PBS Teachers™
Social Studies
recommended books archive
Published: September 2005
This well illustrated history of the Vietnam War outlines its beginning, critical stages, and aftermath. Each section includes a quick facts sidebar. The book has a glossary and bibliography. It also lists websites. The endpapers are a timeline of the war from 1945-1995.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: January 2003
In a book sure to inspire debate, Menzies declares that a fleet of 500 foot Chinese junks sailed around the world (1421-1423). He further claims that the Chinese reached America seventy years before Columbus and colonized it, that they transplanted principal economic crops to North and South America, Australia, and New Zealand, and that they solved the longitude problem 300 years before European navigators. Appendices provide supporting evidence.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: January 2001
The scope of this history is indicated by a map marking sites on all continents but Antarctica. Read about the powerful: Louis XIV of France, Peter the Great of Russia, Kangxi of China, Charles II of Spain, and James II of England. Read about the intellectuals: Isaac Newton, John Locke, Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz, Basho, and Aphra Behn. Read bout the humble: Muslims, Russian Old Believers, and interns of the Rasp House. This comprehensive snapshot of a year will appeal to all who enjoy history and colorful characters
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: January 2006
In December 1848, Ellen and William Craft, Georgia slaves, escaped to freedom in the North by disguising themselves as master and slave and riding trains and steamers. Their attempt was even more daring as Ellen was disguised as the master, Mr. William Johnson. This book has many illustrations.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: May 2002
Set in 1924, two years after the discovery of King Tut’s tomb, this picture book documents Dr. George Reisner’s real-life excavation at the site called Giza 700x , with the addition of a fictitious guide, a young boy named Will Hunt. The book features actual photos, maps, and other documents. The margins provide information on archaeological methods, mummification, hieroglyphs, the curse of the Pharaohs, and more. Budding archaeologists and detectives will dig this book.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: September 2005
The fifty admirable American men and women in this book include some of the nationÂ’s founders, teachers, artists, scientists, leaders, and entertainers. Each entry includes a brief biography, photos, representative quote, and sources of more information in print or on the web.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: October 2001
America may have seemed a golden opportunity for thousands of immigrants, but life here wasn’t easy. This booK examines the lives of four families who lived in one Lower east side tenement; it also explores Ellis Island, early immigration, and the origin of the house that became the tenement at 97 Orchard Street. This personal account of a major American phenomenon is filled with contemporary photographs.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: January 2003
Abe Lincoln used to plow with a book in his back pocket, and when he came to the end of a furrow, he would read. His horse would wait until he turned a page. This biography outlines the life of our sixteenth president from log cabin to White House, with his head in a book.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: September 2000
Children 4-8 and older will learn the cycle of hunting, planting, and harvesting followed by the Algonquian tribes from the Hard Times Moon of January to the Tomcod Moon of December. McCurdy's black and white scratchboard illustrations present the dominant activities for each moon. A Map shows the range of the Algonquian peoples.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: December 2004
Alia, a librarian in Basra, wants to save the books in her library. Once the Great Baghdad Library was burned by Mongol invaders, and now as coalition forces prepare to attack, she fears the destruction of her books. When her efforts to convince the Iraq government fail, she takes on the mission herself. This graphic novel celebrates a heroic librarian.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: September 2003
This monumental resource provides an entry for the president and vice president and every representative and senator for each state. Entries include a photograph, biographical and career information, and recent election performance.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: May 2005
Not all children who grew up in orphanages were without parents. Some, like Sam Arcus, had single parents who simply could not make enough money to raise a family. The author examines orphanage life in 19th and 20th century America and follows the lives of some orphans, like Sam, to make this an intimate history. The book contains many archival photos.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: January 2005
This ABC summarizes the lives of twenty-six women from around the world and spanning two centuries: adventurers, athletes, scientists, artists, politicians, writers, and more.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: May 2002
This picture book celebrates the diversity of the United States with images of different regions, different occupations, and persons of different national origin. The book opens with a map.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: May 2003
Wendell Minor has illustrated the first verse of a familiar patriotic song and three more verses seldom heard. The book concludes with biographies of the poem’s author and the composer of the tune to which it is commonly sung. Also included are the sheet music, facsimile of a handwritten copy of the poem, descriptions of Minor’s twenty-one paintings, and a map locating the subject of each one.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: August 2004
Twenty-five of our forty-three presidents have been lawyers. This illustrated collection of biographical essays looks at each legal career and how it shaped presidential policy. Sidebars provide related material. Further reading is listed for each president.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: May 2002
This ABC book is packed with drawings and facts about the United States and famous Americans. U is for the United States and a map identifies attractions in all fifty. A notes section provides further information about topics raised in the main text. This primer will make a better resource or discussion starter than read aloud book.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: September 2002
This illustrated history of the war that helped to create the United States features side bars with ideas for celebrating being American, information on Constitutional Amendments, Important historical figures, social facts, and 21 activities including brewing root beer, making a powder horn, Colonial children's games, and dancing the minuet.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: September 2005
Standard textbooks outline the American Revolution. Sheinkin adds the actors and the theater. Heroes and traitors, triumphs and disasters, comedy and tragedy, Sheinkin presents history as a series of hearthside tales, covering the war from Lexington and Concord to Yorktown. He includes an illuminating and entertaining section on causes and an epilogue that reveals the fates of the main characters.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: October 2006
York was William Clark’s personal slave and accompanied Clark on the Lewis and Clark expedition of 1804-1806. This biography credits York’s considerable contributions to the success of the venture.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: August 2006
The author collected ethnically, geographically, and thematically inclusive stories from 400 years of American history to reveal the connections between events. The stories are told chronologically starting in 1565. A menu of “story arcs” group related stories under thematic headings. The book has extensive notes and an index of persons, places, and events.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: September 2001
When Anansi discovers a magic stick does Hyena's housekeeping, he runs off with it. All lazy Anansi wants is a clean yard, clean house, and a big garden with no work. But nothing ever seems to go as planned for Anansi. When he commands the magic stick to water his garden, he takes a nap. He wakes on a flood. Fans of Kimmel's and Steven's other books are sure to find some surprises floating along with Anansi.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: July 1998
