Blog
Essays on the books, the sources, and how we make them.
August 26, 2026
Why Plutarch Paired Pyrrhus with Marius
Plutarch matched a Greek king against a Roman farm boy because they are one warning told twice: two soldiers who could win almost any battle, never learned when to stop, and lost everything the winning was for. No final verdict on the pair survives, which leaves the judgment to the reader.
August 20, 2026
The Best Books to Teach Kids Philosophy (Ages 0–14)
You can teach philosophy to kids far earlier than most people think, if you teach it as tools, not lectures. Here are the books we built to do it, from toddler read-alouds to prep books for teens.
August 19, 2026
Why We Made Cleopatra for Kids (at Every Reading Level)
Cleopatra is one of the most misremembered rulers of the ancient world: a scholar-queen who ran the breadbasket of the Mediterranean, remembered mostly for eyeliner and a snake. Here is why we made Cleopatra for kids, what age she is really for, and where the famous legend actually came from.
August 17, 2026
How to Start Plutarch in Your Homeschool (Which Life First, and How to Get Ready)
Plutarch has a reputation for being hard, but starting him at home is simpler than it looks. Here is which life to read first, how to get yourself ready in one evening, which translation to use, and what a first term actually looks like.
August 13, 2026
Why Plutarch Paired Demosthenes with Cicero
Plutarch matched Demosthenes against Cicero because they are one life told twice, in Greek and in Latin: two men who built a voice from nothing, used it to defend a free city against one dangerous man, and were hunted down and killed for what they said.
August 9, 2026
Plutarch for Kids, Teens, and Parents: A Guide to the Prep Books
Looking for Plutarch for kids, Plutarch for teens, or a way to prep before you teach it? Here is how the ages 10–14 prep books work, and how we handle the hard parts of the Parallel Lives.
August 1, 2026
Lycurgus & Numa: Two Lawgivers, One Impossible Question
Lycurgus made every Spartan live alike; Numa gave Rome forty-three years of peace. Plutarch paired them to ask what kind of rules make a good city, and now kids ages 0–14 can meet the argument too.
July 21, 2026
We Don't Invent Quotes: How We Adapt 2,000-Year-Old Books Honestly
Retelling a 2,000-year-old book for children is easy to do dishonestly: invent a quote, smooth over the hard parts, dress up a guess as a fact. Here is how we refuse to, and why it is the whole point.
July 14, 2026
How to Read Plutarch with Kids, Age by Age (0–14)
Most curricula start Plutarch around age nine. You can start far earlier. Here is how to read Plutarch with kids age by age, from picture books to the real thing, with four principles that work in any home.
July 6, 2026
Why We Made Ulysses for Kids (Yes, That Ulysses)
Ulysses is routinely called the greatest novel of the twentieth century, and almost nobody reads it before college. Here is why we adapted Joyce's single Dublin day for children, what age it is really for, and how a family can even celebrate Bloomsday.
July 1, 2026
Why Plutarch Paired Theseus with Romulus
Plutarch opened his Parallel Lives with the two founders of Athens and Rome, because each did the same impossible thing: turned a crowd of quarreling strangers into a city. And unlike the famous Alexander and Caesar, this pair's verdict survived.
July 1, 2026
Who Was Alexander the Great? (Told for Kids)
Alexander the Great was a young king of Macedon who never lost a battle and built one of history's largest empires before age 33. Here is his story, told for kids.
June 30, 2026
Why Plutarch Paired Alexander with Caesar
Plutarch matched Alexander against Caesar because they shared one hunger from opposite starts: one was handed an empire, one clawed his way up. And the comparison he wrote for them is the one nobody alive has read.
June 23, 2026
What Is Plutarch's Parallel Lives (and Why Do Homeschoolers Swear By It)?
Plutarch's Parallel Lives pairs a great Greek with a great Roman and then weighs them against each other. That weighing, the synkrisis, is the whole point, and it is the part most children's versions drop.
June 16, 2026
Who Was Plutarch? A Parent's Two-Minute Guide
Plutarch was a Greek writer who paired the great lives of Greece and Rome to teach character, not dates. Here is who he was, what he wrote, and why every classical curriculum still reaches for him.
June 14, 2026
Why We Made Beowulf for Kids (at Every Reading Level)
Beowulf is appropriate for kids, as long as the version is built for them. Here is why we adapted the oldest epic in English for children, what age it is really for, and how to read it aloud.
June 11, 2026
Why We Made Alfred the Great for Kids (at Every Reading Level)
Alfred is the best comeback story in English history, and almost nobody tells it to kids. Here is why we made Alfred the Great for children, what age it is really for, and the true story behind the burnt cakes.
June 6, 2026
Why We Made Don Quixote for Kids (at Every Reading Level)
Don Quixote is one of the great novels, and most people never meet it until college. Here is why we adapted it for children, what age it is really for, and how to read it aloud.
June 4, 2026
nüNERD New Releases: June 2026
Four Alfred the Great books in one week, the first Plutarch pairs in production, and a fourth June topic we're not naming yet.
May 29, 2026
Why We Made Machiavelli for Kids (at Every Reading Level)
Yes, Machiavelli is worth teaching kids, once you get past the insult his name became. Here is why we made him for children, what “Machiavellian” really means, and what age it is for.
May 21, 2026
Why We Made Stoicism for Kids (at Every Reading Level)
Yes, Stoicism is good for kids, when it is taught as tools instead of lectures. Here is why we made Stoic philosophy for children, what age it is really for, and how to start.
May 13, 2026
Why We Made Marcus Aurelius for Kids (at Every Reading Level)
Yes, you can teach Stoicism to kids, and Marcus Aurelius is the best way in. Here is why we made the Meditations for children, what age it is really for, and how to start tonight.
April 18, 2026
Why We Publish the Topics Other Publishers Skip
Stoicism, Beowulf, Alfred the Great. Why do we pick topics that seem too niche or too complicated for young kids?
April 16, 2026
Using nüNERD Books in a Charlotte Mason Rotation
How nüNERD's reading-level system maps onto Charlotte Mason's staged reading approach, morning basket routines, and the principle of living books.
April 14, 2026
One Story, Every Reading Level
A two-year-old and a twelve-year-old don't just read at different levels. They think in different ways. Here's why every nüNERD topic comes as its own book at each reading level, from ages 0 to 14, instead of one book leveled up and down.