Our whole family looked forward to the release of the latest cd from Heirloom Audio Productions audio dramatization of G.A. Henty. Excitement built for this one even more as With Lee in Virginia is about our nation's history and somewhat close to home. The subject matter, like most of Henty's books, includes war and violence. With Lee in Virginia takes place during the Civil War includes whipping slaves. Not condoned, but shared as it happened, still there are parts of this story that are not easy listening.
For this review, we received the newly released CD and related downloads including an MP3 download version as well as these special bonus downloads: Ebook, official soundtrack, cast poster, study guide and discussion starter, poster, and newsletter. The study guide provides more historical facts of the main characters. Points to get younger children engaged and suggestions for older students to expand the lesson with written assignments are included as well as definitions and further reading selections. Slavery in the Bible is also discussed.
For this review, we received the newly released CD and related downloads including an MP3 download version as well as these special bonus downloads: Ebook, official soundtrack, cast poster, study guide and discussion starter, poster, and newsletter. The study guide provides more historical facts of the main characters. Points to get younger children engaged and suggestions for older students to expand the lesson with written assignments are included as well as definitions and further reading selections. Slavery in the Bible is also discussed.
My children and I listened to this CD together and discussions followed. As we listened the first time, my son's running commentary accompanied the story. He described the sounds he heard and discussed the voices. "General Jeb Stuart was Sam on Lord of the Rings!" Many of the cast members are familiar from movies. Kirk Cameron was initially unrecognizable to us in the video clip as he was in character with a full beard. His son joined him the young character Will.
This Henty tale is one of American history. Woodlands in Nashville, Tennessee, the famous battleground in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, and locations throughout Virginia make up the settings of this Civil War story. Our family was intrigued by the southern accents used. As true southerners ourselves, we thought some of the actors were a bit overzealous in their attempts. Though we appreciated their attempts, we just had to shake our heads and chuckle.
Duty, honor, and respect are evident throughout this historical tale. Even earning the enemy's respect is shared. Henty's stories emphasize strong character traits worth emulating.
Bill Heid brings Henty's historical stories to life. "Look! There's Jackson standing like a stonewall!" General Stonewall Jackson and his stonewall troops turned the battle around. These historical characters that we have studied almost come back to life in our imagination as we listen to these dramatic interpretations.
With the current controversy over the Confederate flag, this story helped to facilitate even more relevant conversations with my children. One character, Otis, seems to make an out of character decision and one of my children questioned "It doesn't make sense that Otis joined the Union army. He was obviously not against slavery." Yes, there are things in history beyond my understanding, but there is also much more to the Civil War than slavery.
Slaves and masters, union versus confederate, mothers and sons...emotions are strong in these events. Do you know about the battles of The Civil War? If you want to know more, consider adding this to your library. With Lee in Virginia is a story of hope.
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