Young entrepreneurs, take heed! Older presents one of the phenomenal small business success stories of our time. He tells how the founder of the immensely popular Body Shop fused her social vision and business smarts to create a successful company.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: January 2003
In 1905, Anna May Wong was born in Los Angeles, the daughter of an immigrant laundryman. She was the second daughter of eight children. At fourteen, she had her first small part in a film, and between 1919 and 1960, she starred in more than fifty movies. Yet despite her talent and success, Wong had to prove her U.S. citizenship each time she returned home.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: May 1999
The Byzantine Empire is sometimes neglected in world history classes, but this engaging, real-life story of Anna Commena, a member of the royal family, promises to make up lost ground. Told in the first person, the story is enticing and provides an intriguing view of 9th century Constantinople.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: February 2004
Anno takes “readers” on a wordless journey through Spain and Spanish culture. As with all his previous picture books, Anno’s Spain is filled with details that reward repeated visits. A concluding note provides some information to aid identification of landmarks and characters, but a sharp eye and a knowledgeable companion will help the youngest.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: October 2004
The quest to reach the South Pole makes for a good winter read. Myers covers the history from Cooks first crossing of the Antarctic Circle in 1773 to Amundsen’s triumph in 1911. There is much heroism, tragedy, disappointment, and good fortune in between. Myers bases his text on the explorers’ letters and journals making it especially exciting. The book includes maps, illustrations, and photographs.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: May 2003
From 1787 to 1789, an often heated debate in letter, speech, and pamphlet ensued between those who favored ratification of the proposed Constitution and those who did not. The Anti-Federalists, Patrick Henry, James Wilson and others, argued for a less powerful, more decentralized federal government. Ketcham sets the debate in historical context and presents the documents in separate sections from the 1787 convention to 1789 ratification. He includes the Article of Confederation, the U.S. Constitution, and a list of the principal speakers at the convention.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: February 1999
Acclaimed author Walter Dean Myers rescues from oblivion the remarkable tale of Sarah Forbes Bonetta, a West African princess who was given to Queen Victoria in the 1850s as a present from the kingdom of Dahomey. Myers pieces together his tale from evidence unearthed in rare books and presents young adult readers with a gem of nonfiction literature.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: August 2002
More than a million and a half people died in Auschwitz during World War II. This brief history uses first-person accounts, research, and archival photographs to describe the daily routine in one Nazi death camp. Final chapters address evidence, Holocaust denial, and the rise of Neo-Nazi movements.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: September 2000
This picture book for children 4-8 describes the harvest time activities of cultures around the world, highlighting familiar features found in our own Halloween and Thanksgiving celebrations. The book includes a Native American autumn story and nine classroom activities.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: February 2002
One unfortunate outcome of mass communication is the overwhelming mass of bad news encountered everyday. The authors examine terrorism, child violence, hunger, accidents, domestic violence, hate crime, pollution, drug abuse, disease, and more. Each chapter gives kids stuff to understand and stuff they can actually fix. Learning how to deal with bad news, argue the authors, is healthier than hiding from it.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: September 2003
This scrapbook biography resembles Franklin’s Poor Richard’s Almanack. Sections cover his boyhood, family, writer’s journal, science, revolutionary activity, and statesmanship in France. A bibliography and photo resources are included, as well as appendices with information about further reading and recommendations for Web sites.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: July 1999
This 1999 Parent's Choice Gold Award winner is an excellent book for readers aged 9-12. Meg, the fourth-grade narrator lives in Mayfield Crossing, a racially-mixed northern city, during the 1960s. When her friend's brother, Lucky, goes south to work for civil rights and dies suspiciously, Meg (and the reader) enters the shadowed, larger world.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: October 2005
In this uniquely designed picture book, Young describes China in words and paper collages. In addition, he includes pairs of Chinese ideograms, written characters from 500 B.C. and the 20th century to show how they have evolved.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: July 2005
If you are puzzled and frustrated by conflicting media reports about health, environment, terrorism, and just about anything else, this book might help you cope. Chafetz examines the misuse of statistics and how misinformation is used to shape public opinion. He reminds his readers that anyone who offers a warning has a motive. He argues that many of today’s big issues are fictions.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: May 1999
Best-selling adult author Louise Erdrich turns her considerable talents to children's literature in this pioneer tale of 7-year-old Ojibwa girl Omakayas, or Little Frog, so named because her first step was a hop. Readers visit with Omakayas and her family through a cycle of four seasons in 1847, including the winter, when a historically documented outbreak of smallpox overtook her community.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: December 2005
In April 1832 a band of Sauk warriors led by Black Hawk attempted to reclaim their ancestral home near the junction of the Rock and Mississippi rivers. The Black Hawk Wars lasted only three months and ended with the destruction of the Sauk at the Battle of Bad Axe. This reappraisal of the Black Hawk Wars, in which Abraham Lincoln had a small role, considers the conflict of America’s belief in human rights and its pursuit of manifest destiny.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: May 2006
Edward Teach was a real pirate of the Caribbean. His career as Blackbeard was brief but spectacular. Lewis combines poetry and glorious illustrations culled from three centuries of pictorial celebration of the pirate king. An author’s note, timeline, and map supply additional information.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: March 2006
This picture book tells of the fatal encounter between Blackbeard and the Royal Navy at Ocracoke, North Carolina from the point of view of young Jeremy Hobbs.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: May 2001
This illustrated collection of short biographies outlines the lives and careers of ten Blues singers from well-knowns like Aretha Franklin and Billie Holiday to lesser-knowns like Robert Johnson. It includes is a bibliography of print and Web resources and a recommended discography.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: March 2004
Before Bobby Fischer became a national pariah, he was a national hero. This book examines the 1972 match between Boris Spassky and Fischer held in Iceland. The authors had access to unpublished Soviet and U.S. records. Cold War politics, powerful personalities, and the game of kings make for an intriguing read.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: August 2002
This history of klezmer, the music of the Yiddish communities of Europe and America, traces its roots to the Middle Ages and celebrates its current revival and blending with jazz and rock. The author is himself a klezmorim, a klezmer player with nine CDs. The book includes excerpts from Memorial Books honoring musicians who died in the Holocaust, klezmer slang glossary, sheet music for selected tunes, bibliography, and discography.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: September 2006
