You Wouldn’t Want To Series
Picture from amazon.ca
The You Wouldn’t Want to series is recommended by Pam Allyn in her book Best Books for Boys.
When I brought home a couple of books from the series, my son was thrilled. He had read a few at school and was excited to read more.
Although their illustrations are somewhat silly, the books provide a decent overview of some important eras and events in history. The series runs the gamut from ancient Egypt and Greece to the suffragist movement of the early 20th century.
I read several of these books, covering the following events and people: Cleopatra, the sailing of the Mayflower, pyramid builders in ancient Egypt, suffragists, medieval knights, and Roman gladiators. At only 30 pages in length, they make for a quick read. There are also plenty of illustrations so readers are not overwhelmed with text.
As with Wicked History, another series recommended by Ms. Allyn, these books do not shy away from the truth. My son found the books about gladiators and medieval knights a little upsetting. The former discusses the treatment of gladiators. As slaves, they were subjected to branding, flogging, stocks, and rat-infested prisons. It also notes that they fought to the death and their dead bodies were dumped in a pit. The latter outlines the many ways knights could die: in battle, from infected wounds (“a miserable, lingering death), dysentery, or in prison (“locked in chains, then abandoned”).
There is decent gender balance in these books. The book on gladiators notes that, although rare, women gladiators were not unheard of.
The Mayflower book is told from the perspective of a young woman who sailed the ship and acknowledges that no women signed the Mayflower Compact, which is recognized as the first official document of American democracy.
The book about Cleopatra devotes two pages to the treatment of women in ancient Egypt. (On the downside it talks about Cleopatra’s looks, but I assume that is because she was rumoured to be very attractive and to have used her looks to her advantage.)
Although it shows women gushing over knights, the book on medieval knights also shows sensitivity by noting that boys who were removed from their homes to train as knights often became homesick.
And there is an entire book devoted to the cause of British and American suffragists. Parents might be a little put off by the Handy Hint that tells female readers to keep their own name when they marry, noting that campaigner Lucy Stone did so in 1855 in the name of equality, but the rest of the book offers a balanced account of the struggle to win the vote for women.
An excellent series, if your son can handle the sometimes gruesome details.
