Follow Friday - Horrible Histories

Scene from 'Terrible Tudors'

While I was in Salt Lake City for Rootstech, I was discussing with friends how we get children interested in history in genealogy. In fact, in some cases this was already a done deal, as there were some children in the Expo Hall and in the Family History Library. I mentioned the popular series of books Horrible Histories by Terry Dearie. I would have loved to have these around when I was a kid (although I managed to become obsessed with history unaided - it's a phase I'm going through, it started in 1961).

There are now dozens of books in the series, with titles like 'Rotten Romans', 'Slimy Stuarts'and so on. Many of them are available outside the UK, through Amazon, as are some of the DVDs, although unfortunately only in non-USA format, as imports. There is an accompanying Horrible Histories website, where you find your way around using the 'Rat-Nav'. Some of the content, including Virtual World, is not available outside the UK, but you can enjoy video clips from the TV series like my favourite, featuring the King Georges I-IV as a boy band The 4 Georges 'Born 2 Rule'

The TV series is on CBBC (Children's BBC) and there is more content on that website that you can enjoy. As with the Horrible Histories website itself, not all of the content is available outside the UK, but I was able to play some of the games while I was still in the USA, so it is worth a look.

I could say that I found out about all this from my 9-year-old nephew, but that's not true, it's all down to me. He does love the books and the TV show, though, and he's interested in our family history, too. I have high hopes for that boy...