Are the electronic voting machines used today in 37 states more reliable than the Florida ballots of 2000? The author thinks not. His investigations have found that the software used is vulnerable to attack, that there is no way to determine if a machine’s removable card has been tampered with, that a machine can be easily programmed to change votes and there is no way to determine if it has been, and that the irregularities in the 2004 elections argue against using electronic machines again.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: February 2006
Can religion be investigated scientifically? The author believes that it can be and should be. He examines the basics of religion and science, describes the evolution of religion, and explores religion today. His focus is on religion as it is practiced in the United States.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: October 2001
Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm were teachers, librarians, lexicographers, and collectors of German fairy tales and legends before a German nation had even been created from separate kingdoms. This illustrated biography of the Brothers Grimm examines the social, political, and historical context of their lives. Appendices include annotated bibliographies of books written jointly and separately, an annotated bibliography of books about the Grimms and their times, a complete list of the tales, and a timeline relating events of their lives to world events.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: October 2001
An abandoned infant boy is raised by reluctant Buddhist monks and becomes their gardener. One day a blind monk tells the boy that Buddha is in the garden. These words launch the boy’s search for enlightenment. Beautifully illustrated in watercolors, this story is based on the four signs of enlightenment: hunger, sickness, death, and seeking enlightenment. An endnote describes the illustrator’s own experience in a Buddhist monastery.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: June 2006
When Lewis and Clark explored the West (1804-1806), there were an estimated 50 million buffalo on the prairies. At the end of the century, twenty-three wild buffalo were left. For thousands of years, the lives of the native people and the buffalo were woven together. The disappearance of the buffalo meant the end of Indian culture. This book examines the relationship of the Indian and buffalo, past and future. It features many color photographs and reproductions of historical paintings.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: May 2000
One night Monique discovers her mother has been hiding a Jewish family in the basement when she wakes and finds a strange girl sitting at the foot of her bed. Monique and Sevrine become friends. After the girls are seen playing together, Monique's mother decides to leave the village before the Nazis come looking for Sevrine's family. This book is marketed for readers 4-8, but an older audience is probably more appropriate.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: January 2004
Running for the presidency costs a lot of money. This analysis of the two major parties and the president and his challengers reveals where the money comes from. The top 50 donors to each party and the top 10 career patrons for each candidate are identified. Dollar amounts are also given.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: September 1999
What really happened the night Casey Jones died in the Cannonball Express? In this picture book for 4-8 year olds, Casey's fireman tells an exciting tale of a diabolic stranger, a solid gold train whistle, and the fate of the world. Bernardin's illustrations surge with the power of old steam engines. And wait till you see the stranger!
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: February 2006
From commoner daughter of a wealthy family of merchants in Florence to Queen and later Queen mother of 16th century France, Catherine De Medici was a powerful woman among weakling men. Her era was the Protestant Reformation, a period of great violence and change in the church, religion, and the world.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: September 2004
The young narrator of this picture book escaped from the Warsaw Ghetto and now passes as a non-Jewish Polish girl. Her older sister Mira works with the Underground and is trying to get food to Jews still trapped in the Ghetto. Somehow the Nazis learn of the plan, but Warsaw’s stray cats help the narrator devise a solution. A compelling story and evocative illustrations make this an outstanding book.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: December 2005
Lincoln knew Post Civil War Reconstruction would be “fraught with great difficulty,” but it became even more so after his assassination. Bolton’s well-illustrated history examines a turbulent era that saw President Johnson’s impeachment; the passage of the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments; the reintegration of the Southern states; the forced removal of Native Americans from their lands; increased immigration; and the beginnings of women’s suffrage and civil rights movements.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: September 1999
The authors worked with researchers, reporters, and historians to document the some the century's most eventful years. Like their book written for adults, this lavish chronicle includes more than 200 photographs, bringing to life the most inspiring, most surprising and most terrifying events of the past hundred years.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: September 2004
Sixteen chapters present sixteen presidents making critical choices from George Washington's decision to put down the Whiskey Rebellion to George W. Bush's invasion of Iraq.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: April 2003
How were the Russians defeated in Afghanistan? Then President Zia of Pakistan said "Charlie did it." Charlie Wilson, a congressman from west Texas, was determined the U.S. should do to the Russians in Afghanistan what they had done to the U.S. in Vietnam. This eye-opening and plainspoken account of the biggest and most successful covert operation in CIA history is no Mr. Smith goes to Washington.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: July 2000
Novio Boy, a cat in the barrio, came from the pound and has never had a birthday party so when his friend Chato throws a pachanga (party), he becomes sad. Chato decides to give a party in Novio Boy's honor. Suitable for 4-8 year olds, this picture book introduces the customs and language of Spanish Americans. Guevara's acrylic on scratchboard illustrations offer insight into life in the barrio, and everyone will enjoy Soto's subtle humor.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: July 2002
In this collection of recollections more than 80 volunteers provide insight into the volunteer experience under the headings personal rewards, giving back, making a difference, new appreciation, love and tenderness, defining moments, perspective, overcoming obstacles, and wisdom.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: September 2002
Connecticut once outlawed the selling of pickles that would not bounce. This picture book explores laws: why we have them and how long we have had them and presents some of our more puzzling statutes. A final section describes how laws are made and interpreted in the United States.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: June 2001
During the Cultural Revolution, Da Chen's family members were outcasts because his grandfather had been a landlord. Faced with no future other than that of a poor farmer, Da Chen dropped out of school and joined a gang. His prospects changed when chairman Mao died. He studied day and night to enter Beijing University, and his family worked hard and went into debt to help him. His ultimate success reclaimed his family's reputation.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: February 2006
This picture book celebration of Chinese food and festivals provides recipes for poultry, meat, seafood, vegetables, soups, and desserts as well as descriptions of five festivals with recipes special to those feasts. An annotated index of vital ingredients is included.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: November 2003
This concise guide examines the players and the process in the biggest election in the U.S. Chapters look at the voter, candidates, parties, media, money, primaries and caucuses, conventions, general election campaigns, and Election Day. An appendix evaluates the controversial 2000 election.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: April 2000
This picture book for children 4-8 describes a young girl's extended visit to Malaysia, where and how she lived, going to school and making friends, washing clothes, going to market, and celebrating Christmas.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: June 1999
