Students will love this journey through Western Civilization — from ancient history to modern times.

My educational edition of The Jericho River has been published, and it’s ready for you to use as a supplemental teaching resource.

In this new edition, you’ll find teaching tools to ignite a love of history in high school and middle school students. You’ll also find a favorite book for your school library. I’ve included:

• a curriculum alignment and Lexile score;
• chapter questions to foster class discussions;
• historic maps, hieroglyphs and other ancient writings, and a timeline — all to inspire knowledge and retention;
• creative lesson plans to complement required instruction;
• beautiful artwork to liven your classroom walls and halls; and
• a fun, picture-based quiz to test students’ history knowledge and assumptions.

Why did I write a fantasy novel that teaches the entire history of Western Civilization?

The inspiration came from my childhood reading experience. I was an avid fantasy reader who grew to love history. The more I read, the more I saw that real history can look and feel like fantasy — like stories of knights, kings, priestesses, and adventure. Why not weave them together in an engaging story, experienced through the eyes of a modern teen — a hero much like any student in your class today?

Build a bridge from the fantasies students love to actual history.

The Jericho River reveals the fun of history: the magic, pageantry, myth, and adventure. It also provides real knowledge of the past. As a social studies teacher, you can use the book to implant or reinforce knowledge you already teach from a textbook. The story follows the chronology of Western Civilization’s history, teaching students who preceded each society and who followed it. It also offers up the colors of each past society: the mighty monuments, glamorous rulers, and common people found in each — along with the mythical creatures. And it’s full of fun facts about the past.

The book is well suited to high school world history and Western Civilization classes and the middle school core curriculum. Use it as a classroom supplement, a summer reading project, or a small group discussion reading assignment. You can also read about Rudy Edwards, an innovative Ohio teacher, who used my book in her class. See, Teaching History by Sailing the Jericho River.

I want to help you bring history to life in your classroom. I hope you enjoy teaching with The Jericho River, and I welcome your feedback!

/ David W. Tollen

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Order school curriculum bundles at a discount through Winifred Press or buy it from Amazon, Ingram, and other retailers.