Disclosure: I received this complimentary product through the Homeschool Review Crew.
Have you discovered YWAM Publishing and their Heroes of History series? If not, you really need to check them out. Over the past few weeks, my son and I have been reading Heroes of History: Alan Shepard Higher and Faster from the series. It is an excellent biography that kids (and adults) will love!
Biography Series for Kids
About the Books
The Heroes of History series has a biography for so many historical figures. The earliest biography is on Christopher Columbus, while the most recent figure is Ben Carson. There is a diverse group of people to choose from.
The books are in paperback, ebook, and audiobook format. For this review, I had a physical copy of the book.
I really like these paperback books. The cover has images that relate to the historical figure. For instance, the Alan Shepard book has different planes, a rocket, and an astronaut. Plus, the binding is good. It has held up nicely to multiple people reading it.
Another thing I like about these books is the font size. The letter sizing is perfect for kids. It is big enough, so it is easy to read.
Overall, the Heroes of History books are geared towards kids 10+ but would work great as a family read-aloud with younger kids. The books aren’t too complicated for younger kids to listen to.
Unit Study Curriculum Guide
Along with the books, YWAM also offers unit studies to go with each of the books. The unit studies are worth getting. Inside, you will find so many ways to use the biographies in your homeschool. Here is the Contents page for the unit study guide.
See how much you have to choose from!
The Student Exploration section is great! It has essay questions, creative writing ideas, hands-on projects, audio/visual projects, and arts and crafts. I really like the audio/visual project ideas. It is a fun way to get kids to use technology for presentations. Overall, they provide so many different ideas that I’m sure you can find something that fits the needs and interests of your kids.
In the Social Studies section, you can find ideas for studying places, terms and vocabulary, geographical characteristics, timeline, and conceptual questions related to the book. Again, you have so much to pick and choose from.
Lastly, I wanted to share a little about the Related Themes section. Here you find ways to connect learning across other academic areas. I love they give suggestions on how to use this one book across many academic areas. Take a look.
Alan Shepard: Higher and Faster
For this review, we received Alan Shepard Higher and Faster. This biography is 228 pages of fantastic storytelling, not a dry biography. Kids start off learning about Alan’s early history growing up in East Derry, New Hampshire. They’ll see how his fascination with planes, starting with building models as a boy, grew over the years. Until one day, he is climbing into a rocket and making history.
Reading about Alan Shepard’s early life, it isn’t a surprise he became an astronaut. We were absolutely shocked to see the risks he took while learning to fly a plane and as a test pilot. We didn’t fully understand how DANGEROUS being a test pilot was until reading about his adventures. With all the risks Alan took in life, it isn’t a surprise he took a huge risk by going into space. He is a true inspiration for what can happen when you fight for your dreams.
How We Used This Biography in Our Homeschool
For this review, my son read the book for reading. He hasn’t read many biographies lately, plus he was finishing up another book, so this was the perfect opportunity. Plus, his sister read the Milton Hershey biography last year for a review, so it was his turn. Honestly, he really didn’t mind.
Since we were using the book for reading, we also used the unit study guide that went with it. Therefore, we did not complete the book during the review period. We have a few more chapters to go.
With the Study Guide, you have a lot of options. We are currently using the Chapter Questions. Each chapter has a set of questions that start out easy and get a little more complicated. This allows you to choose what is appropriate for your family.
Since my son is in sixth grade, I have him complete all six questions for each chapter. I put the questions in his notebook, and he answers them. The best part is the answer key is in the back of the Unit Study Guide. Yay! It makes things a little easier for me.
More to Come
As we near the end of the book, we will begin doing some of the Student Exploration ideas. I’ll have my son choose an essay question or a creative writing idea for writing. I think we will also create a biosphere which is an idea they have in the Hands-on Project section.
For a final project, I may have my son create a PowerPoint Presentation on Alan Shepard. I liked this suggestion when I came across it in the study guide. I want my son to get comfortable creating presentations using technology.
From there, I may include a few more things. There are so many ideas in the study guide that I couldn’t begin to incorporate them all. The study guide provides SO many ways to use this one biography for many subjects. It doesn’t have to be for just history or a fun reading book.
Once my son is done with the biography, my 14-year-old daughter plans on reading it. She loves the Heroes of History books and can’t wait to read this one. They really are fun to read.
Overall Thoughts of This Biography
Overall, I would highly recommend the Heroes of History books, especially this book, Alan Shepard Higher and Faster. The title sums up his life. He was always reaching higher and higher. His life is an inspiration to kids to work hard and keep pushing to get what they want in life. All his hard work and perseverance paid off. What an incredible message for anyone!
The Heroes of History biographies is excellent for reading, history, or fun family read-aloud. Kids and adults alike will enjoy them. And with the unit study guides, you can use one book to explore so many things in super fun ways.
To find out more about the other Heroes of History books in the series, click the banner below. It will take you to other reviews of different biographies.
Happy Homeschooling!