In the Nineteenth Century, Mexico preserved its independence in a decisive military victory over an invading French army on May 05. Grades 4-6 will discover that there's more to this Mexican holiday than tasty foods and fun dances.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: March 2004
An African American grandmother tells her granddaughter how her ancestors came to the United States and how their tradition of basket making has been passed from generation to generation. An author’s note provides more historical background on sweetgrass or Gullah baskets.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: October 2000
For any middle schooler or older interested in the American Civil War, this guide to Web resources is a gold mine. In two parts, the first reviews and rates the best sites and the second lists other sites worth visiting. Included sites deal with battles and campaigns, political and military leaders, the soldier's life, regiments, and the experience of African American troops and women. A CD-ROM has hot links to all the listed sites. Every upper school library should have a copy of this resource on its shelves.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: August 2006
Using more than 125 full-color maps, diagrams, and a timeline, this visual history of World War II sets the world stage before detailing the Axis advances, the turning of the Axis tide, Allied advances, and the Allied victories. A comprehensive key and glossary are provided. Internet links are found on each page.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: September 2002
What is the right thing to do? Though Confucius believed there was no one answer to this question, he thought it was one that we should continually ask ourselves. A minor government official 2,500 years ago, Confucius made suggestions for reform that were ignored by the rulers of China. He spent his time teaching and discussing ideas with his students. This illustrated biography examines the man and his thought.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: April 2006
This book presents the original text of the U.S. Constitution and Amendments side-by-side with a translation for younger citizens. The book includes a timeline outlining the development of constitutional government, a discussion of the branches of government, a glossary of terms, an analytic overview of the Constitution and Amendments, student exercises, and more.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: September 1998
This book is sure to provoke plenty of creative discussion in classes and homes for students in many age groups. The riddles and anecdotes from Asia, Africa, Europe, Mexico, and America all contain the subtext of justice issues and stimulate young people to address questions of fairness, truthfulness, and integrity in a variety of problem-solving situations.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: October 1998
Bodkin's poetic retelling of this classic Japanese tale is elegantly complemented by Gennadi Spirin's delicate illustrations. The story about a lonely sail-maker who finds a beautiful mate and loses her through his own lack of trust will move readers of all ages.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: April 2000
Crazy Horse is familiar to most of us, but who knows the boy called Curly who became Crazy Horse? This beautifully illustrated picture book for children 4-8 tells how after witnessing a massacre of Lakotas by soldiers, Curly left his village to seek a vision that could guide him in defending his people.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: October 1999
A steamy, swampy Florida setting and the threat of a repressed memory are two of the elements in Edward Bloor's first young adult novel, Tangerine, that made it an instant suburban gothic classic. His follow-up, Crusader, delves even deeper into the dark side of suburbia, exposing racism, virtual violence, and even murder behind the sunny facade of a Florida strip mall.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: September 2004
Colonial Era artifacts, fashions, and occupations fill the pages of this ABC. A Hotch Potch, or contorted figure, in colonial garb forms each letter. The book has a map of Colonial Williamsburg, a glossary, and an illustrator’s note.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: January 2007
Ehrenreich examines communal revelry. Although church officials succeeded in removing festivities from churches in the West by the 16th century and missionaries accomplished the same in “savage” lands under imperialism, group revelry is a persistent phenomenon. She explores rock ‘n’ roll and sports as examples of this biological and cultural urge.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: September 2003
Although it focuses on Lincoln’s Gettysburg address, this book recounts the decisive three day battle that marked the turn of the Civil War. It is thickly illustrated with paintings, contemporary images, artifacts, and maps. The text of Lincoln’s powerful 272 word speech is included, as well as a photo of a copy in Lincoln’s handwriting.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: March 2004
The authors propose a new national holiday--Deliberation Day--to be held two weeks before Election Day. Registered voters would meet in small and large groups to discuss the central issues raised in the campaign. To accommodate all, the holiday would be two days long and all deliberators would be paid. The authors believe that Deliberation Day could revitalize democracy and free elections of undemocratic media influence.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: April 2006
Paracelsus (1493-1541) was born in Switzerland in 1493. He was a contemporary of Nicholas Copernicus, Martin Luther, Leonardo da Vinci and others associated with the birth of the modern world. Considered a charlatan and a windbag by some, he was considered the father of modern medicine by others. The author puts the man in his time, examining the intellectual, political, and religious life of the Renaissance.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: February 2004
The Novelist Walter Abish was born in Vienna in the 1930s. In this memoir, he reports his family’s fantastic escape from the Nazis and adventures in France, Italy, and China. He recalls the past and reevaluates his understanding of his childhood experience in alternating chapters.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: September 2004
This introduction to the Civil Rights Movement covers the major events from Brown v. the Board of Education to the murder of Martin Luther King. It has many photographs and sidebars highlighting the major players in a struggle that continues today. Recommended books and Websites are listed.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: April 2000
This picture book for 4-8 year olds tells the true story of how Annie Moore sailed with her two younger brothers from Ireland and became the first immigrant to pass through the new Ellis Island processing center on January 1, 1892.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: January 1999
Your fashion-conscious students will appreciate this sartorial approach to American history. Discover the damsels who donned 40 pounds of clothing; the generation that banned silk roses on shoes; and more.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: September 1997
Booth uses a contemporary season of drought as a springboard for a farm family's reminiscence about the drought in the 1930s Dust Bowl. The grandfather's memories are relayed powerfully through the book's text and the muted, elegant illustrations.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: April 2004
Depression and Dust Bowl combined to make the 1930s a time of poverty and despair. This history of the period includes firsthand accounts from John Steinbeck and Woody Guthrie as well as many photographs, including some of Dorothea Lange’s. The book has a notes section with source information and a list of additional print, video, Internet, and museum resources.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: April 2006
What was it like to be in San Francisco for the Big One of 1906? This novel describes the great earthquake and fire from the viewpoint of nine-year-old Chin, a newly arrived immigrant. The book includes a historical note, photos, and suggestions for further reading.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: April 2004
Bob Edwards, former host of NPR’s Morning Edition, believes that if there is a broadcast journalist of Murrow’s caliber, he or she will probably leave the business before being noticed. Murrow would not have tolerated news programming determined by market research. This biography looks at Murrow’s contributions during World War II, the Cold War, The McCarthy era, and the Kennedy years.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: November 2005
