Travel Through History

There are quite a few books that involve the main characters time traveling to different periods in history. This is a fun twist on historical fiction. The books tend to vary in their level of historical accuracy but they can be a great way to show kids that history can be fun. Homeschoolers may want to use them as supplemental reading.


Early Readers

Many of the early reader books that belong to this subgenre are series book, here are some examples.

The Secret in the Tower (Time Spies Series Book 1)
Candice Ransom

From the Product Description
First in an exciting all-new series for children, complete with time travel, adventure, and American history!

In this brand-new series by acclaimed author Candice Ransom, three children meet unsung heroes who shaped America’s history. Follow the children as they hop in and out of various eras, learning important life lessons along the way. Children will enjoy the fun, easy-to-read style, and librarians, educators and parents will appreciate the learning their young readers pick up along the way. Each book ends with a fun, do-it-yourself craft project that encourages readers to delve deeper into the subject of the story.

Lincoln’s Legacy (Blast from the Past series #1)
Stacia Deutsch , Rhody Cohon , and David Wenzel

From the Product Description
Third graders travel through time to keep history on track!
Abigail loves Mondays, and so does the rest of class 305. That’s the day Mr. Caruthers asks them cool questions about history. Today Mr. C asks, "What if Abraham Lincoln never freed the slaves?" Abigail and her friends are ready to put their thinking caps on. But this time Mr. C wants them to do more than put their heads together - he wants them to travel back in time!
Turns out the "What If?" questions are real, and Mr. C has just come back from a visit to the past. He needs their help because it looks like President Lincoln might quit and never free the slaves! With a time-travel gadget and only two hours to spare, Abigail and her friends are going back to the past. But even though time traveling isn’t hard, convincing Abraham Lincoln not to give up isn’t going to be easy....
The Knight of the Kitchen Table (Time Warp Trio series #1)
Jon Scieszka , and Lane Smith
From the Product Description
Joe's been caught up in a book before, but this is ridiculous! Joe's Book, a gift from his magician uncle, doesn't just tell stories; it zaps Joe and his friends Sam and Fred right into the middle of them. And when these thoroughly modern kids meet King Arthur and become Knights of the Round Table, the result can only be thoroughly amusing mayhem. (This series is more focused on the fantasy and adventure then history, but it looks fun.)



And of course this list would not be complete without mentioning The Magic Tree House Series by Marty Pope Osborne. This lengthy series begins with focus on fantasy and then moves on to historical eras. It is very popular and a good choice for early readers.



Chapter Books


Time Travelers Journal
Ed Masessa and Dan Jankowski

From the Product Description
The time traveler is Lieserl Einstein (who now refers to herself as Lisa.) Born in 1902, there is no record of her existence. The only mention of her birth came when Albert Einstein's personal papers were released to the public in the 1980's. Lisa was exceptionally brilliant, well beyond her father in theoretical and mechanical ability. She went back in time to remove all records of her existence, leaving the mention of her birth in the private papers as a teaser.
The Great Fire of Chicago had nothing to do with a cow, but everything to do with a passing comet that sprayed the upper Great Lakes with debris and caused massive firestorms. A small rock was part of that debris. It contained an incredible amount of stored energy, but was the size of a pea and weighed next to nothing. Lisa purchased this pebble, harnessed its energy, and developed a GCSL device (Galactic Cosmic String Locator) to manipulate the pebble to allow her to locate cosmic string tendrils and ride them to other time periods. This book is Lisa's journal and a synopsis of her travels through time.

Back to the Titanic
Beatrice Gormley

From the Product Description
Using their great-grandfather's invention of a way to travel through time, Matt and Emily, along with Matt's best friend, Jonathan, travel back to the Titanic and try to save the great ship from disaster.

Max and Me and the Time Machine
Gery Greer
From the Product description
When Steve brings home a time machine he bought for $2.50 at a garage sale, Max is suspicious. "There’s no such thing as time travel. Or time machines." Then they both end up in the year 1250 in medieval England -- Steve as Sir Robert Marshall and Max as his horse! -- and Max must admit the machine works.
Sir Robert soon finds himself in the midst of a duel to the death with the Hampshire mauler, defending not only his honor, but his life. Can Max rescue him? Will the machine return him in time to spare his life? The 20th century never looked so good. (This book has a sequel titled Max and Me and the Wild West)

George Washington’s Socks
Elvira Woodruff

From the Product Description
While enjoying a innocent lakeside campout, five modern-day children are transported back in time to the days of George Washington and other American Revolutionary figures.