Big Ideas Boutique from DK

Did you know that DK has books that will help you understand a subject or some books better?   Whether you desire to learn more about Economics, Philosophy or Shakespeare, you will find a book in the Big Ideas Series that might interest you.  

To promote these books, DK has set up a Big Ideas Boutique where you can see the titles available for you.

I have received two books from the Big Ideas series – the Literature Book and the Sherlock Holmes Book.  Without wasting any more time, let’s see what these books can teach you about literature or Sherlock Holmes.

The Literature Book

A global look at the greatest works of Eastern and Western literature and the themes that unite them, for students and lovers of literature and reading.

The Literature Book is a fascinating journey through the greatest works of world literature, from the Iliad to Don Quixote to The Great Gatsby. Around 100 crystal-clear articles explore landmark novels, short stories, plays, and poetry that reinvented the art of writing in their time, whether Ancient Greece, post-classical Europe, or modern-day Korea.

As part of DK's award-winning Big Ideas Simply Explained series, The Literature Book uses infographics and images to explain key ideas and themes. Biographies of important authors offer insight into their lives and other writings, and a section on Further Reading details more than 150 additional works to explore.

Discover masterpieces from the world's greatest authors, and explore the context, creative history, and literary traditions that influenced each major work of fiction with The Literature Book.

Series Overview: Big Ideas Simply Explained series uses creative design and innovative graphics, along with straightforward and engaging writing, to make complex subjects easier to understand. These award-winning books provide just the information needed for students, families, or anyone interested in concise, thought-provoking refreshers on a single subject.

The book’s table of contents is divided in specific eras:

• Heroes and Legends 3000BCE to 1300CE
• Renaissance to Enlightment 1300 to 1800
• Romanticism and the Rise of the Novel 1800 to 1855
• Depicting Real Life 1855 to 1900
• Breaking with Tradition 190 to 1945
• Postwar Writing 1945 to 1970
• Contemporary Literature 1970 to present day

Obviously this book do not cover every possible titles written since the beginning of time but it will give you a great list of literature to explore like Epic of Gilgamesh, Iliad,Beowulf, Gargantua and Pantagruel, Pride and Prejudice, Moby-Dick, Les Misérables,  War and Peace, The Little Prince, To Kill a Mokingbird, and many more.  The titles presented in this book are listed chronologically through over 4000 years of literary works.   Essentially it contains explanations and insights on over 150 works of poetry and fiction.

Whether you are an avid book lover or a student exploring literature, this book can be beneficial to you.  I can see it to be also very helpful for a high school student who is exploring world literature as part of his/her studies.

The Sherlock Holmes Book

The Sherlock Holmes Book, one of the latest in DK's award-winning Big Ideas Simply Explained series, tackles the most "elementary" of subjects — the world of Sherlock Holmes, as told by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

The Sherlock Holmes Book is packed with witty illustrations, clear graphics, and memorable quotes that make it the perfect Sherlock Holmes guide, covering every case of the world's greatest detective, from A Study in Scarlet to The Adventure of Shoscombe Old Place, placing the stories in a wider context. Stories include at-a-glance flowcharts that show how Holmes reaches his conclusions through deductive reasoning, and character guides provide handy reference for readers and an invaluable resource for fans of the Sherlock Holmes films and TV series.

The Sherlock Holmes Book holds a magnifying glass to the world of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's legendary detective.  I have read numerous books of Sherlock when I was a teenager and I was immediately drawn to this book because of the subject.   Can you seriously learn more about Sherlock or its writer from these pages?   I sincerely think it is possible.  

What makes this book very interesting is that you will discover facts and information about the author and the main character in a chronological order from the early cases until his death.  I find this book could be a great reference for pleasure while you read the novel of Sherlock’s cases or if you give your child some assignments on the novels from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.  Either way, it is a great addition in your personal bookshelf.

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Here’s a list of the current Big Ideas books available for purchase: Business Book, Economics Book, History Book, Literature Book, Movie Book, Philosophy Book, Politics Book, Psychology Book, Religions Book, Science Book, Shakespeare Book, Sherlock Holmes Book, Sociology Book and finally Star Trek Book.

Each of these books are available at your favourite bookstore, even on amazon.ca and amazon.com.

  

 

Disclaimer: Thanks to DK Canada for allowing me to promote these books. I was not monetarily compensated for this post . Please note that the post was not influenced by the Sponsor in any way. All opinions expressed here are only my own.

52 Little Lessons from Les Misérables

52 Little Lessons from Les Misérables
Written by Bob Welch
Published at Thomas Nelson

About the book

Gold Medallion Award-winner Bob Welch crafts 52 nuggets of Bible-based wisdom from one of the most popular novels, musicals, and films of all time: Les Misérables.

In 52 Little Lessons from Les Misérables, Bob Welch walks readers through Hugo’s masterpiece, extracting dozens of uniquely spiritual reflections from this enduring portrait of poverty, social injustice, mercy, and redemption. Welch reminds us that Jean Valjean’s life provides the truest example of why real love is found in the grittiest places, and that hearts are made whole beneath the crush of mercy. Most important, though, Welch keeps returning to the intersections of faith and reality throughout Hugo’s writing—those places where mercy becomes an inroad to the heart, and where love is only truly received when it is given without condition.

Discover again why life’s purpose is found not in attending to personal needs and desires, but in responding to the hearts of others.

