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England: Middle School

elementary
middle school
high school
ENRICHMENT
FICTION
♦   $   ​​The Hobbit  by J.R.R. Tolkien
Prelude to Lord of the Rings
EPIC/LEGENDARY HEROES
FC   S5-210   Launcelot and Elaine
FC   S5-229   The Holy Grail
FC   S5-237   Sir Bors
FC   S5-238   Sir Launcelot
FC   S5-240   Sir Percivale
FC   S5-244   Guinevere
FC   S5-249   Passing of Arthur
♦   $   ​King Arthur and His Knights of the Round Table by Roger Lancelyn Green
♥   King Arthur’s Knights: The Tales Re-told for Boys and Girls ​by Sir Thomas Malory, illustrated by Walter Crane, retold by Henry Gilbert 
Great care was taken to choose stories that will appeal to young readers and to keep the language simple and understandable. There is a short preface in the front written to 'young readers' that is definitely worth reading that tells where the stories came from and why reading about King Arthur and his knights is worthwhile.  
♥   Stories of King Arthur  by A. L. Haydon (1910) (just 94 pages)
This may be a good choice for a Middle Schooler to read to himself because it's not a very long book and the chapters are short.  Includes 4 color illustrations by Arthur Rackham.
♥   Stories of King Arthur and His Knights  
♥   Stories from King Arthur  by Beatrice Clay (1905) 
Based on Morte D’arthur and Mabingion.  Comprehension wise, this is a good choice for a Middle Schooler to read to himself.  The only problem is the font is small and that may be a deterrent in which case it's a good readaloud.
♥   Heroes of Chivalry  by Louise Maitland (1903)
The General Preface contains some good thoughts on presenting history to children and the book is organized according to the psychological development of children rather than chronologically. ​
CLASSIC LITERATURE
FC   S10-288   Macbeth 
FC   S10-318   Hamlet
JC   10-337   Excerpt from David Copperfield
JC   10-324   Excerpt from Jane Eyre
JC   10-246   Excerpt from Pilgrim's Progress
JC   10-208   Excerpt from Pride and Prejudice
♥   A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
►   ♥   A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court by Charles Dickens
♥   A Midsummer Night’s Dream for Young People by Lucy Fitch Perkins
♥   Canterbury Chimes: or, Chaucer Tales Retold for Children by Francis Storr (1878)
“The tales here selected have passed muster with many a childish audience when told by the fireside, and this leads us to hope that they may please a wider circle of young readers in their written form.”
♥   Dickens' Dream Children as told by his granddaughter
♦   $   ​Hamlet retold by Adam McKeown
The Young Reader's Shakespeare
►  ♥   Prince and the Pauper by Charles Dickens
♦   $   ​​Romeo and Juliet retold by Adam McKeown
The Young Reader's Shakespeare
♥   Children’s Stories in English Literature by Henrietta C. Wright (1904)
From Taliesin to Shakespeare
♥   Shakespeare’s Stories Simply Told by Mary Seymour
♥   Stories from the Faerie Queene by Mary Macleod (1905)
“The object of this volume is to excite interest in one of the greatest poems of English literature, which for all its greatness is but little read and known.”
♥   Stories from Shakespeare Volume 1 by Mara Pratt (1890)
MacBeth, Hamlet, Othello, Cymbeline, Julius Caesar
♥   Stories from Shakespeare Volume 2 by Mara Pratt (1890)
Timons of Athens, King Lear, Merchant of Venice, Much Ado About Nothing, The Tempest, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Romeo and Juliet
♥   Tales From Shakespeare by Charles and Mary Lamb (1914 version)
Popular classic retelling.
♥   Tales from Shakespeare by Mary and Charles Lamb
Ill. by Louis Rhead
♥   The Chaucer Story Book by Eva March Tappan (1908)
“It has been somewhat the fashion of late to declare that the difficulty of reading Chaucer has been greatly overestimated . . . I have never met a man, woman, or child who, had ever read Canterbury Tales for pleasure.  That is why The Chaucer Story Books has been written.”
♥   The Story of the Canterbury Pilgrims  retold by F.J. Harvey Darton (1914)
CULTURAL
FC   N11-7    Singing the Heart Open
FC   N11-20   Other Refuge  (hymn)
FC   N11-164   Mrs. Alexander Hymns
♥   Canterbury by Elizabeth Grierson (1912)
​Peeps at Many Lands
♦   $   ​Castle  by David Macaulay
Step-by-step planning of castle and town.