Nakht is a nine-rear-old son of a scribe. When his father gets a new job, they move to the city of Memphis. Nakht tours the City of the Dead, visits workshops of craftsmen, and goes on a hippo hunt. He and his sister Tamyt help capture tomb robbers and are rewarded. Follow Nakht on his adventures and learn about the history and culture of Egypt in 1465 B.C. The illustrations in this large format book are a major attraction.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: June 1999
Young people aged 10 and over will receive an introduction to the English Renaissance through Elizabeth I's "diary." Penned by the 11-year-old Elizabeth, this diary covers trials as a new monarch as well as her struggles with homework.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: August 2003
Embedded journalists accompanied U.S. and British troops during the Iraq War. This book collects more than 60 accounts of the war related by men and women shortly after returning home. Their recollections are personal and frank descriptions of reporting under fire. An appendix includes the Department of Defense Embedment Manual.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: April 2002
Discovered by peasants digging a well in the spring of 1974, the tomb of the Terra Cotta Army yielded 38 columns with 6000 warriors and 40 chariots in excavation Pit 1 alone. It is believed a force of 730,000 labored 20 years to complete the tomb of China's first Emperor, Qin Shihuang. This fascinating history includes color photographs, computer images, maps, drawings, and charts.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: June 2005
As the title suggest, this is an encyclopedic account of ancient and modern languages spanning 5000 years and covering the globe. Ostler describes what once was and offers a view of what may be. This dense book would be best used as a supplemental resource.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: June 2005
At least one sits on a shelf in every library, and until the advent of the Internet, the encyclopedia was probably the first resource a student turned to when doing research. It is hard to think of the encyclopedia as revolutionary, but in 18th century France men could be arrested and executed for expressing their views. Enlightenment figures like Diderot, Rousseau, Voltaire, and d’Alembert risked their lives to write one. Blom tells an exciting story of intellectual courage.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: January 1999
As Lourie canoes the length of the canal, he takes students on a trip back in time to learn how thousands of workers built the canal with sweat, shovels, axes, and explosives.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: October 2003
The author, a 23 year old associate of the American Anti-Slavery Group (AASG) and himself a former slave, recounts his ten years of slavery in Sudan and his arduous quest for freedom in the U.S. He speaks for an estimated 27 million slaves held in nearly every country in the world, including the U.S.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: August 2006
Erich Weiss, the son of a rabbi, turned himself into Harry Houdini—magician, dare devil, escape artist, and a master showman. As a debunker of ghost raisers, he balanced his impatience with frauds with his eagerness to believe that there just might be a way to communicate with the dead. This biography has many photographs.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: April 2006
Leonardo Da Vinci excelled in painting, sculpture, architecture, the sciences, engineering, and inventing. This book describes the man, his time and contemporaries, and his work in concise and readable chunks. The book has a timeline and glossary.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: August 2007
After setting the world stage, the authors outline the major battles in Europe, North Africa, and the Pacific; provide brief biographies of major political and military figures; describe battlefields and weapons; examine Nazism and Holocaust; and explore the homefront. Appendices list print and web resources, and provide a detailed timeline, Holocaust statistics, and descriptions of military decorations.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: August 2002
After a brief first chapter that discusses religion in general terms, this introductory text presents capsule descriptions of Christianity and its many forms, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Confucianism, Taoism, Jainism and Baha’i, Sikhism, Shinto, and many other ancient, indigenous, and new age faiths.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: September 2005
Successes and near successes fill this history of exploration: Richard Burton’s search for the source of the Nile, Scott’s journey to the South Pole, Nobile’s attempt to reach the North Pole by dirigible, Armstrong’s walk on the moon. Fifty-three expeditions are described. The book has hundreds of photographs and maps and 28 gatefolds.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: September 2002
When Alexandra was a young girl she dreamed of far off places, "beyond the garden gate." At forty-three, after a career in opera, she set off for Tibet where she studied and traveled for fourteen years. Ultimately, she became the first western woman to visit the forbidden city of Lhasa and translated many Tibetan texts. She never stopped thinking of travel. She died at 101, shortly after renewing her passport.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: April 1998
When the Fresh Air Fund allows twelve year old Hadassah, a European immigrant living in a New York tenement in 1910, to spend a summer in Vermont, she witnesses an America beyond her imagination.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: August 2001
This really big, beautifully detailed picture history chronicles a farm in England from its beginnings in AD 800 to the present. Each two-page spread shows the developing farm and the resulting changes in the land and society. Many pages have additional smaller inserts that reveal interiors and details. Long forgotten chores and skills are explained and shown. A glossary is included.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: May 1999
From the beginning, the U.S. Constitution has been a controversial document. The Federalist Papers, written by Madison, Hamilton, and Jay, were a series of essays in favor of ratification. This edition of the Papers contains all 85 essays. The volume opens with the original text indexed to the relevant essays. An index allows users to find passages dealing with controversial issues that persist today. The book contains our first and failed national document, the Articles of Confederation, and a glossary.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: October 2002
This generously illustrated introduction to the greatest conflict fought on U.S. territory is brought to life with many full-page archival photos and contemporary paintings. Inserts feature artifacts and cartoons. The book includes a timeline of major events, maps locating major battles, glossary, and a list of Civil War Web sites.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: June 2005
There is a Burmese joke that Orwell wrote three books about Burma: Burmese Days, Animal Farm, and 1984. Burma, now Myanmar, is a paranoid country in which jail and torture are common. The author, Larkin is a pseudonym, traveled and talked with intellectuals, discovering that despite severe censorship and the threat of arrest and torture, it is a country in which people have secret libraries and talk passionately about books.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: September 2006
This guide will help the WWII historians identify Army artifacts and find service records for family members. Sections cover the composition of Army units, individual and organizational records and how to find them, and identifying insignia. Appendices provide field guides to patches and vehicle markings, campaign histories, and definitions for military abbreviations. The bookÂ’s one shortcoming is its lack of index.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: April 2002
More than six months before Lexington, the British had lost control of the Massachusetts countryside. This new look at our national myth argues that the telling of history wants heroes and that the revolution in Massachusetts preceding Lexington and Concord had no such figures but was led by anonymous farmers and artisans, “the body of the people,” or in the words of Governor Gage “a tumultuous Rabble, without and Appearance general Concert, or without and Head to advise, or Leader to conduct.”
