I've never met a book list I didn't like. Oh, okay, I haven't seen every reading list ever published (yet) but truly, my greatest lament is, "So many books! So little time!" As a result, I may well be predisposed towards Reading Through the Ages from TRISMS. Add to that the fact that our study of history leans heavily on biography and well-written, well-documented, historical fiction, and this book was destined to take up residence on our resource bookshelf.

Reading Through the Ages gives you over a hundred pages of books: biography and historical fiction, ordered chronologically from Prehistory (4000 BC) to present time. The Table of Contents shows this chronological organization very clearly, with time divisions and related "time frames and events" followed by a range of page numbers. For each book in the list, you'll find the reading level, type of book, number of pages, and a short description of the book's topic. This last bit might be as short as a time and place ("Ashanti War in West Africa, 1873 - 1874"), a person ("Florence Nightingale"), or even a summary ("In the wake of the Civil War, Linnie comes from back East to become an army wife on the frontier. Based on the diary of an actual army wife.")

Publisher, date, and ISBN information are given to facilitate finding the book. Though published by TRISMS, you can use this guide with any curriculum to find biographies and historical fiction for whatever historical period or geographical location you're studying.

The first page introduces the format and gives a practical warning as to the parent's responsibility to determine the suitability of content for their own children. I join them in the recommendation that you preview your children's reading! Sensitivities and tastes vary from family to family. There are many books on this list that are new to me, many "old friends," and a few that I previewed and turned away because they don't suit our personal standards. (Roger Lea Macbride's books about Rose Wilder, for example. Passable presentation of history, possibly, but not on our family's list for various reasons.)

That's the beauty of a book list like this one. You have many to choose from, and the books are already ordered chronologically for you, that it is easier to find reading material for your family and your studies. Books included here were taken from resources recommending the "best books for children" as well as catalogs, TRISMS users, book stores, and librarians, and if your family has a personal favorite not on the list, you're encouraged to email the information so that it might be added, to the benefit of future readers.

I'd recommend this resource to anyone who wants to bring history alive through well-written literature, whether you're building a library at home, or using the public library or Inter-Library Loan for your reading material.