Books for Children
The following is only a sampling of the many excellent books about people, events, and issues in American and world history and geography that your child might enjoy. Many of the books listed here are also available in languages other than English. Your local or school librarian can help you locate books in a particular language.
For additional titles, check your library for sources such as the listing of notable children's books prepared each year by the National Council for the Social Studies and the Children's Book Council (available online at www.socialstudies.org/resources/notable and at www.cbcbooks.org) and the theme-related listing of books chosen annually by the National Endowment for the Humanities for its We the People Bookshelf (available online at www.wethepeople.gov/bookshelf/).
We have divided the books into two groups, those most appropriate for you to read with your younger child and those that will appeal to your older child, who reads independently. However, you're the best judge of which books are appropriate for your child, regardless of age.
Preschool-Grade 2
American History, Culture and Biography
Adler, David A. A Picture Book of Sacagawea. Holiday House.
Bateman, Teresa. Red, White, Blue, and Uncle Who? The Stories Behind Some of America's Patriotic Symbols. Holiday House.
Catrow, David. We the Kids: The Preamble to the Constitution of the United States. New York: Penguin Putnam Books for Young Readers.
Chandra, Deborah. George Washington's Teeth. Farrar Straus & Giroux.
Cheney, Lynne V. America: A Patriotic Primer. Simon & Schuster.
Cherry, Lynne. A River Ran Wild. Harcourt Brace.
Curlee, Lynn. Brooklyn Bridge. Atheneum Books for Young Readers.
Grant, R. G. and Dailey, John R. Flight. Smithsonian Institution.
Harness, Cheryl. Three Young Pilgrims. Aladdin Library.
Hudson, Wade. Great Black Heroes; Five Bold Freedom Fighters. Cartwheel Books.
Jakes, John. Susanna of the Alamo: A True Story. Harcourt Brace.
Jezek, Alisandra. Miloli's Orchids. Raintree/Streck Vaughn.
Johnson, Angela. Those Building Men. Blue Sky Press/Scholastic.
Monjo, F. N. The One Bad Thing about Father (biography of Theodore Roosevelt). Harper.
O'Kelley, Mattie Lou. From the Hills of Georgia: An Autobiography in Paintings. Little, Brown.
van Rynbach, Iris. Everything from a Nail to a Coffin. Orchard Books.
Waters, Kate. The Story of the White House. Scholastic.
World History, Culture and Biography
Bauer, Susan Wise. The Story of the World: History for the Classical Child, Volume 1: Ancient Times. Peace Hill Press.
Berger, Melvin and Berger, Gilda. Mummies of the Pharaohs: Exploring the Valley of the Kings. National Geographic Society.
Bartoletti, Susan Campbell. Black Potatoes: The Story of the Great Irish Famine, 1845-1850. Houghton Mifflin.
Fisher, Leonard E. Pyramid of the Sun, Pyramid of the Moon. Atheneum.
Ganeri, Anita. Emperors and Gladiators. Peter Bedrick Books.
Musgrove, Margaret W. Ashanti to Zulu: African Traditions. Dial Books for Young Readers.
Provensen, Alice and Provensen, Martin. The Glorious Flight: Across the Channel with Louis Blériot. Puffin.
Wells, Ruth. A to Zen: A Book of Japanese Culture. Simon & Schuster.
Zimlicka, Shannon. The Colors of Russia. Carolrhoda Books.
Historical Fiction, Drama, Poetry and Games
Atwell, Debby. Pearl. Walter Lorraine Books/Houghton Mifflin.
Barnes, Peter. Marshall, the Courthouse Mouse: A Tail of the U. S. Supreme Court. Vacation Spot Publishing.
Bates, Katherine Lee. America the Beautiful. Putnam.
Benchley, Nathaniel. Sam the Minuteman. Harper Trophy.
Bunting, Eve. Smoky Night. Harcourt.
Guthrie, Woody. This Land Is Your Land. Little, Brown & Co.
Goble, Paul. Death of the Iron Horse. Macmillan.
Hall, Donald. Ox-Cart Man. Puffin.
High, Linda Oatman. A Humble Life: Plain Poems. Eerdmans Books for Young Readers.
Jimenez, Francisco. The Christmas Gift. Houghton Mifflin.
Kurtz, Jane. River Friendly, River Wild. Simon & Schuster.
Kuskin, Karla. Jerusalem, Shining Still. Harper Trophy.
Le Sueur, Meridel. Little Brother of the Wilderness: The Story of Johnny Appleseed. Holy Cow! Press.
Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth. Hiawatha. (Various editions.)
Loomis, Christine. Across America, I Love You. Hyperion Press.
MacLachlan, Patricia. All the Places to Love. HarperCollins.
Panagopoulos, Janie Lynn. A Place Called Home. Sleeping Bear Press.
Paul, Ann Whitford. All By Herself. Harcourt Children's Books.
Ryan, Pam Munoz. The Flag We Love. Charlesbridge Publishing.
Swift, Hildegarde. Little Red Lighthouse and the Great Gray Bridge. Red Wagon Books.
Turner, Ann. Abe Lincoln Remembers. HarperCollins Children's Books.
Turkle, Brinton. Thy Friend, Obadiah. Puffin.
Zolotow, Charlotte. The Sky Was Blue. HarperCollins.
Geography and Reference
Doherty, Gillian and Claybourne, Anna. The Usborne Book of Peoples of the World. Usborne Publishing.