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: March 2005
Indigenous people the world over are currently recovering what they lost during periods of colonization argues the author. Sissons examines indigenous cultures from North America, Australia, New Zealand, Mexico, and Brazil and covers the 19th and 20th centuries. He then looks at urban and rural communities and their need to establish ties.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: March 2005
Mauthausen was the last of the Nazi concentration camps to be built. Heinrich Himmler designated it Grade III. No prisoner was meant to live. This picture book outlines the history of the secret camp and honors the courage and hope of the prisoners who died their and those who survived. The title refers to the American flag made by prisoners to welcome their American liberators.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: February 2005
DeRamus has collected fourteen tales of live under one of the worst conditions, slavery. Her sources were family stories, unpublished memoirs, Civil War records, magazines, and newspapers.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: May 1999
This ground breaking history book tells about the extraordinary lengths to which some people have gone in order to safeguard racial boundaries, as well as the stirring lives of people who defied social convention for the sake of love. Young adult readers will be fascinated by Nash's historical descriptions of this long-standing taboo.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: September 2005
Fradin and McCurdy have spotlighted the 39 signers of the U.S. Constitution as they did the 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence. Organized by state in the order each state approved the Constitution, each state has a map and brief history. Fradin has provided short biographies and essays on each signer’s contributions and subsequent career. McCurdy has provided scratch board portraits and scenes that resemble contemporary block prints.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: October 2002
Using letters, diaries, family histories, poetry, journals, and interviews with four sisters born in China between 1908 and 1914, the author has fashioned a human-scale account of China in the 20th century. The first half examines the land, ancestors, and those who cared for the Chang sisters, and the second half focuses on a defining theme in each sister's life.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: February 2003
The Presidential election of 1876 has been called the most sensational, ethically sordid, and legally questionable in American history. Though the Democrat Tilden won 260,000 more votes than Republican Hayes, a special Electoral Commission dominated by Republicans awarded the election to Hayes. During four months of backroom wheeling and dealing, President Grant mobilized troops to keep the peace. Legalized segregation was one shameful outcome.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: December 2005
The author focuses on two principal figures in the 1961 Freedom Rides. Blacks and whites, young men and women risked their lives by riding on buses and eating together in the segregated South. The book features many contemporary photos, an annotated partial list of Riders, a timeline, and resources guide.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: September 2006
When Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat to a white man, she inspired the Montgomery bus boycott. This book, filled with contemporary photos, examines the men and women and the events that led to desegregated busing a year later.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: September 2001
A shy boy who slept with a light on even after he was married at thirteen, Gandhi grew up to become a fearless champion of the downtrodden. This picture book biography follows Gandhi’s career and struggles in England, South Africa, and India. Gandhi’s practice of nonviolent resistance to social injustice is as inspiring today as it was fifty years ago.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: December 2004
This huge and generously illustrated history of the world’s religions opens with a chapter on the origins of religion and then devotes a chapter to Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. The book features a world map showing where each religion’s adherents are found and a timeline – milestones of faith through the ages.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: March 2002
Although the world is closely linked, not everyone is happy with what has come to be called globalization. George Soros, international financier and philanthropist, is aware of the social and political implications of globalization. He has tried to promote “open societies” to balance expanding markets. In this book, Soros identifies problems and proposes practical solutions. The concluding chapter addresses the role of the United States, cautioning that the unilateral exercise of power is not the answer.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: October 2004
History is written by the victors, and this reality makes for a skewed picture of the past. Schanzer has labored to present the American Revolution from the view points of both sides of the Atlantic. Governments are compared. Taxes are examined. Armies and tactics are assessed. The book includes many illustrations and contemporary quotations.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: June 2003
This book illustrates high points in the three days of the Battle of Gettysburg. The author has used historical and reenactor photographs as well as computer graphic techniques to recreate the scenes. One chapter describes how to tour the battlefield with the book as a guide. The final chapter tells how some of the photos were made.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: June 1999
Readers aged 9-12 will enjoy this Shogun-era story. Although Seikei has been born into the merchant class, he dreams impossibly of becoming a samurai. In 1735, on the Tokaido Road, the life of this fourteen-year-old Japanese boy changes dramatically When Seikei tries to help solve a crime mystery, he finds himself having to display all the courage of a samurai. The novel's climax echoes the story of Shakespeare's Hamlet, and the book might be used to introduce reader's to some of that play's themes.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: January 2002
Lindsey is bored stiff watching a Civil War reenactment until she meets Willie, Willie Lincoln that is. Willie takes her on a personal tour of the war showing her major events and figures. This colorful introduction to the American Civil War is timeline, map, and comic book. The book includes excerpts from documents, details of weapons, uniforms, flags, and brief bios of important characters. A final timeline shows what was happening in the rest of the world from 1861-1865.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: August 2004
In A.D. 79, the citizens of Pompeii and Herculaneum had central heating, sliding glass doors, and hot and cold running water. All was lost in less than a day when Vesuvius erupted. Yet in the midst of almost total devastation, “shock cocoons” have preserved relics, such as a bowl of nuts, in perfect condition. Much of their everyday life, revealed by forensic archaeology, is related in this fascinating account. The author then examines 9/11 damage in light of his specialty: downblast and surge physics. The book has many haunting photos and drawings.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: December 2004
The author has collected 33 folktales from Zimbabwe and Botswana. Many folktales from around the world have common features, and you are sure to recognize some. For example, hare, that clever trickster who appears in slave tales from the American South, appears here outwitting lion and hyena. You will also find tales about children made of wax, a sister made of bones, and a man with a tree growing out of his head.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: January 2005
Coates has written a global history of indigenous people. He covers the first migrations that spread mankind across the planet, looks at how tribal people distinguished themselves from other societies, and evaluates the impact of colonialism. The effects of European and non-European expansion are considered.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: September 2001
Tricia Ann is bursting with excitement. She is going to Someplace Special, the Public Library, and her grandmother said she can go all by herself. Going alone is a big step for an African American girl in the Jim Crow South of the 1950s. Along the way, she encounters restricted areas and prejudice. She almost gives up, but she meets a kind soul who helps her recover her determination. This beautifully illustrated book is a poignant reminder of our not too distant past.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: May 2005
This dual biography traces the diverging paths of two talented actors, sons of an equally talented actor. Giblin has framed the stories of Edwin and John Wilkes within an exciting narrative of the Lincoln assassination and the ensuing capture and prosecution of the conspirators. The book features many contemporary engravings and photographs.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: April 2001
This overview of WWII contains text; quick facts; maps; and black & white and color photographs of important figures, action, and memorabilia. A timeline is featured inside the front and back covers. Readers will find a glossary, bibliography, and Web resources. This book is a must for any middle school library.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: July 2007
The setting is medieval village in the England of 1255. More than twenty-two characters from the lordÂ’s nephew Hugo to Nelly the sniggler (eel catcher) speak in their own voices in this collection of verse. The pages are illuminated. Unfamiliar vocabulary and references are explained in marginal notes.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: September 2003
Delivering fresh butter, Hallie discovers two runaway slave girls hiding in her neighbor’s cellar. Her neighbors are Quakers and active in the Underground Railroad. Her father hates slavery but says the law is the law. When slave chasers appear, Hallie must decide if she listens to her father or her conscience.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: February 2005
Could you pass the test every hopeful immigrant takes to earn U.S. citizenship? This book contains 91 questions and answers covering the flag, Constitution and Amendments, three branches of government, and more. Sidebars provide additional information and three appendices include the Declaration of Independence, U.S. Constitution and Amendments, and the Emancipation Proclamation.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: September 2001
When Europeans arrived in the Caribbean, they encountered the Karina, themselves great sailors, traders, and warriors. The Spanish called the Karina the Carib Indians. This retelling of a Karina tale about a flood will recall the story of Noah's Ark. Calderon's wonderfully detailed scratchboard illustrations make this a special version of a familiar tale.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: December 2001
This collection of 30 biographies of men and women who have contributed to modern physics puts the face on the scientist behind the big idea. The discussions of the science are accessible even to general readers. The fields of mechanics, thermodynamics, electromagnetism, statistical mechanics, relativity, quantum mechanics, nuclear physics, particle physics, astronomy, astrophysics, and cosmology are represented. Each unit opens with a historical synopsis proving context.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: March 2003
To mislead Nazi Germany into thinking the Allies intended to invade Greece in 1943, British spies put false documents in a briefcase chained to the wrist of a dead man from a London morgue and let him wash ashore in Spain. Hitler sent his troops to Greece and the Allies attacked Sicily instead. The 100 stories collected here, each spanning two facing pages, highlight little known events from 46 B.C. to 1990. A sources section directs the curious to additional reading.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: January 2005
In mining, aviation, and publishing, the Guggenheims have been a powerful presence in American business, but the family has also left its mark on the art world. Peggy Guggenheim championed Abstract Expressionism, and Solomon built the Museum of Modern Art. The John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation provides fellowships for professionals in natural sciences, social sciences, humanities, and creative arts. This group biography traces the family fortunes from immigration to big business and public works.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: March 2001
Kukamba’s gugu, or grandmother, is an artist. All around her house are paintings and clay sculptures of African animals. Life is difficult in Zimbabwe when it doesn’t rain. Gugu cheers the other villagers by telling stories about Rabbit, until the rain comes, ending the drought and destroying Gugu’s art. But endings are beginnings too.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: March 2003
An empty suitcase in the Tokyo Holocaust Education Resource Center prompts curious school children and the museum's director to investigate the fate of its owner Hana Brady. The only information they have is the girl's name and her birth date painted on the side of the suitcase. This moving detective story covers 70 years and events on three continents. The book features photos and documents.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: October 1998
Kimmel and illustrator Emily Lisker have created a book sure to please readers of all ages. The volume contains dozens of children's games, songs, recipes, poems, and stories associated with the Festival of Lights. Families will love exploring this book together; teachers will value the information it provides about Hanukkah's history and traditions.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: May 2000
Come celebrate a small town 4th of July. Enjoy the games, picnic, parade, and fireworks on the lake. This picture book is for children 4-8.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: May 2006
Diamonds are not especially rare. Their cost has been artificially inflated through the control of supply by the De Beers cartel. Depending on their origin, however, diamonds can represent great human suffering. The author examines the diamond trade from mine to finger.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: December 2003
A young Vietnamese boy is excited to begin a field trip to a hermit on a mountain top. He is so eager that he races to the top to find the hermit’s hut empty. He has failed to appreciate the journey. Only after drinking sweet water from a well does he understand how to see the beauty around him.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: July 2006
If Schliemann can be believed (he was a notorious storyteller), his fascination with Troy began with a copy of the Iliad given to him by his father for Christmas when he was seven. At 46, Schliemann decided to search for Troy. He found it. Although Archaeologist Frank Calvert should get credit for identifying the correct site, Schliemann did excavate it. This brief, illustrated biography is as fascinating as an Indiana Jones movie.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: October 2006
Examine new discoveries at the sites of the Aztec Great temple and Pyramid of the Moon in Mexico City. The author/photographer visited the archaeological digs to get a firsthand look and latest understanding of the Aztec culture.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: August 2003
