wouldn’t Want to Work on the Great Wall of China!: Defenses You’d Rather Not Build
Chapter 33: Confucius
Chapter 34: The Rise of Julius Caesar 100-40 BC
Chapter 35: Caesar the Hero 69-44
You Wouldn’t Want to Be Cleopatra!: An Egyptian Ruler You’d Rather Not Be
Chapter 36: The First Roman Prince
Chapter 37: The Beginning of Christianity
Chapter 38: The End of the Ancient Jewish Nation
Chapter 39 : Rome and the Christians (Pompeii is not covered in SOTW, but I added some books in any way.)
You Wouldn’t Want to Live in Pompeii! A Volcanic Eruption You’d Rather Avoid
Chapter 40: Rome Begins to Weaken (60- 305 AD)
Chapter 41: The Attacking Barbarians
Chapter 42: The End of Rome
The Story of the World: Volume 2
Chapter 1 — The Glory That Was Rome
Chapter 2 — The Early Days of Britain
Chapter 3 — Christianity Comes to Britain
Chapter 4 — The Byzantine Empire
Chapter 5 — The Medieval Indian Empire
Chapter 6 — The Rise of Islam
Chapter 7 — Islam Becomes an Empire
Chapter 8 — The Great Dynasties of China
Chapter 9 — East of China
Chapter 10 — The Bottom of the World
Chapter 11 — The Kingdom of the Franks
Chapter 12 — The Islamic Invasion
Chapter 13 — The Great Kings of France
Chapter 14 — The Arrival of the Norsemen
You Wouldn’t Want to Be a Viking Explorer!
Chapter 15 — The First Kings of England
You Wouldn’t Want to Work on a Medieval Cathedral!: A Difficult Job That Never Ends
Chapter 16 — England After the Conquest
Chapter 17 — Knights and Samurai
You Wouldn’t Want to Be a Medieval Knight!: Armor You’d Rather Not Wear
You Wouldn’t Want to Be a Samurai!: A Deadly Career You’d Rather Not Pursue
Chapter 18 — The Age of Crusades
You Wouldn’t Want to Be a Crusader!: A War You’d Rather Not Fight
Chapter 19 — A New Kind of King
You Wouldn’t Want to Be in a Medieval Dungeon!: Prisoners You’d Rather Not Meet
Chapter 20 — The Diaspora
Chapter 21 — The Mongols Devastate the East
Chapter 22 — Exploring the Mysterious East
You Wouldn’t Want to Explore with Marco Polo!: A Really Long Trip You’d Rather Not Take
Chapter 23 — The First Russians
Chapter 24 — The Ottoman Empire
Chapter 25 — The End of the World
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
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
Chapter 32 — The American Kingdom
You Wouldn’t Want to Be a Mayan Soothsayer!: Fortunes You’d Rather Not Tell
You Wouldn’t Want to Be an Aztec Sacrifice! Gruesome Things You’d Rather Not Know
You Wouldn’t Want to Be an Inca Mummy!: A One-Way Journey You’d Rather Not Make
Chapter 33 — Spain, Portugal, and the New World
Chapter 34 — Martin Luther’s New Ideas
You Wouldn’t Want to Be Married to Henry VIII! A Husband You’d Rather Not Have
Chapter 35 — The Renaissance
Chapter 36 — Reformation and Counter Reformation
Chapter 37 — The New Universe
Chapter 38 — England’s Greatest Queen
You Wouldn’t Want to be Ill in Tudor Times
You Wouldn’t Want to Be Mary, Queen of Scots!: A Ruler Who Really Lost Her Head
Chapter 39 — England’s Greatest Playwright
You Wouldn’t Want to Be a Shakespearean Actor!: Some Roles You Might Not Want to Play
Chapter 40 — New Ventures to the Americas
You Wouldn’t Want to Be an American Colonist!
Chapter 41 — Explorations in the North
Chapter 42 — Empires Collide
You Wouldn’t Want to Explore With Sir Francis Drake!: A Pirate You’d Rather Not Know
You Wouldn’t Want to Sail in the Spanish Armada!: An Invasion You’d Rather Not Launch
Here are some more books from this series, in a rough chronological order.
You Wouldn’t Want to Sail on the Mayflower!
You Wouldn’t Want to Be a Pirate’s Prisoner!: Horrible Things You’d Rather Not Know
You Wouldn’t Want to Be a Salem Witch!: Bizarre Accusations You’d Rather Not Face
You Wouldn’t Want to Travel with Captain Cook!: A Voyage You’d Rather Not Make
You Wouldn’t Want to Be an 18th-Century British Convict!: A Trip to Australia You’d Rather Not Take
You Wouldn’t Want to Be at the Boston Tea Party!: Wharf Water Tea You’d Rather Not Drink
You Wouldn’t Want to Be an Aristocrat in the French Revolution!: A Horrible Time in Paris You’d Rather Avoid
You Wouldn’t Want to be a Victorian Miner
You Wouldn’t Want to Be a Victorian Servant!: A Thankless Job You’d Rather Not Have
You Wouldn’t Want to Be a Victorian Mill Worker!: A Grueling Job You’d Rather Not Have
You Wouldn’t Want to Explore with Lewis and Clark
You Wouldn’t Want to Be in the First Submarine!: An Undersea Expedition You’d Rather Avoid
You Wouldn’t Want to Sail on a 19th-Century Whaling Ship!: Grisly Tasks You’d Rather Not Do
You Wouldn’t Want to Be a Civil War Soldier!
You Wouldn’t Want to Be a Nurse During the American Civil War!: A Job That’s Not for the Squeamish
You Wouldn’t Want to Work on the Railroad!: A Track You’d Rather Not Go Down
You Wouldn’t Want to Live in a Wild West Town!: Dust You’d Rather Not Settle 19th Century
You Wouldn’t Want to Be a Pony Express Rider!: A Dusty, Thankless Job You’d Rather Not Do
You Wouldn’t Want to Be a 19th-Century Coal Miner in England!: A Dangerous Job You’d Rather Not Have
You Wouldn’t Want to Sail on an Irish Famine Ship!: A Trip Across the Atlantic You’d Rather Not Make
You Wouldn’t Want to Be a Suffragist!: A Protest Movement That’s Rougher Than You Expected 
You Wouldn’t Want to Be a Worker on the Statue of Liberty!: A Monument You’d Rather Not Build
You Wouldn’t Want to Be on the First Flying Machine!
You Wouldn’t Want to Sail on the Titanic!: One Voyage You’d Rather Not Make 1912
You Wouldn’t Want to Work on the Hoover Dam!
You Wouldn’t Want to Be on the Hindenburg!: A Transatlantic Trip You’d Rather Skip
You Wouldn’t Want to Meet Typhoid Mary!: A Deadly Cook You’d Rather Not Know
You Wouldn’t Want to Be a Secret Agent During World War II!: A Perilous Mission Behind Enemy Lines
You Wouldn’t Want to Be a World War II Pilot!: Air Battles You Might Not Survive
You Wouldn’t Want to Be a Polar Explorer!
You Wouldn’t Want to Be on Apollo 13!: A Mission You’d Rather Not Go On
