Why Should Children Read Historical Fiction

Back in the day, as a classroom teacher and as a professor preparing future teachers, I recognized the value of using historical fiction in the classroom. For too many, teaching and learning history comprises a basket of facts. Dates, names, places, battles, treaties, and so on dominate textbooks for students. That’s what the tests, test.

I get it. There’s a lot of history. Going into depth on each topic would mean the school year would long end before the teacher could arrive at present day events. Survey. Overview. Bird’s eye view of history. That’s all we can really expect.

Or is it?

When I was in my own teacher prep program, I conceptualized this brand-new notion. I would teach social studies, science, and language arts as one big interconnected block. Students would be able to contextualize the basket of facts by understanding what was happening in the world at the time. Yeah, I invented that idea. NOT!

Imagine my surprise when I discovered that other people thought cross-curricular studies a good idea, too! And it is. Ah, hubris. Thy name is Caroline!

My scaled down version, when faced with classroom realities, pulled relevant historical fiction into the classroom to support the scheduled social studies topics. Sometimes children read the book, sometimes they were read to. Across Five Aprils (Hunt) and The Red Badge of Courage (Crane) put a face on the horrors of our only Civil War. Through the stories of the books’ young people, students explored the war and understood better the issues leading to the conflict.

While not historical fiction, when students read (or listen to) biographies of famous scientists or historical personages they might better grasp the importance of a discovery or insight or decision. Humanizing history is our best bet for creating students who avidly seek to learn about history. Textbooks have never created that love.

When children read historical fiction, they gain insights through re-living the past vicariously. With the perspective of time, the teacher can lead discussions about the mistakes and successes of the past. Historical fiction also shines a light on our shared and ethnic heritages allowing us to realize we are more alike than different.

Universal truths emerge from history, and a well-written historical fiction shines a light of those truths by ensuring they’re highlighted. All of humanity seeks ways to handle problems and confront issues. Historical fiction allows those to emerge. When we understand and/or empathize with alternate perspectives as shown in the novels, we are moving toward a higher plane of self-awareness and application to new situations. We are all interconnected and interrelated, historical fiction shows.

Historical fiction illustrates that change is inevitable and that no nation lasts forever, but what humans want and need remains constant. No matter the culture or the era, humans seek respect, freedom, and belonging.

I believe that there should be a strong strand of great literature in the classroom, because that is part of our historical heritage as well, but bringing in historical fiction and biographies should be happening each week as well.

I’ve always loved history. My fervent wish for all children is that they, too, develop an interest in our past and explore it with passion.

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