Library Finds/ History

For me history is just a part of everyday life. It is just THERE. A few books I found on our last library trip are helping me share my sense of the presence of history in read aloud time with the boys.
Victorian social history is especially relevant to us, as so many aspects of what we consider to be part of normal life got started in that era, (libraries, museums, rail transport, seaside holidays, reading material for the masses and, of course, compulsory education!!!).
Not only that, people living in British cities and large towns are surrounded by Victorian buildings, and this is what these books point out so well. I think it is wonderful to read a book that shows you a tiled front path and Victorian front door that looks just like the home of a friend; that shows you pictures of buildings such as the old board schools, that are so much a familiar part of our daily landscape. History from buildings.
In the same way that I'd like my children to recognise an oak or a beech tree when in the woods, or to know the names of the birds I'd like them to be able to recognise the features of their built environment, and be able to name and explain them. Just as there is bird spotting, there is Victorian architecture spotting.
The book on the top of the pile is a real little gem. History through poetry. What a brilliant concept! The contents page reads like a treasure trove, society, sport, education, science, housing and more all addressed through a poem from the time, with contextual explanation.
Victorian social history is not a closed chapter, it reaches deep into the here and now around us. Fascinating.