America's Famous Spies (Download)

Featuring spies from America’s War of Independence, The Civil War, and World War II, America’s Famous Spies takes you through information on each war before introducing you to spies from the time period. I LOVE this series (What a Character) and am thrilled with how well each book is written. It is easy to read and packed full of information, includes key words and definitions and fun pictures. Students will love reading each one. I highly recommend the entire series.

These are fascinating stories that bring history to life from a “living history” perspective! Each story highlights the courage and character of the hero and teaches history in a way that will stick in your mind without even realizing you're learning. For instance, we felt like we were dropped down into Lydia Darraugh’s home as we breathlessly followed her courageous exploits to relay crucial information to General Washington!

While it’s labeled as 6-8 grade, we have enjoyed it as a read aloud, and even my third grader is enjoying reading it herself (there are war stories, so we talk about them together; gauge your child’s sensitivity). She told me one thing she likes about the book is the small illustrations throughout. They help keep the text load on the page a bit lighter for elementary readers, making it feel more achievable and enjoyable. She also likes that each chapter is broken up into small sections, like little chapters within the chapters.

There is a full glossary in the back of the book, but we like that the glossary words are also included in side columns as they are introduced in the story. (Once when a child was reading aloud, I asked if she knew what a word meant after she sounded it out. She gave me a great definition, then started giggling and said she read it from the sidebar ;-)

I really appreciate the guide to the corresponding Master Books curriculum in the back, as well, so I can plan the best time to pull in one of these chapters to round out another area we are currently studying. I’m thankful for another great resource that mixes education with reading practice and comprehension, making learning a pleasure!

Both of my kids love these series. My son was especially excited about the America's Famous Spies. He was able to read and comprehend it without any issues.

We all were excited to learn about many creative ways the spies were getting and transferring information during wars in America.
This book would work great with America's Story curriculum or even by itself as a reader. Wonderful job!

My kids are absolutely loving this series of books. At first I was giving my boys these books to read for reading class then having them tell me what they learned, but they couldn't get enough of them. They began just grabbing these books at any moment the could! This book goes through 3 wars and spies that were of great importance to America. The pages are very engaging, including beautiful illustrations and definition of words in the side margins. I highly recommend this book to any family looking to add a fun and educational book to their library!

Our family loves these books! I use these as a read-aloud for my younger kiddos and they then are readers for my older kids. My kids have especially been in anticipation for this release because who doesn’t love a good spy story?! Like the other volumes in this series, they are separated by the different wars with wonderful introductions and maps which I really appreciate because it helps my kiddos understand the different wars in context with each book. By the 4th book, my kids could tell me about each war which I found really impressive!

These books have amazing color pictures, exciting information and vocabulary words throughout making this a wonderful addition to any history curriculum. It is also fantastic that the author has a corresponding curriculum section in the back that has a list of all of the places in their MB courses that each spy is mentioned so that you may use this alongside a particular course, or read certain chapters as they become relevant in your learning journey.

I highly recommend owning the whole ‘What a Character’ set, you won’t regret it!

This series is really fun. I love the unique topics of the various book. The stories of each individual in this particular book are incredibly moving and inspiring. While they are engaging enough to keep the attention of older children (or parents), they are written in such a way that is easy to understand. Because some of the topics are difficult and involve war, I think this book would be most appropriate for kids who are at least 7. However, others may have different ideas for their own children.
This book is great for independent reading, and it has definitions for words that may be unfamiliar or difficult for younger readers to understand. It would make a great read-aloud or morning basket addition. These stories would also be really fun to include with corresponding history lessons, and there’s even a list in the back of the book that notes potential books to pair each chapter with.
Overall, I highly recommend this entire series of books for every homeschool library. They’re such a fun way to learn bits of history.