Children Book Collections: A Carole P. Roman Review

Disclaimer: I received a FREE copy of this product through the HOMESCHOOL REVIEW CREW in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way.

With all of the complicating and often destructive influences in our modern culture, I am continually on the look out for quality content for my kids.    As a parent, I see how valuable it is to have character reinforcement in more than one area of my children's lives.  The content they consume helps shape who they are. Since I know that to be true, I need to know what books they are reading and what kind of virtue (or not) is being encouraged.  Today's review is a gold mine in that department! Carole P. Roman is a children's book author that we have reviewed before and loved! This time we were generously given our choice of 4 books from the Carole P. Roman's assorted series and we were happy to add to our library.

What We Received:

For our 4 books, we chose 3 volumes of the Captain No Beard series and 1 volume of If you were me and lived in series:

• Pepper Parrot's Problem with Patience
• Stuck in the Doldrums: A Lesson in Sharing
• Captain No Beard and the Aurora Borealis
• if you were me and lived in Colonial America

All 4 books are paperback with plentiful color illustrations.

The Captain No Beard series is an adorable collection of books based on a child imagining he is Captain No Beard and going on adventures of all kinds with his cousin and animal cohorts from his bedroom.  In a Calvin & Hobbes type manner, much more happens in Captain No Beard's mind than in reality, but that doesn't hinder his imagination!   This series is great for preschool aged kids, but my big kids enjoy listening to them with their little brother.  In addition to encouraging imagination and creativity, each book we have read teaches some kind of lesson. Pepper Parrot and Stuck in the Doldrums make the lesson clear in the title.  The Aurora Borealis is about stealing of all things!  Captain No Beard decides he wants to take the Aurora Borealis home and being the pirate that he is, it takes some convincing that it stealing such a thing isn't practical OR right. 

The if you were me and lived in... series is a collection of books that highlight different places around the world and puts history and geography into a storybook form. I chose Colonial America because my we studied US History last year and I thought this would be a fun refresher of some of the things they learned.  It is a bit thicker than your average paperback storybook and includes a glossary in the back.  The glossary is pretty impressive with a few words that I had never heard of or understood their meaning in that context.  I had never heard the term breeched which meant when a boy is finally allowed to stop wearing gowns and moved to pants.  The book covers all aspects of colonial living like new government, travel, history, farming, Thanksgiving, clothing, and schooling. Before the 

glossary at the end of the book there are two pages of people who influenced the colonies and some information about them, including people like William Penn and Myles Standish.  Books in this series are great for elementary age kids who are starting to travel the world through their education.

What We Thought:

Since we were familiar with these book series, everyone was more than happy to sit down and read these.  The Colonial America book is pretty dense sometimes we would only read a few pages at a time in order to digest it all a bit better, but not a problem for my 9 year old to read on his own.  It's a great way to communicate history to kids in a simple and interesting manner.  The Captain No Beard books are perfect story time additions  so we didn't have any trouble reading through the entire thing in one sitting.  As my kids get older I know that Mom and Dad saying something is right or wrong can get repetitive, even in the best of dynamics.  It's really important to me that Biblical and virtuous principles are coming into their hearts from all directions and the Captain No Beard series is a great addition to our library that we can feel good about!

Visit Carole P. Roman on Social Media

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There are a ton of books available from Carole P. Roman and the Crew reviewed a LOT of them. Check out other reviews to find out more!

Beards, Susannah, Italy and Squirrel: A Carole P. Roman Books Review

I may be a terribly typical teacher when I say this, but the love of reading is one of the best gifts you can give a person!  Reading is more than just a brain exercise.  It takes you on adventures, it teaches you how to grow, and most importantly it helps you understand the people and world around you.  That is something we lack as a society.  I'm so thankful we are a reading family.  So you can imagine the excitement in our house when we received 5 books in the mail from Carole P. Roman to review!   I wasn't familiar with this author before this review, but I'm not sure how.  She has written over 35 books (most of which are children's), received over 100 book awards and over 3000 online reviews.  Can you believe all of that came from her son daring her to start writing?  Her background in teaching combined with a spirit for discovery has turned out to be a great recipe for the job of an author.

The first two books we received are from Roman's Captain No Beard series. Captain No Beard: An Imaginary Tale of a Pirate's Life and A Captain No Beard Story: The Crew Goes Coconuts! Cousins Hallie and Alexander explore the edges of the earth with their trusty imaginations and lively stuffed animals.  In the first story, we get introduced to all the key characters and the grand pirate adventure they are on together.  In The Crew Goes Coconuts! the crew learns to deal with bullying and the struggles it brings.  As Hallie aptly says, "No one is perfect! That's why we should look for something to like in everyone."  These were big hits with my kids (ages 6 and 4) who are big into imagination adventure right now.  After reading these, I'm interested in the others in the series that continue to address real life problems our kids will face.


In a similar way, One To Ten: Squirrel's Bad Day seeks to demonstrate what really matters when life gets a little too overwhelming.  We had a great discussion together after reading this book because this is relevant to our life every. single. day.  Our household is full of strong personalities and children to boot, so EVERYTHING is a HUUUGE deal, even when it's not.  Learning along with Squirrel to evaluate just how bad this situation really is gave us all a tool that can be carried into any activity of life.  For a typical picture book it was a little longer than I expected, but the content was worthwhile.

For the independent reader who is ready for a chapter book, the Oh Susannah series is a good place to start. Oh Susannah: It's in the bag walks us into the life of 3rd grader Susannah and all the things swimming through her head from breakfast to homework to a ripped bag.  As we read this together as a family (because I wanted my non-reader to benefit from the content too), I identified with the parents so much in the book.  They were trying to take care of their lives, but getting caught up in schedules and expectations.  Talk about calling me out!  Since the baby was born, we're still trying to find the normal without ripping everyone's head off! It didn't take long for my 6 year old to notice the resemblance either.  The mom character is constantly looking at the clock and more than once he glanced knowingly at me.  That kid! Like the others, this book was full of relevant and encouraging content that successfully captured my kids attention.  Especially as the readers grow, I'm thankful for good books I can throw their way. When we were offered this review, we got to choose two books and then given some surprise books to go along with it.  This is one of my surprise ones that certainly didn't apply to anything we are learning right now, but turned out to be a great find for the future.  If You Were Me and Lived in... Renaissance Italy is part of the If You Were Me and Lived in...Series that explores all aspects of life in this different times and countries, especially through the eyes of children.  We learned about kids' names, clothing, art, geography, food, and history including famous people of the time and all of it was supported by a glossary in the back.  This series is extensive and could serve as a great addition to history and geography lessons.    All of these books had fun artwork and good quality paper that sealed the deal of good quality literature.  If you are looking for some new books for your kids' needs, take a look at all that Carole P. Roman has to offer.

Follow Carole P. Roman on Social Media: 

• Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/CarolePRomanAwardWinningAuthorAndBooks     
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• Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/caroleproman/ 
• Good Reads:  https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5854108.Carole_P_Roman

All of the reviewers received different books so check out what others had to say: