Living Books for EL, suggestions by subject

[Skylark]

There were a few different discussions lately where Living Books concept was mentioned.

I think the idea of using Living Books as a learning tool is awesome. Here is the definition of Living Books, given by Charlotte Mason: "Living books are usually written by one person who has a passion for the subject and writes in conversational or narrative style. The books pull you into the subject and involve your emotions, so it’s easy to remember the events and facts. Living books make the subject “come alive.” They can be contrasted to dry writing, like what is found in most encyclopedias or textbooks, which basically lists informational facts in summary form. You might be surprised to find that living books are available for most school subjects — even math, geography, and science! "

There is a number of resources on the internet with different lists of Living Books, but I wanted to open the topic here, so we, as EL community, can share Living Books that we using with our own children for teaching different subjects. These can be traditional books and audio books.

For one, with avid readers, I am always on a look out for a great book recommendations. And if we can combine a great read with learning new subject or concepts in an engaging and fascinating way, it is wonderful.

So lets share our recommendations here.

[Tamsyn]

Peter recently read this book about Abraham Lincoln, and I would like to read more from the "Childhood of Famous Americans" series.  The books aren't all fact by any means, but much of it is and Peter came away with a better understanding of who AL was.

 http://www.amazon.com/Abraham-Lincoln-Emancipator-Childhood-Americans/dp/0020420307/ref=pd_sim_b_5?ie=UTF8&refRID=1XGD07ASMDE1XGRFGCTT

[ed]

I have to check some links i found one day I like this idea and I think there are still few resources for living books, thanks!

[Mandabplus3]

I should probably start with yesterday's classics collection
http://www.yesterdaysclassics.com
Now I am not convinced every book into is set is a living book but most are. My favourites that really teach are the the meadow people, the pond people and those type ones. They are truly brilliant.

Now I could fill this entire thread to capacity but I have a life so......I shall list a few of our favourite picture books and add as we read new chapter book goodies

I love The potato people by Pamela Allen. It's a great potato life cycle book which has an opportunity for some awesome science and craft extensions.

999 tadpoles is fun too. It's not 100% accurate but is a great starting point for tadpoles and the huge numbers of offspring produced http://www.amazon.com/999-Tadpoles-Ken-Kimura/dp/073584013X

The Tiny seed by Eric Carle is a good seed cycle picture book.

Diary of a Wombat by Jackie French for that time when your child asks about road kill....   actually Jackie French has lots of great stories that teach something. Possibly more relevant to Australia than elsewhere.

[Skylark]

The series that I would like to check out ( but have not had a chance yet) is the "You Wouldn't Want To Be..." books, that deal with different events throughout the history, they have titles like:

You Wouldn't Want To Be In Alexander The Great's Army!: Miles You'd Rather Not March
You Wouldn't Want to Be a Greek Athlete!: Races You'd Rather Not Run
You Wouldn't Want to Work on the Great Wall of China!: Defenses You'd Rather Not Build
and many more...

[early learning17]

sorry, if is not exactly a living book, but I thought of this tread as well as "highly recommendable reads". I have just found out that Lucy Hawkings, the daughter of Stephen Hawkings, has written 4 children´s fiction books about Science and it seems that some BK members have read them and recommend them......can you please give us your reviews of these books?: http://www.amazon.com/Lucy-Hawking/e/B001H6WLVW/ref=sr_tc_2_0?qid=1413752736&sr=8-2-ent

[ELeducation]

This is a great topic! I would love to start making a list of living books for my LO for the future.
I hear Mathstart books are excellent living math books.
Any other book series or individual books you all can list?

[mom2bee]

Math: LivingMath.net -- this site has booklists, links, downloads etc. This is the authority on Living Math books as it stands right now.

English grammar:

by Lynne Truss
Eats, Shoots and Leaves
The Girl's Like Spaghetti
Twenty-Odd Ducks

by Robin Pulver
Punctuation Takes a Vacation
The Case of the Incapacitated Capitals
Happy Endings
Nouns and Verbs have a Field Day
Silent Letters Loud and Clear

by Jan Carr
Greedy Apostrophe

by Marvin Terban
The Dove Dove: Homograph riddles
Eight Ate: A Feast of Homophone Riddles
In a Pickle and Other Funny Idioms
It Figures: Fun Figures of Speech
Mad As a Wet Hen (Idioms)
He also has a Dictionary, Thesaurus, and Idiom Dictionary and Spelling Dictionary published by Scholastic

Word Fun Series (by multiple Authors)
If You Were a Conjunction
If You Were an Adjective
If You Were a Preposition
If You Were a Pronoun
If You Were a Homonym
If You Were a Noun
If You Were a Synonym
If You Were a Verb
If You Were an Adverb

Words are CATegorical Series by Brian Cleary
Stroll and Walk, Babble and Talk: More about Synonyms
Straight and Curvy, Meek and Nervy: More about Antonyms
Skin Like Milk, Hair of Silk: What Are Similes and Metaphors?
Quirky Jerky Extra Perky More About Adjectives
Lazily Crazily Just A Bit Nasally More About Adverbs
Slide And Slurp Scratch And Burp More About Adverbs
A Lime A Mime A Pool Of Slime More About Nouns
Stop And Go Yes And NO What Is An Antonym
How Much Can A Bare Bear Bear What Homonyms And Homphones
Pitch And Throw Grasp And Know Soft Cover
I And You And Don’t Forget Who What Is A Pronoun
Dearly Nearly Insincerely What Is An Adverb
Under Over By The Clover Book
A Mink A Fink A Skating Rink
To Root To Toot To Parachute
Hairy Scary Ordinary

Loreen Leedy writes a bunch of educational books for Children, she has a series for math and some for English Grammar/Language Arts.

For History
David A Adler writes the Picture Book Biography Series with a bunch of different historical figures in them

What Was ....? Series is a look at specific historical events
Who Was....? Series is a biography of a historic figures
If You... is a series of historical fact books that provide facts about certain eras/time (If Grew up With George Washington, If You Lived in Colonial Times) etc.

Science
Lets Read and Find Out Series
Basher Science Series

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