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This is a Homeschool Review Crew review of a Heroes of History book called Captain John Smith: A Foothold in the New World from YWAM Publishing. This was my first time reviewing any of this company's books and I was pleased to receive the study guide for this review as well.

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Captain John Smith – A Homeschool Review Crew review

About YWAM

YWAM was founded in 1960 and is an acronym for YOUTH WITH A MISSION. It is an interdenominational Christian ministry with 17,000 volunteer staff based in nearly 900 locations in over 140 countries. The volunteers call themselves YWAMers and are dedicated to presenting Jesus personally to this generation, to mobilizing as many people as possible to help in this task, and to the training and equipping of believers for their part in fulfilling Christ's Great Commission.

About YWAM Publishing

YWAM Publishing started printing tracts with one small printing press during an outreach to the 1972 Munich Olympic Games. The following year they began to print and distribute books to the Eastern Bloc countries. YWAM Publishing moved to Seattle in 1987, publishing only the Prayer Diary/Daily Planner. They now publish and distribute 300+ of our their own titles, as well as books and DVDs from other sources, to individuals, bookstores, churches and ministry organizations all over the world.

Captain John Smith book review teen boy holding his chapter book for homeschool

The Captain John Smith chapter book

This physical softcover chapter book tells the story of Captain John Smith from his childhood starting at age 8 as a wealthy landowner, all of his adventures in between, includimg the time he spent fighting as a mercenary, up to his death at the age of 51 due to his poor health at the time. It tells the tales of his learning at school, his time as an apprentice, his adventures at sea and in a new country, and back at his old country again. I love that they told how he learned war strategies from reading books and showed how that knowledge was extremely useful to him later in life. You can just imagine this homeschool parent taking a pause from reading the book and saying, “you see why it is important to read books, Maris, you never know when this knowledge will be useful to you!” Yes, it does tell how he met Pocahantas, but there is so much more to his life than that, including the fact that he was an author.

The downloadable unit study

The unit study that is available to purchase with the book has over 70 pages of information! One of the things you will find in the study are chapter questions. There are six per chapter – the first three are geared to younger children, one of them is, “How was John supposed to entertain the guests of Lady Charatza?” The last three are more difficult, for example, “Several time John was humiliated or angry, but remained silent. What does this show about his character?” You will also find quotes that can be used for memorization and who they were written by, there are also a variety of activities that can help with learning in a more concrete way. In the community links section, there are things to do like to draw a flag: either from the country, a maritime flag or a pirate flag and it lists references of where to find examples online.

There are maps to write on and color in…

There is also a timeline you can write on with examples of what to write…

There is a John Smith fact sheet you can print out and fill in as you read the book. Using ink pen gets messy so you may want to use pencil!

Maris' Opinion

It was really good, but there were a few parts I wish I would not have heard like when he smelled burning flesh when he woke up, that was really surprising to me. My favorite part was when he was working with the mercenaries and the battle scenes.

My Opinion

I was amazed at the amount of research the author must have had to do to get this great book together. There are so many parts of Captain John Smith's life that I never knew before reading this book with my son. I didn't realize that he grew up in a wealthy family and that he was an author. I had only heard of the part of his life with Pocahantas, but that was a very small part! This chapter book was so well written and interesting to read, I recommend getting this for your homeschool.

I was very impressed with the unit study. I did not expect to get over 70 pages of material, including printable maps for such a low price! This was all put together for me and I could print the pages I wanted. What a great deal! I highly recommend getting the unit study with the chapter book if you intend to try it in your homeschool. Even if you don't use all the pages, it's nice to have questions to ask after each chapter so you don't have to think of them yourself. Some days, I am just not as creative as others and I need this.

Some other biographies and study guides they sell:

The book that I would like to get next is Christian Heroes: Then & Now Corrie Ten Boom: Keeper of the Angels' Den. Corrie ten Boom's life of determination, faith, and forgiveness in the face of unimaginable brutality and hardship is a stunning testimony of the sustaining power of God (1892-1983).

Christian Heroes: Then & Now Corrie Ten Boom Keeper of the Angels' Den Janet & Geof Benge book cover

One of the famous Doolittle Raiders who first attacked Japan after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Jacob DeShazer (1912-2008) knew this one-way mission was dangerous. Indeed, it led to his capture as a prisoner of war. Beaten, malnourished, and alone in his cell, Jacob was given a Bible – and far away from home, this American soldier became a Christian.

Christian Heroes: Then & Now Jacob Deshazer Forgive Your Enemies Janet & Geof Benge book cover

YWAM Downloadable Unit Studies Jacob Deshazer button to purchase

The stories of Heroes of History are told in an engaging narrative format, where related history, geography, government, and science topics come to life and make a lasting impression. This is a premier biography line for the entire family. This gift set includes all 29 books in this series.