Hartman, Gail. As The Crow Flies: A First Book of Maps. Demco Media.
Knowlton, Jack. Geography from A to Z: A Picture Glossary. Harper Trophy.
Leedy, Loreen. Mapping Penny's World. Holt.
National Geographic Society. Our World: A Child's First Picture Atlas. National Geographic Society.
Rumford, James. Traveling Man: The Journey of Ibn Battuta, 1325-1354. Houghton Mifflin.
Grades 3 and Up
World History, Culture and Biography
Chrisp, Peter. Alexander the Great: The Legend of a Warrior King. DK Publishing.
Coerr, Eleanor. Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes. Puffin.
Deedy, Carmen Agra. The Yellow Star: The Legend of King Christian X of Denmark. Peachtree.
Fiedler, Joseph Daniel. Hatshepsut, His Majesty, Herself. Atheneum.
Hoose, Phillip. It's Our World, Too! Sunburst.
Macaulay, David. Pyramid. (See also City: A Story of Roman Planning and Construction; Cathedral: The Story of Its Construction; and Castle). Houghton Mifflin.
Major, John S. The Silk Route: 7,000 Miles of History. Harper Trophy.
Mead, Alice. Girl of Kosovo. Yearling Books.
Nickles, Greg. Russia: The Cultures. Crabtree.
Historical Fiction, Drama, Poetry and Games
Baker, Charles F., III. The Struggle for Freedom: Plays on the American Revolution, 1762-1788. Cobblestone.
Brink, Carol R. Caddie Woodlawn. Macmillan.
Fisher, Leonard E. The Oregon Trail. (See also Tracks Across America: The Story of the American Railroad, 1825-1900.) Holiday House.
Fleischman, Paul. Seedfolks. Harper Trophy.
Forbes, Esther. Johnny Tremain. (Various editions.)
Freedman, Russell. Cowboys of the Wild West. Clarion.
Hoobler, Dorothy and Hoobler, Tom. The First Decade: Curtain Going Up. Millbrook. (See also other books in the series about life in the twentieth century, including The Second Decade: Voyages; The 1920s: Luck; and The 1930s: Directions.)
Hunt, Irene. Across Five Aprils. Berkley.
Kennedy, Caroline. A Patriot's Handbook: Songs, Poems, Stories, and Speeches Celebrating the Land We Love. Hyperion Press.
Minor, Wendell. Star in the Storm. McElderry.
Mistry, Nilesh. The Story of Divaali. Barefoot Books.
Nye, Naomi Shihab. 19 Varieties of Gazelle: Poems of the Middle East. Greenwillow.
Polacco, Patricia. Pink and Say. Philomel Books.
Ryan, Pam M. The Flag We Love. Charlesbridge Publishing.
Sewall, Marcia. The Pilgrims of Plimoth. New York: Aladdin Library.
Waters, Kate. Giving Thanks: The 1621 Harvest Feast. Scholastic.
Wilder, Laura I. Little House in the Big Woods. (See also others in the Little House series.) (Various editions.)
Zeman, Ludmila. Gilgamesh the King. Tundra Books.
Geography
Ancona, George. Cuban Kids. Cavendish.
Bang, M. Common Ground. The Blue Sky Press.
Cooper, Margaret. Exploring the Ice Age. Atheneum Books for Young Readers.
Haskins, James and Benson, Kathleen. Building a New Land: African Americans in Colonial America. Amistad/HarperCollins Children's Books.
Laufer, Peter. Made in Mexico. National Geographic Society.
Leacock, Elspeth and Buckley, Susan. Places in Time: A New Atlas of American History. Houghton Mifflin.
National Geographic Society. Historical Atlas of the United States. National Geographic Society.
Leedy, Loreen. Blast Off to Earth! A Look at Geography. Holiday House.
Le Rochais, Marie-Ange. Desert Trek: An Eye-Opening Journey Through the World's Driest Places. Walker & Company.
Smith, David J. If the World Were a Village: A Book about the World's People. Kids Can Press.
Children's Magazines
Appleseeds
800-821-0115
(www.cobblestonepub.com)
Contains articles, activities and games that develop skills and interest in various content areas, including geography and U.S. history. (Ages 7 and up)
Calliope
800-821-0115
(www.cobblestonepub.com)
Focuses on world history. (Ages 8 and up)
Cobblestone
800-821-0115
(www.cobblestonepub.com)
Contains articles and stories that focus on American history. (Ages 8 and up)
Dig
800-821-0115
(www.cobblestonepub.com)
Focuses on archeology and on the historical and cultural aspects of various societies. (Ages 8 and up)
Kids Discover
212-677-4457
(www.kidsdiscover.com)
Contains theme-related articles, many of which focus on events and people in U.S. and world history. (Ages 5 and up)
National Geographic for Kids
800-647-5463
(www.nationalgeographic.com)
Offers articles, games, and other geography-related activities. (Ages 7 and up)
Federal Sources of Information
Educator's Reference DeskSM
www.eduref.org/cgi-bin/res.cgi/Subjects/Social_Studies
Federal Citizen Information Center, FirstGov for Kids
www.kids.gov
Federal Resources for Educational Excellence (FREE)
http://www.free.ed.gov/
Library of Congress, American Memory
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/index.html
National Archives
www.archives.gov/
National Park Service
www.nps.gov
National Register of Historic Places
www.cr.nps.gov/nr/
National Trust for Historic Preservation
www.nationaltrust.org/
No Child Left Behind
www.nclb.gov/parents/index.html
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