mnmom23 --
Thanks for your suggestions! "The American Story" sounds like it might be above dd's comprehension right now. Will revisit...
Will definitely check out the American Girl series. I hadn't even thought of it (figured it was above her level), but just previewed it on Amazon, and it seems on target.
I just happened to get "If you Lived in Colonial Times" from the library today, so we'll see how it goes. I hadn't thought about using them in a systematic way until you mentioned it, but I love, love, love the comparative history approach. It seems like the perfect "rabbit hole" for delving into some of the meaning of history, and how things change (and stay the same).
We have read several "Let's Read-and-Find-Out Science" when they coincide with whatever is the theme of the moment.
Minnie,
Thanks, too, for your ideas. I just put "Britannia" on my Amazon wishlist (which I basically use as my shopping list).
I had been thinking we should do some non-American history anyway, and Britain seems like the perfect place to start because dd is very intregued by it. (Thus far in our meanderings, she has picked out that the British were our enemies during the Revolutionary War, our Allies during WWII, and our current friends, plus you have royalty, which I think she'll get a big kick out of). And, I'll learn a lot too, I'm sure, which is always a huge plus.
I just checked (love internet-based catalogs), and our library doesn't have "Learn to Cook the X Way", BUT they do have a "Food from X" series, so we'll definitely check that out. Again, seems like the perfect rabbit hole for starting to think about cultural diversity.
Don't have Canadian Flyer at the library, and, uh, won't be ordering it based on your glowing recommendation, but I'll keep my eye out in case I bump into one at a used book sale.
The formatting of DK books currently displeases dd (too busy?) -- but I'm definitely remembering that for when she's older. The travel guide idea sounds like a great little research project. (Hmm... which brings back memories from my 9th grade history class. We had to create a travel guide for the Middle Ages (to this day I can't hear/see the words "flying buttresses" without having flashbacks), a diary for the Crusades, and an explorer's log from an extraterrestrial's perspective (I wrote some of it in code in case the "wrong" folks got their hands on sensetive material). I loved that teacher... !)
Anyway, thanks a ton, both of you. I feel much better now. Hopefully, this will give others some ideas, too. And, finally, sorry to overexplain/respond to every suggestion; helps my thought process.
