As high school approaches, Ben’s reading list is growing and changing. So many of the books I want him to read can be found cheap or free on Kindle. And we love our Kindles! No more packing a huge backpack every time we travel or buying one more book case because we’ve filled all that we have. We can slip a Kindle into my purse or the pocket on the back of the seat of the car. It’s really very freeing. Being able to use a Kindle for homeschool education is a gift.
Growing up in this digital age, Ben doesn’t have the same attachment to “real” books that I have, or that you may have. Trust me, as our kids grow up and leave for college, they will be reading even more and more from eReaders. I am thrilled that so many classics are available at really low cost (or even free!).
I have compiled this list of books (and downloaded many of them to Ben’s Kindle) so that he always has the best books available at his fingertips. Many of them are required reading for the history curriculum we will be using in high school. I hope you find them useful as well.
Many of these books are free. Almost all of them are cheap. I don’t recall any over $5 and most are half that. If you’d like to see a list of books that are completely free, I have a list of free Kindle books for kids. That list has some of the classics in literature as well, and will make a nice addition to this list.
If you don’t have a Kindle, no worries. You can download Kindle for PC for free. There are also Kindle apps for iPad and iPod, as well as Droid.
World History
Thirty More Famous Stories Retold (Illustrated)
On the Shores of the Great Sea (Illustrated) (The Story of the World Book 1)
The Discovery of New Worlds (Illustrated) (The Story of the World Book 2)
The Awakening of Europe (Illustrated) (The Story of the World Book 3)
The Struggle for Sea Power (Illustrated)
Growth of the British Empire (Illustrated)
Ten Boys Who Lived on the Road from Long Ago to Now (Yesterday’s Classics)
The Lion of Saint Mark A Story of Venice in the Fourteenth Century
Under Drake’s Flag (Annotated): A Tale of the Spanish Main
FREE
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Ancient Greece
A Wonder Book for Girls and Boys: Greek Mythology for Kids (Illustrated)
Alexander the Great (Illustrated)
Streams of History: Ancient Greece (Yesterday’s Classics)
The Story of Greece (Illustrated)
Famous Men of Greece (Illustrated)
The Story of the Greeks (Illustrated)
The Odyssey for Boys and Girls
A Story of the Golden Age of Greek Heroes
The Children’s Plutarch: Tales of the Greeks (Yesterday’s Classics)
Our Young Folks’ Plutarch (Yesterday’s Classics)
Gods and Heroes: The Kingdom of Jupiter
Our Little Spartan Cousin of Long Ago (Yesterday’s Classics) (Our Little Cousins of Long Ago)
Our Little Athenian Cousin of Long Ago (Yesterday’s Classics) (Our Little Cousins of Long Ago)
Men of Old Greece (Yesterday’s Classics)
Peeps at Many Lands: Ancient Greece (Yesterday’s Classics)
Three Greek Children (Yesterday’s Classics)
Stories of the East from Herodotus
Stories from Plato and Other Classic Writers (Yesterday’s Classics)
The Story of the Persian War (Yesterday’s Classics)
Stories of Old Greece (Yesterday’s Classics)
Our Little Macedonian Cousin of Long Ago (Yesterday’s Classics) (Our Little Cousins of Long Ago)
The Complete Makers of History of Jacob Abbott (Illustrated)
FREE
Old Greek Folk Stories Told Anew
The Boys’ and Girls’ Plutarch; being parts of the “Lives” of Plutarch, edited for boys and girls
Stories from the Greek Tragedians
The Heroes, or Greek Fairy Tales for My Children
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Ancient Rome
The Story of Rome (Illustrated)
The Story of the Romans (Illustrated)
Streams of History: Ancient Rome (Yesterday’s Classics)
The Complete Makers of History of Jacob Abbott (Illustrated)
Our Young Folks’ Plutarch (Yesterday’s Classics)
The Children’s Plutarch: Tales of the Romans (Yesterday’s Classics)
Stories from Ancient Rome (Illustrated)
Peeps at Many Lands: Ancient Rome (Yesterday’s Classics)
Our Little Roman Cousin of Long Ago (Yesterday’s Classics) (Our Little Cousins of Long Ago)
Our Little Carthaginian Cousin of Long Ago (Yesterday’s Classics) (Our Little Cousins of Long Ago)
FREE
The Boys’ and Girls’ Plutarch; being parts of the “Lives” of Plutarch, edited for boys and girls
The Young Carthaginian A Story of The Times of Hannibal
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Britain
Our Island Story (Illustrated)
Scotland’s Story (Illustrated)
In the Days of Alfred the Great (Yesterday’s Classics)
Our Island Saints (Yesterday’s Classics)
In the Days of William the Conqueror (Yesterday’s Classics)
