When it comes to Historical Fiction book recommendations, I am extremely picky because there is no greater genre in books, in my opinion.
So if I am coming to you with a list of historical fiction books that I recommend, then you know that books we reviewed (brought to you by Carole P. Roman and Awaywegomedia.com) must be excellent.
The very best thing about these stories and books for children is that even though they are Historical Fiction in nature, they are written with many facts and in a very realistic form.
And don’t forget to see our book list hub! It is full of lists of books on all kinds of topics on all subjects! You will love it and find it very helpful!
These are beautifully illustrated Historical Fiction picture books for children and, in fact, for the entire family. My children love flipping through the pictures and trying to even draw similar pictures. They have done a phenomenal job. And while they are practicing their penmanship, I read them aloud. We started with the Middle Ages book and the Renaissance book because we are studying these specific timeframe. They are attentive and engaged, making comments about the differences in living during those times and now.
If You Were Me and Lived in…the Middle Ages
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If You Were Me and Lived in… the Middle Ages
There are many good historical fiction books for kids, but Carole Roman’s approach is brilliant. Her books are written from a child’s perspective, while living during that time period. In the book If You Were Me and Lived in… the Middle Ages, we learned about what it was like to have a king as ruler. We also learned about Feudalism and how the different feudal groups lived. It was fantastic reading about the Middle Ages from that point of view. This book is extremely complete. It is 97 pages long.
If You Were Me and Lived in...Renaissance Italy (An Introduction
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If You Were Me and Lived in… Renaissance Italy
Wasn’t the Renaissance an incredible time? Well, if you read about it from a little one’s perspective, you will learn SO MUCH about the daily and regular lives of people fro that time period. There were maps and cities that we looked at, with those beautiful illustrations they have in the book. We learned about how houses were laid out, what rooms were where and who lived in each. There is a fantastic and very complete list (with pictures and all) of famous people from Renaissance Italy and so much more. I cannot tell you what an amazing resource this book is and I am so glad to make it a part of our homeschool library. This book is 54 pages long.
If You Were Me and Lived in…Ancient China: The Han
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If You Were Me and Lived in… Ancient China
This book about Ancient China starts off in the year 150 AD. I love that this book has a very comprehensive glossary. It came in handy when we were learning about so many new words/terms. It was interesting to read about how Ancient Chinese schooled their children, how family life was back then and foods they ate during that time period. I was excited to find out more about calligraphy before Mandarin (simplified) Chinese came about and we liked looking at the illustrations in it, too. This book is 76 pages long.
If You Were Me and Lived in…Colonial America (An Introduction
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If You Were Me and Lived in… Colonial America
And last, but certainly not least, we also reviewed a book on Colonial America. We haven’t read this book in its entirety, but we did flip through it and it looks like it is still in the top quality as the other books we have talked about in this post. The book is 61 pages long (including the glossary and list of famous people from Colonial America) and it seems to have a bit less text than the others, but it is still very complete and thorough.
If You Were Me and Lived in…Viking Europe (Volume 6)If You Were Me and Lived in…the American West (Volume
If You Were Me and Lived in… Elizabethan England (An
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Historical Fiction Book Recommendations
Finally, as you can see, these are some of the very best Historical Fiction books I love to read over and over. And remember, these aren’t simply Historical Fiction picture books for children, but rather, they are perfect for the entire family. Younger children will love listening to them being read aloud and older children will love reading them on their own.
Personally, we can’t wait to read If You Were Me and Lived in… Elizabethan England, If You Were Me and Lived in…the American West and If You Were Me and Lived in…Viking Europe. There is also a series that focuses on countries of the world, instead or timeframes within human History. I am so intrigued to take a look at those, too!

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