ABC's and Sweet Tea: If You Were Me Books by Carole P. Roman and Awaywegomedia.com ~ A Homeschool Crew Review

We have had the chance to review some pretty great history books over the last couple of weeks. I absolutely love getting books that are not only educational, but fun to read, and these "If You Were Me" books did all of the above! These books are brought to you by Carole P. Roman and Awaywegomedia.com. They are full of facts and stories that bring that time period to life.

What are the "If You Were Me" Series about?

Carole P. Roman designed these books so that we could get a feel for what it was like to live in all of these different time periods. She tells about what it was like to not only live in that time period, but also what kind of clothes they wore, what they might have eaten, and also introduces us to different cultures of that time.

This book is beautifully illustrated by Paula Tabor. The colorful and well designed pictures give you a good visual of some of the things going on in this time period.

The kids really enjoyed learning about their houses and what they might look like. We learned that their houses were made of wattle and daub with thick panes of leaded glass. We decided that we would really like these houses, and wouldn't mind living in one!

We also liked to find out what they might have eaten. Here they would have eaten mutton which the kids thought would be "gross" lol. Other than that they decided that the rest of their food including pastries and meat pies sounded pretty good!

If You Were Me and Lived in...Colonial America:

This has always been one of our favorite time periods. This book is also beautifully illustrated, but this time by Sara Wright. She also does a great job giving us a good visual of the people in this time period.

This book seemed to be more about the Pilgrims and when they came over. We learned why the colonists came over on the Mayflower. and what it was like to have to run away from a life that you've always known in order to worship the way you want to.

They really enjoyed learning about meeting the Native Americans and the first Thanksgiving. Of course they always enjoy learning and discussing what they ate and what they wore back then.

If You Were Me and Lived in...the Middle Ages:

Again this is beautifully illustrated by another great illustrator, Mateya Arkova. This was probably their favorite book of the bunch. We had recently been talking about going to the Renaissance Festival here in Texas so this was a timely book.

My daughter decided that she really loved their clothing from this time. Although it was elaborate, it was very beautiful, even if it was a little scratchy. She decided though that the wooden shoes, or pattens, would be very uncomfortable to wear all day.

Gavin loved to learn about the Knights, and that you had to be 21 before you could become a Knight.

If You Were Me in...Viking Europe

This is another book beautifully illustrated by Mateya Arkova. We haven't gotten to this book yet, but I've looked through it, and I'm excited to get started on it. Here we will learn that we would have been born over 1100 years ago, around the year 870 AD! I think the kids will get a kick out of studying all about the Vikings, the things they wore, and the things they did for fun. This book like the others goes into full detail about exactly what it was like to be in that time period.

What did we think?

We have really enjoyed these books. They are so much more than the little bit I gave of every book. My kid's favorite parts are learning about what they wore, and how they lived, but the author goes into much more detail than that. Each book even gave you pronunciation of words that may be difficult for a child to understand. This always makes it much easier for them to read to themselves. At the end of the books, she also lists real people that lived in that time period. So, you can take these books and stretch them out into a unit study very easily. I highly recommend these books to anyone who loves to bring history to life with their kids!