Christopher Columbus by Stephen Krensky

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One of the first “explorers” books about Christopher Columbus that my five-year-old son and I read for our homeschooling history year was Stephen Krensky’s early reader Christopher Columbus: Explorer and Colonist (originally published 1991). This was just what an early reader needs for nonfiction: easily accessible text, just enough information, and not too many pages. My son (who is already a strong reader for kindergarten!) even read this aloud to his little sister at one point (she is nine months old, by the way).

Christopher Columbus is a celebrity that is easy to find books about. There are picture books, early readers, and chapter books about him. My son loves him, and I honestly don’t know why. This is odd since the majority of the books I chose to focus on with him are decidedly anti-Columbus, or at least not overly full of praise. I have strong feelings that Columbus does not need to be deified, and even my little guy needed to know how horrible a person he was. I feel like Krensky’s early reader book was straightforward, and it did seem accurate as well as appropriate for the age of the reader.

Reviewed on October 9, 2012

About the author 

Rebecca Reid

Rebecca Reid is a homeschooling, stay-at-home mother seeking to make the journey of life-long learning fun by reading lots of good books. Rebecca Reads provides reviews of children's literature she has enjoyed with her children; nonfiction that enhances understanding of educational philosophies, history and more; and classical literature that Rebecca enjoys reading.

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