REVIEW: Carole P. Roman’s Assorted Series by Carole P. Roman

Disclaimer: I received a FREE copy of this product through the HOMESCHOOL REVIEW CREW in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way.

We have always enjoyed educational books by Carole P. Roman in the past, so we were thrilled to be able to select additional books from Carole P. Roman’s assorted series to review this time around.

WHAT IS IT?:

Carole P. Roman is an author who offers assorted series of books for children that cover topics in geography, history, and world cultures.  They are all written from a child’s perspective so that it’s easy for your child to imagine living in the time period, place, or culture that’s described in each of the books.

All of the stories give a good amount of educational content while keeping things concise to match a child’s attention span.  Each 2-page spread includes large, colorful illustrations to keep your children interested as you read aloud to them or as they read the books on their own.

Softcover books in the world culture series run about $9.99 each at Amazon, whereas the books in the civilization series run about $12.99.  Many Kindle editions are also available for significantly less.

For this review, I received 4 books:

• If You Were Me and Lived in Germany
• If You Were Me and Lived in Viking Europe
• If You Were Me and Lived in the Mayan Empire
• If You Were Me and Lived in Ancient Greece

My review will mainly focus on the first two books I listed above.

OUR EXPERIENCE:

Holden loves these stories, but he doesn’t love reading anything to himself, so we used them as read-alouds to read together during our leisure time.  We selected If You Were Me and Lived in…Germany to read first (from the series called A Child’s Introduction to Cultures Around the World), because my husband was in the Army stationed in Germany for 5 years before we were married.  He often talks of his time there, so I thought Holden (age 12) would enjoy learning a little more about the place his dad once called home so long ago.

This was a lovely story that began with the geography of Germany and where it’s located on a globe.  It went on to describe the capital city, landscape, and the Berlin Wall.  This was particularly of interest to us, as my husband was in Germany when the wall came down.  He received a plaque with a piece of the wall for his service there at that time. 

Then it talked about the typical names for each gender, as well as the German words used to reference various family members.  We learned about the currency used and many famous attractions that are of interest to residents and tourists alike.  We read about popular foods, sports, and activities.  Then there was a list of five interesting facts about Germany.  It gave a great overview of everyday life in the country.

The next book we chose to read was If You Were Me and Lived in…Viking Europe (from the series called A Introduction to Civilizations Throughout Time).  Holden chose this book, because he’s always been fascinated by any talk of the Vikings!  This story did not disappoint him!

The book begins with the setting of the story and compares a town in Norway back in the 800’s with what it might look like today.  Holden enjoyed flipping the page back and forth to compare the illustrations, looking for any similarities.  Then it talked about some Norse words and a brief bit of Viking history.  Then we were introduced to typical names for each gender, how people were named based on incorporating their father’s or mother’s name into their last name, what kinds of things Vikings were known for, how they lived and traded, and what signified a wealthy status. It described the three social classes and what kind of work they did.

It went on to describe their homes, useful skills they were taught, and the different types of boats they used.  We learned about the foods they ate, how they entertained, and the fact that they made use of everything at their disposal without a lot of waste.  We found out that they made all of their own clothing, and every household had a spinning wheel and loom for this purpose.  Since we’re part of a wealthy family in the story, we got to see what types of clothing, jewelry, and adornments would be worn in such a family.

We found out they only ate two meals per day, exactly 12 hours apart, and they viewed the world as having only two seasons…summer (the time of light) and winter (the time of darkness).  We learned about the skills that were taught to boys and girls, and what it meant to serve in the army.  We found out that suitors were examined starting when a girl became 12 years old, and she was usually married by the age of 15!  The story went on to describe the role of women in Viking society.  They were surprisingly respected and had many more rights that in a lot of other countries today!  We also read about their leisure activities and feasts.

The book revealed that the Vikings used a special alphabet with 24 characters, and it is believed that most of them could read and write at least a little, as evidenced by the discovery of signs along roadsides.  We also learned that the Vikings were polytheistic.  The book described some of the Norse gods and what their roles were.  The story ended with descriptions of many important Vikings from history.

At the back of both books, there was a glossary of key terms and their meanings.

We thoroughly enjoyed these stories!  They were both very engaging and entertaining.  The colorful, full-page illustrations make them particularly interesting as read-aloud stories, as I was able to fold back the opposite page so Holden could look at the illustration while I read the corresponding text.  The Viking story was 69 pages, not including the glossary, and when were done, Holden asked me how I finished the story so fast.  That’s because it was so fascinating that he hadn’t notice how very many times I had turned the page.  That’s a winner in my book!

The additional books I received were also from the series on civilizations pertaining to Ancient Greece and the Mayan Empire.  All of the books in this particular series follow a similar pattern of historical topics as the Viking Europe story I described above.  They are definitely very meaty and give a wealth of vital information in an easy-to-follow, easy-to-digest format that makes the reader (and listener, as the case may be) feel like you are there, experiencing that part of the world in real time.  The culture series follows the format of geography and everyday life in a particular country.  It’s a more gentle introduction that a younger child could easily read on their own.

I love that all of these books fit a variety of interests, purposes, and age levels.  They make great supplements to history and culture studies, but they’re also fascinating just for entertainment purposes.  I have so many of them on my schoolroom bookshelves!  I like to select one periodically that pertains to the time period we are studying in history and use it as a fun supplemental reader to sum up what we’ve studied.

I’ve reviewed Carole P. Roman books several times in the past.  If you’re looking for a particular topic, you might want to reference my previous reviews:

Review #1:

• If You Were Me and Lived in…Colonial America
• If You Were Me and Lived in…American West
• If You Were Me and Lived in…Ancient China
• If You Were Me and Lived in…Renaissance Italy

Review #2:

• If You Were Me and Lived in…Mexico
• If You Were Me and Lived in…Colonial America
• I Want to Do Yoga, Too
• Pepper Parrot’s Problem with Patience

Review #3:

• If You Were Me and Lived in…Australia
• If You Were Me and Lived in…India
• If You Were Me and Lived in…Russia

There are even some toddler/preschool books to choose from, some of which are featured in one of my past reviews.  Carole P. Roman books have so much to offer your family!  Check out what’s available.  There are sure to be some to suit your needs, and they are just a joy to read!  I’ve even used them as bedtime stories in the past.

Take a look at what other Crew members have to say about a variety of Carole P. Roman books by clicking the banner below.