Hi, I hope this question is OK in this sub, it's not very academic.
Whenever I take out history books from the library to read to the kids they seem to follow the same pattern - everything kind of starts with the Greeks, then the Romans, then the bad Barbarians destroyed everything, but eventually the Middle Ages ended and we had the Reinassance and everything falls into place from there. Sometimes they throw in the Egyptians and Mesopotamia, but that's it. The Islamic golden age is barely mentioned, as are India, or China, or the Ottomans.
Can anyone recommend sources suitable for children / young adults which present world history without giving the West undue importance? Thanks
YES
As I child(when i was about 10-12) I watched alot of NOVA documentaries, they are very diverse and you can find them on almost anything including Science, art, animals, ECT. But thier is alot of history
It should also be noted they are made for adults and may be hard to understand for kids under 9 (despite thier audience, they aren't that complicated)
For a younger child I would suggest ordering horrible history books as they are entertaining, funny, and very educational. And while the majority of them have to do with Europe you can definitely order some having to do with other places.
I cannot recommend Larry Gonick's Cartoon History of the Universe enough. They are fantastic introductory histories of world history with a great sense of humor. The back of each volume provides references and suggested reading, broken down by subject. It's really good for Young Adults, and I recommend it all the parents I know.
I should add that the history of the non-West is particularly good, and each civilization receives substantial attention. Book 2 deals heavily with China and Book 3 deals heavily with the Islamic Empire, for example. I am less enthusiastic about the final two, History of the Modern World, books. While they are accurate and interesting, the narrative goes really fast, and they lack the density of details found in the previous volumes. They are a fitting conclusion to the series, but the first three are certainly the best part overall. I hope that helps.
That is a great question and while I am sure that the users here will have plenty to recommend, we just added a kid-friendly Young Historians List over on /r/History.
Hopefully this might prove helpful ;-)