♥   England by John Finnemore (1912) 
Peeps at Many Lands
♥   Hereford by Elizabeth Grierson (1911)
Peeps at Many Lands
♥   In the Days of the Guild  by Louise Lamprey (1918)
A collection of stories to bring to life what it was like to live in the days of the Guild.
♥   London by G. E. Mitten
Peeps at Many Lands
♦   $   ​Made in the Middle Ages by Christine Price
The book is divided into two sections: "Things Made for the Castle," and "Things Made for the Church." These are subdivided into sixteen chapers on Armor and Weapons, Cloth and Clothing, Jewels and Enamels, Sports and Pastimes, Tapestries, Tableware, Books for the Castle, Diptychs and Reliquaries, Books for the Church, Embroidery, Wood Carving, Paintings, Carvings in Alabaster, Carvings in Ivory, and Treasures of the Church. Each page is amply illustrated with pen and ink drawings of artifacts of the time that now reside in The Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Morgan Library, the British Museum, the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Bodelian Library, and other places. The end papers are outline maps of Europe that show the places mentioned in the book.  Well-organized and well-presented, this little book provides much detail about life and crafts in Europe between the years 1000 and 1500
♥   Masters of the Guild  by Louise Lamprey (1920)
More stories of life in the days of the Guild.
♥   Page, Esquire and Knight—a book of chivalry  by Marion Lansing (1910)
"How better can gentleness and courtesy, bravery and hardiness, humanity and friendliness, be instilled than by a perusal of stories such as has been gathered in this little volume?"
♥   Royal Palaces of Great Britain by Beatrice Home (1913)
Peeps at Many Lands
♥   St. Paul’s by Elizabeth Grierson (1910)
Peeps at Many Lands
♥   Stories and Legends of Travel and History for Children  by Grace Greenwood (1857)
If you ever have the chance to travel to England, this would be a perfect little book to take along with you to bring life and meaning to many of the sights. 
♥   The Children of Westminster Abbey  by Rose Kingsley (1886)
The history of Westminster Abbey is brought to life through a variety of appealing stories.  It makes me want to go back and spend more time there with new understanding!
♥   The Children’s Story of Westminster Abbey   by G. E. Troutbeck (1909)
"If you can read what is written on the old stones of Westminster, you will know more about the British race and Empire than many books can teach you."
♥   When Knights Were Bold  by Eva March Tappan (1911)
The purpose of this book is to "present pictures of the manner of life and habits of thought of the people who lived between the eighth and fifteenth centuries."
HISTORICAL
FC   S9-311   The Invincible Armada
FC   W3-1   Little Stories of England
FC   W11-224   The Great Pope Hildebrand
FC   W11-286   The Black Death
FC   W11-382   The Seventeenth Century
FC   W12-5   Queen Philippa and the Citizens of Calais
FC   W12-37   Sad Story of a Boy King
♦   Elizabeth Tudor, Sovereign Lady by Marguerite Vance
♥   English History Condensed and Simplified for Children by Anna Hyde (1860)
This provides a brief review for a child who is already familiar with the stories.
$   ​Landmark   ​King Arthur and His Knights by Robinson (5th-6th Cent.)
$   ​Landmark   ​William the Conqueror by Costain (1028-1087)
$   ​Landmark   ​The Magna Charta by Daugherty (1215)
$   ​Landmark   ​Will Shakespeare and the Globe Theater by White (1564)
$   ​Landmark   ​The Flight and Adventures of Charles II (1630-1685)
$   ​Landmark   ​ Hero of Trafalgar by Whipple  (1805)
$   ​Landmark   ​Queen Victoria by Streatfield (1819-1901)
$   ​Landmark    ​Florence Nightingale by Hume (1820-1910)
$   ​Landmark   ​The Story of Scotland Yard by Thompson (1829)
►   ►  ♥   Our Island Story   by H. E. Marshall
This is a very popular young person's history of England.  When you're ready to dive in, here's where I'd start.
♥   Stories from English History  by Marie Hack (1872)
Another good read aloud option.  The print is small so may be a little offsetting to a child to read to himself.
♥   Stories from English History  by Louise Creighton (1883)
A good personal read for a Middle Schooler.
HISTORICAL FICTION
♦   $   ​A Messenger for Parliament  by Erik Haugaard
A young boy becomes involved in the early events of the English Civil War that unseated Charles I bringing Cromwell and the Puritans to power.
