Today in History

Today I received my daily "This day in history" email where I noted that today is the Feast day of St. Joan of Arc. I had recently borrowed, purely by chance, Josephine Poole's book Joan of Arc from a friend. So that was a pleasant addition to our planned school for the day.

In addition to the St. Joan book, we also borrowed, from the library, the delightful children's classic Crictor by Tomi Ungerer. This was one of my favorite books as a child, but I hadn't really remembered that it was set in France. Crictor is a sweet, funny story with wonderful illustrations that add to the humor! On page one is a lovely drawing of a "typical" (if there is such a thing) french gothic cathedral, which was a nice segue from a tale of a 15th century saint to a present day "Madame Louise Bodot". So, we got a double dose of France today. :)

I highly recommend Poole's book if you are looking for a nice picture book to discuss Joan of Arc. All three of my children enjoyed it - 11, 7, and 5. The illustrations are really lovely and address her martyr's death truthfully, but gently. There is a helpful timeline of her life and beatification on the last page and a good map on the front and back liner pages.