The Trailblazer Books series by Dave and Neta Jackson is another option for learning church history through historical fiction. From the back of the book: "Thrilling adventure stories introducing young readers (ages 8-12) to Christian heroes of the past." My oldest son read Spy for the Night Riders: Martin Luther and Traitor in the Tower: John Bunyan. Unfortunately, you cannot get these at our library, and many are out of print. Some of the books are available on Amazon or CBD, and you can download the books for a fee here. To see a list of their books in chronological order along with the heroes they are about, go to the bottom of the Trailblazer webpage and click on "Timeline."
Older kids can read these independently, and younger children can listen while you read them aloud. In each story, a fictional child is a main character. In the front of the book, the authors tell the reader which characters and events are fiction and what is actual history. These books make great companions to history lessons, but since they are action adventure stories, they can be used for independent reading or book reports.
After a history lesson about John Bunyan, my oldest son read Traitor in the Tower. Then, as a read-aloud, the boys and I began The Pilgrim's Progress , the original version. As we get to certain scenes in The Pilgrim's Progress, my son recognizes them from Traitor in the Tower and exclaims, "Hey, that was in Traitor in the Tower!" It's fun to watch it all come together.
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