♦   $   ​Cromwell's Boy by Erik Haugaard
It's 1643, and almost a year has passed since King Charles raised his standard at Nottingham and turned all England into a battlefield. For the orphaned boy Oliver Cutter the army of Parliament is now his home, and the struggle of his hero Oliver Cromwell's forces against the King has become his life. Though he is only 13, Oliver is Cromwell's trusted messenger. Two things make him invaluable to Parliament's cause: he can ride like the wind, and he knows how to hold his tongue. Thus it is that Oliver goes about his business, a boy spy in the camps of determined men, trusting his life to his wits and his horsemanship.
►  ♥   Henty, G.A.   Beric the Briton—a story of the Roman invasion, burning of Rome, Nero (61 A.D.)
►  ♥   Henty, G.A.   The Dragon and the Raven or The Days of King Alfred (870)
►  ♥   Henty, G.A.   Wulf the Saxon—a story of the Norman conquest (1066)
♥   Henty, G.A.   A March on London—Wat Tyler’s insurrection (1381)
♥   Henty, G.A    Both Sides of the Border-a tale of Hotspur and Glendower (1400)
♥   Henty, G.A.   ​Colonel Thorndyke’s Secret of the Brahmin Treasure (1783)
♥   Henty, G.A.   With Moore at Corunna—the Peninsular War (1808)
♥   Henty, G.A.   Under Wellington’s Command (sequel to ‘With Moore’) (1810)
♥   Henty, G.A.   Through the Fray—the Luddite riots (1811)
♥   Henty, G.A.   Facing Death—hero of the coal mines (1855)
♥   Henty, G.A.   ​The Queen’s Cup—a yachting adventure (1856)
♦   $   ​Master Cornhill   by Eloise Jarvis McGraw
The Black Plague of 1665 leaves a  nearly 12 year old London boy without home, family or friends.  And if things aren't bad enough, the following year brings the great fire of London. The boy must shift for himself and make new acquaintances. 
♥   Master Skylark by John Bennett
Tom Davenant, Robin Getley and Nick Attwood are three friends whose daring and mischief results in several happy circumstances: they observe some momentous events and even meet several of the most famous and important figures of the era. The fast paced, swashbuckling tale for children is a tour de force of Elizabethan culture for our young adventurers and the reader. 
♦   Melor, King Arthur's Page by Catherine Owens Peare
♥   $   ​The Children of the New Forest by Frederick Marryat
Cavalier and Roundhead battle it out in the turbulent setting of the English Civil war and provide the background for this classic tale of four orphans as they face adversity, survival in the forest, reconciliation and eventual forgiveness.
♦   $   ​The Door in the Wall  by Marguerite d'Angeli
One boy's personal heroism in the 14th Century after losing the use of his legs.
$   ​The Hidden Treasure of Glaston   by Eleanor Jewett
Mystery set in the days of King Henry II.
$   ​The Queen's Smuggler   by Dave and Nieta Jackson
Introducing William Tyndale . Sarah Poyntz is the daughter of an English merchant who operates a shipping business from Antwerp, Belgium, in 1535. Her father is very interested in the ideas of William Tyndale, who has fled England as a condemned outlaw for refusing to stop his translation work of the English Bible. Tyndale believes that the Word of God should be read by the common people in their own language, a belief shared by the Poyntz family. But when Tyndale is captured and imprisoned, Sarah becomes the only hope for saving his fife. If she can successfully smuggle a copy of Tyndale’s New Testament into the hands of the king’s wife, Queen Anne, perhaps she can persuade him to spare Tyndale’s life. If Sarah’s desperate mission fails, her family is in peril of their lives.
♦   The Young Douglas by Jeannette Covert Nolan
The chivalrous youth who pledged service to Mary Stuart in her imprisonment.
BIOGRAPHIES
FC  W12-83  Elizabeth Fry
FC  W12-334   Florence Nightingale
FC   G4-357   Maud Ballington Booth
FC   G6-85   Queen Elizabeth
FC   G7-6   John Ruskin
FC   G7-10   Metcalf:  A Blind Boy
FC   G10-50   Newton
FC   G10-98   Rumford
FC   G10-126   Davy
FC   G10-258   Tyndall
FC   G12-122   Charles Dickens
FC   G12-234   Frances Hodgson
FC   G12-271   Robert Louis Stevenson
♦   ​John Keats, a Portrait in Words by Catherine Owens Peare
♦   Susanna, Mother of the Wesleys by Rebecca Harmon 
$   ​Susanna Wesley, Servant of God   by Sandy Dengler
The story of the mother of John and Charles Wesley, founders of the Methodist church.  An example of faith against all odds.
♦   The True Story of Lord Nelson: Naval Hero by Richard Houghton
The True Story of Series
SYMBOL LEGEND
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  • Home
  • Well-Educated Heart
    • Catch the Vision Intro >
      • WEH Reference
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