Carole P. Roman Children’s Books

In a house full of bibliophiles, we are always excited about finding authors who write good, wholesome books.  We were recently pleased to review three books out of the Carole P. Roman books and collections and are glad to add Carole P. Roman to our list of trusted children’s authors.

Carol P Roman



Captain No Beard: An Imaginary Tale of a Pirate’s Life, Vol. 1

Carol P Roman

Captain No Beard was our favorite out of the three books we reviewed.  This book is the first in a series about a little boy, Alexander, who imagines himself to be a pirate named Captain No Beard, his first mate and cousin, Hallie, and their crew of animals.  Throughout the tale, filled with fun pirate talk and problems to solve, Captain No Beard laments about how being a captain is hard work.  While the book can be enjoyed just for the story, it can also be used as a talking point to discuss how sometimes being responsible can be hard work, but you also get to do fun things.  
Illustrated by Bonnie Lemaire, the illustrations are fun and colorful and the drawing style matches the story very well.

Carol P Roman

My son (7) enjoyed the story and thought the “treasure” at the end was funny.


If You Were Me and Lived in. . .RENAISSANCE ITALY

Carol P Roman

Our second favorite book was one of her resource books.  The If You Were Me and Lived in. . .series provide information on what it would be like to be a child during that time period.  We chose to review Renaissance Italy because we were preparing to go the the Renaissance Festival and I wanted my children to have some foreknowledge about the time period.  
This book is told from the perspective of a young girl who is the daughter of a clothing merchant in Florence, Italy.  It is filled with information, such as who the Medicis were, what the layout of the house would have been where she lived, the type of clothing worn for both boys and girls, what day-to-day life would have been like for someone in the middle class, with facts thrown in about how that differed from some of the other classes at that time.  I felt the book was packed full of information that was told in an interesting manner.  
At the end of the book there is a catalog of famous people from the Renaissance who lived in Italy that gives further information that was not contained in the story, as well as a glossary.  
My daughter (10) appreciated that this was told from the perspective of someone who wasn’t one of the noble or poor classes, which seem to be easier to find, so she felt like it was fresh information.  She also liked the manner in which the information was presented.
The illustrator for this book is Silvia Brunetti.  My daughter (15) like the style of drawing in this book.  I would say, unlike the other two books we have, the illustration style is more suited to an older audience.  The colors are more toned down and the people less cartoon-ish.  I felt it complimented the story nicely.

Carol P Roman


One to Ten: Squirrel’s Bad Day

Carol P Roman

This story is about a little squirrel who trips and loses all her acorns.  She is sad and overreacts to how big the problem really is.  Her friend rabbit then teaches her a special trick that he learned to help him figure out how bad something really is.  The book then goes through and gives examples of things that happened and rates the experiences from one to ten. One being not a big deal and ten being the worst thing ever.  I liked that in some of the examples, while they pointed out that the experience was bad, they also showed that often something good came out of it or followed.  There are two experiences that deal with parents getting divorced and the death of a pet.  I felt the majority of the experiences listed most kids could relate to.  
I was most interested in this book because we often ask our children whether something they are reacting to is a little problem or a big problem and then remind them that little problems get little reactions and big problems get big reactions.  I feel like this book could help give a little more substance to what qualifies as a big or little problem.  My son (7) said he liked the idea of using a rating system to decide if something was a big or little problem and he could see himself using it to help him better react to situations. 
Illustrator Mateya Arkova uses pastel watercolors to depict Squirrel and her friends.  The illustrations are cute, although I will confess I thought the squirrel looked more like a fox than a squirrel.

Carol P Roman

Overall, we liked all three books and appreciated the variety.  We look forward to reading more Captain No Beard stories and I’m interested to check out her chapter book series, Oh Susanna, for early readers.  She also has more resource books similar to the If You Were Me series that I think may come in handy.  If you are looking for some good children’s books, be sure to check out the Carole P. Roman books and collections.  Others on the crew reviewed some of her different books, so you can click the link below to see more of her offerings.
Carole P. Roman books and collections {Carole P. Roman Reviews}
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