The Story of King Arthur and His Knights

I loved this book! Before this year I had never read anything on King Arthur, and I wish that I had time to read more.  The Story of King Arthur and His Knights is split into two books: The Book of King Arthur and The Book of Three Worthies.  The first book, naturally, is all about King Arthur; his famous episode with the sword in the stone, how he won Excalibur, how he won the hand of Lady Guinevere, and much more.  The second book is divided into three parts (The Story of Merlin, The Story of Sir Pellias, and The Story of Sir Gawaine) and the content is self-explanatory.  This may not seem very exciting; however, I can honestly say that this was the best book that I have read all school year.  Five stars!

Son of Charlemagne

An exciting book set in the Middle Ages, Son of Charlemagne  is a story about the reign of Charlemagne from the perspective of his children.  It is interesting to see Charlemagne not only as a great king, but also as a loving father.  He had to make many decisions which seemed to affect his children cruelly, but this book gives you his perspective on it.  With such a large kingdom, this great king had to be harsh as well kind.   Charlemagne's children all learned at an early age that rulers have to make sacrifices, but this only made them admire their father the more.  I read Son of Charlemagne for school, and, in addition to being very entertaining, it really gave me a different perspective that my textbooks did not provide.

Augustine Came to Kent

This was another book that I read for Mother of Divine Grace.  It is a Bethlehem book by Barbara Willard, and meets the high standards which everyone has come to expect from those names.  The main character is a boy named Wolf, a Saxon living in Rome.  He and his father travel with St. Augustine and his monks to England to spread the gospel.  The trip to England is long and dangerous, however, and more trouble awaits the monks when they finally reach their destination.  Naturally, the English people are suspicious of these foreign characters, even when King Ethelbert, the king of Kent, gives St. Augustine permission to preach in his land.  Even with the prospect of never getting their message through to the stubborn people, the monks continue to work and eventually plant the faith deep in the roots of England.