Our Empire Story (Illustrated)
In the Days of Queen Elizabeth
Wulf the Saxon (Annotated with Historical Overview): A Story of the Norman Conquest
By England’s Aid Or, the Freeing of the Netherlands, 1585-1604
FREE
The Children of the New Forest
Beautiful Stories from Shakespeare
Beric the Briton : a Story of the Roman Invasion
In Freedom’s Cause : a Story of Wallace and Bruce
Both Sides the Border A Tale of Hotspur and Glendower
When London Burned : a Story of Restoration Times and the Great Fire
Orange and Green (This book is Illustrated): A Tale of the Boyne and Limerick
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Early Civilizations
Streams of History: Early Civilizations (Yesterday’s Classics)
Tales and Customs of the Ancient Hebrews (Yesterday’s Classics)
The Story of the Chosen People
The Story of the Last Days of Jerusalem
For the Temple (This book is Illustrated): A Tale of the Fall of Jerusalem
FREE
Peeps at Many Lands: Ancient Egypt
The Cat of Bubastes A Tale of Ancient Egypt
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Middle Ages
The Story of Europe from the Fall of the Roman Empire to the Reformation (Yesterday’s Classics)
Streams of History: The Middle Ages (Yesterday’s Classics)
Our Little Frankish Cousin of Long Ago (Yesterday’s Classics)
Heroes of the Middle Ages (Yesterday’s Classics)
Our Little Norman Cousin of Long Ago (Yesterday’s Classics)
When Knights Were Bold (Illustrated)
Stories from the Crusades (Illustrated)
Our Little Crusader Cousin of Long Ago (Yesterday’s Classics)
Our Little Celtic Cousin of Long Ago (Yesterday’s Classics)
The Story of Rolf and the Viking’s Bow by Allen French
Streams of History: The Renaissance and Reformation (Yesterday’s Classics)
The Lion of the North, a Tale of the Times of Gustavus Adolphus
FREE
Stories from the Crusades (Illustrated)
By Pike and Dyke: a Tale of the Rise of the Dutch Republic
Saint Bartholomew’s Eve (Annotated)
A Knight of the White Cross : a tale of the siege of Rhodes
Won by the Sword (Annotated): A Story of the Thirty Years’ War
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Age of Exploration
Streams of History: The New World (Yesterday’s Classics)
The Story of Columbus (Yesterday’s Classics)
The Story of Sir Walter Raleigh (Yesterday’s Classics)
The Story of David Livingstone (Illustrated)
The Story of H. M. Stanley (Yesterday’s Classics)
Stories of the gorilla country (1871)
FREE
By Right of Conquest Or, With Cortez in Mexico
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American History
America First: One Hundred Stories from Our Own History
American History Stories: Complete 4 Volumes
American History Stories, Volume I (Yesterday’s Classics)
American History Stories, Volume II (Yesterday’s Classics)
American History Stories, Volume III (Yesterday’s Classics)
American History Stories, Volume IV (Yesterday’s Classics)
Stories of the Pilgrims (Illustrated)
Richard of Jamestown : a Story of the Virginia Colony
The Sandman: His Ship Stories (Yesterday’s Classics) (Sandman Stories Book 3)
In My Youth (Yesterday’s Classics)
FREE
Four Great Americans: Washington, Franklin, Webster, Lincoln A Book for Young Americans
Stories of Great Americans for Little Americans
Boys and Girls of Colonial Days
Richard of Jamestown : a Story of the Virginia Colony
Rollo at Play Or, Safe Amusements
Friends, though divided A Tale of the Civil War
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Geography
FREE
The Seven Little Sisters Who Live on the Round Ball That Floats in the Air
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Science and Nature
The Secret of Everyday Things (Yesterday’s Classics)
The Wonder Book of Chemistry (Yesterday’s Classics)
The Sciences (Yesterday’s Classics)
Great Inventors and their Inventions
The Burgess Bird Book For Children (Illustrated) (Burgess Animal Books 1)
Tommy Smith’s Animals (Yesterday’s Classics)
Wild Animal Ways (Yesterday’s Classics)
School of the Woods (Yesterday’s Classics)
Seed-Babies (Yesterday’s Classics)
The Bee People (Yesterday’s Classics)
Squirrels and Other Fur-Bearers
Little Wanderers (Yesterday’s Classics)
Wild Life in Woods and Field (Yesterday’s Classics) (Eyes and No Eyes Book 1)
Plant Life in Field and Garden (Yesterday’s Classics) (Eyes and No Eyes Book 3)
By Pond and River (Yesterday’s Classics) (Eyes and No Eyes Book 2)
Trees and Shrubs (Yesterday’s Classics) (Eyes and No Eyes Book 5)
Birds of the Air (Yesterday’s Classics) (Eyes and No Eyes Book 4)
Insect Life (Yesterday’s Classics) (Eyes and No Eyes Book 6)
FREE
The Burgess Animal Book for Children
The Stories Mother Nature Told Her Children
A Little Brother to the Bear and other Animal Stories