My Thoughts

Once you have read and heard Les Misérables you can appreciate the story from Victor Hugo.    I have read the book, seen the play at the theater and even watch the more recent movie.   Since its publications more than 150 years ago, Les Misérables has been fashioned in theatrical productions, movies and many have written commentaries on it.   This book is different in many ways as the author extracts unique spiritual reflections from the book and its portryal of poverty, social injustice, mercy, and redemption. 

I find that the book is perfect for a weekly devotion.  It will guide you in discovering why life’s purpose is found in responding to the hearts of others and not by attending your own personal needs.  In each lesson the author highlights the spiritual themes that are woven inside Les Misérables.  These themes, like anguish, mercy, suffering and forgiveness in the face of adversity, are presented using the individual plights of the bishop, Valjean, Fantine, Cosette, Javert, Marius and Éponine.   You experience the transformation of Valjean, the bishop’s compassion, and the redemption that comes afterward in a different way while going through this little book.

To be honest, the more I read 52 Little Lessons from Les Misérables the more it stirs me to read the book again.   In one of the lessons you read about the transformation of Monseigneur Charles François-Bienvenu Myriel (the bishop) and realize that Les Misérables has numerous pages about his past which I never realize or paid attention of.    Reading the book of Bob Welch gives me a newfound interest in reading the popular book of Victor Hugo with a different thinking process that I had when I first read it in my teenage years.   There are lessons to be gleaned through the pages of Les Misérables and the book by Bob Welch helps us to see them.   

So why not bless the fan of Les Misérables in your life this Christmas so the book can allow him/her to explore the story through a different angle with spiritual lessons.   

52 Little Lessons from Les Misérables is available at your favorite bookstore, even amazon.ca and amazon.com.

  

The book is also available for Kindle.

  

World Literature

World Literature – Cultural Influences of Early to Contemporary Voices
Written by James O. Stobaugh
Published at Master Books

About the Curriculum

High School Level Student book and Teacher’s Guide

Enjoy beloved classics while developing vocabulary, reading, and critical thinking skills!

• Each literature book in the series is a one-year course
• Each chapter has five lessons with daily concept-building exercises, warm-up questions, and guided readings
• Easy-to-use with suggested reading schedules and daily calendar
• Equips students to think critically about philosophy and trends in culture, and articulate their views through writing

A well-crafted presentation of whole-book or whole-work selections from the major genres of classic literature (prose, poetry, and drama), each course has 34 chapters representing 34 weeks of study, with an overview of narrative background material on the writers, their historical settings, and worldview.

The rich curriculum’s content is infused with critical thinking skills, and an easy-to-use teacher’s guide outlines student objectives with each chapter, providing the answers to the assignments and weekly exercises. The final lesson of the week includes both the exam, covering insights on the week’s chapter, as well as essays developed through the course of that week’s study, chosen by the educator and student to personalize the coursework for the individual learner.

My Thoughts

I am quite excited about this specific product.   I was wondering what I will do with my kids when they go through high school for literature.  Having a curriculum that I know will introduce them to world literature as well as biblical concepts is fabulous.    Each lessons is well explained and will guide student and teacher on a fabulous journey through World literature by exploring cultural influences of early to contemporary voices.   This book works hand-in-hand with the World History course offered by Master Books as well.   Needless to say that I am looking forward to combine the two courses in a few years.

In all, you will find 34 weeks of various World literature through time including books, selections of work, classic prose, poetry and drama.   Each chapter can be done in a week with five lessons allowing the student to build up a critical thinking of philosophy and articulating their own world view through writing exercises. 

The literature covered in this curriculum includes Epic of Gilgamesh, Papyrus of Ani: Egyptian Book of the Dead, The Illiad, The Odyssey, Histories, The Death of Socrates, The Republic, The Rhetoric and THe Poetics, Oedipus Rex, The Aeneid, Meditations, Sermon on the Mount, Confessions, War and Peace, Crime and Punishment, Faust, The Stranger, and many more other ones. The students will have the opportunity of exploring World literature, build up their vocabulary, complete concept builders, write essays, and get tested on what they have learned as well.  The book is packed with guidelines and literature explorations for students to discover.   However, I wouldn’t put that in a grade 8 or 9 student.   I would consider it for a grade 10 and up I order to prepare the student in being able to express their worldview with hesitation to others.    I find it a great tool to have to allow the student to expand their knowledge in World literature.  

The Teacher’s Guide will allow the parent to guide the student in his/her exploration of World Literature as well as provide all the concept builders, the readers, essays assignments and tests to be done.    In this guide you will also find the suggested answers for the concept builders, the summaries for essays (what need to be mentioned in the essay written by the student) as well as the answers to the tests.   You definitively need to have the Teacher’s Guide in order to be able to provide help if needed.    Thinking of it, I think I would very much like to go through the lessons myself in order to learn more about World Literature.

Another course that I would also consider for our high school years would be the British Literature course.   American homeschoolers might also want to explore the American Literature course for their students.

Also available are the American Literature Student & Teacher’s Guide as well as the British Literature Student & Teacher’s Guide.

        

     

        

 

Kindle

        

        

        

Disclaimer: Thanks to New Leaf Publishing Group for sending me the above mentioned product for review purposes. I was not monetarily compensated for this review. Please note that the review was not influenced by the Sponsor in any way. All opinions expressed here are only my own.