The politics of the McCarthy Era drove many men and women out of the movie-making industry. This book, the last in a trilogy documenting McCarthy's impact on the entertainment business, examines where the blacklistees went and what they accomplished. Some of TVs most popular programs were the work of Hollywood radicals. A hefty notes section will point the curious to further reading.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: April 1999
This is the second edition of Hakim's critically acclaimed series of American history texts for young people. Based on Hakim's experience as an educator and her belief in the power of narrative, the ten volumes in this series weave together anecdotes, critical thinking activities, stories, timelines, and other material in a way that engages young readers in U.S. history.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: April 2006
Is the Next Big Thing competitive eating? It will be if promoters have their way. Fagone spent a year following 27 eating contests on two continents in which gurgitators, or contestants, stuffed hotdogs, grilled cheese sandwiches, meatloaf, eggs, fruitcake, and more. A sport for a degraded time? One more reason for the French to hate us? Probably. One note, the language can be as over the top as the events.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: January 2001
The 39th President of the United States relates his depression-era childhood in segregated rural Georgia. He introduces readers to his strict-segregationist father who treated his black workers with respect; his mother, a nurse who cared for all in need; and others who shaped his life, black and white.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: May 2002
This is a reprint of Leaf’s 1946 classic on manners, a guide to personal relations that sums up good behavior in four words: honesty, fairness, strength, and wisdom. Some of the book’s statements may seem quaint, but maybe that is less an indication the underlying sentiments are outmoded as a sign they have been neglected. This book will make a good discussion starter.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: April 2004
Baron provides the moments in the Hudson’s story: the appearance of Native Americans, Henry Hudson, The American revolution, modern efforts to preserve the river. Locker provides the snapshots, beautiful paintings that recall the art of the Hudson River School.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: October 2003
Is Shakespeare a more important writer than Homer? Are Einstein and Newton equals? Murray used statistical techniques to investigate human accomplishment in arts and science and compiled inventories of 4002 men and women, greats in literature, music, art, philosophy, and science. Chapters distinguish between giants and merely great, the differences between accomplishment in art and science, fourteen leaps in the capacity to create great art and science, and patterns of accomplishment in time and place. Appendices illuminate statistics, methods, and data. This book is sure to generate controversy.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: March 2002
If you find it hard to comprehend a world of six billion people, what about a village of 100? This book presents worldwide statistical information on nationality, language, age, religion, food, air and water, schooling and literacy, money and possessions, and electricity as if the world were a village of 100 people. Sections examine the village in the past and in the future. Suggestions for teaching children about the global village are included. An endnote discusses sources and calculations.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: March 2006
Three thousand women from 20 to 40 years old in 105 countries responded to the editor’s call to submit art and writing that addressed the question: “What defines your generation of women?” The responses include photography, painting, poetry, fiction, songs, and essays. Goldman selected 105 responses from 57 countries. The work is organized in four sections dealing with personal, community, generational and national issues and the future.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: July 2002
Takahashi set out to discover the real man behind Daniel Defoe's creation Robinson Crusoe, the Scots sailor Alexander Selkirk (1676-1721). His seven year quest took him to libraries and museums in England and Scotland and to Robinson Crusoe Island off the coast of Chile. There he lived without modern equipment and searched for signs of Selkirk's five year stay. The book has maps and photos, including a coconut cup that belonged to Selkirk.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: October 2001
When inexperienced European settlers of the American West needed instruction in cattle ranching, they turned to the vaqueros, Native American "cowboys" who had handled cattle for three hundred years, ever since the arrival of the Spanish Conquistadors. Vaqueros supplied the skills, the clothes, and the vocabulary. This illustrated history provides a look at a forgotten Western figure.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: March 2004
Califano served in Washington under Presidents Kennedy, Johnson, and Carter. As secretary of Health, Education and Welfare under President Jimmy Carter, he launched a now familiar campaign against smoking. His outspoken stance against tobacco interests in an election year contributed to his firing. Off the Hill, Califano formed a nonprofit organization that focuses on the problem of addiction called the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University, or CASA. This big memoir addresses the rewards and price of public service.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: May 2003
Did Stanley really say: "Dr. Livingstone, I presume?" Perhaps. In any case, the American reporter did locate the doctor who had disappeared while searching for the source of the Nile. This exciting history follows the careers of doctor and journalist and many others during the last days of classic exploration. Read this book on a muggy summer eve with mosquitoes buzzing in your ears.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: June 1999
Readers age 4-8 meet the workers who built the Union Pacific Railroad and Central Pacific Railroad in the mid-nineteenth century. Clever verse and strong illustration capture the drama of workers hanging in baskets planting explosives, sleeping in snowy shacks or on top of railroad cars, and more.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: August 2006
Politics today is dominated by black and white solutions to gray problems. Dworkin identifies two principles of personal and political morality all citizens can share: each human life is intrinsically and equally valuable and each person has a responsibility for identifying and realizing his value. He argues that recognizing these shared principles can make real political debate possible.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: November 2004
Underlying this look at the world’s resources and the corporations that control them is the belief that commodities have been at the center of slavery, war, colonialism and empire, migration, and emigration. In separate chapters, Ridgeway examines commodities as obvious as water and food and as overlooked as the sky and biodiversity.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: August 2006
Blue jeans are a global phenomenon, a marketing triumph. A pop culture critic covers jeans from their practical beginnings as work wear to today's high-priced fashion staple.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: May 2001
Jefferson called Adams "the colossus of independence." Others thought he was "out of his senses." The biography of the 2nd President of the United States includes portraits of his wife, Abigail, his son, John Quincy (6th President), George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, John Jay, Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, John Marshall, Aaron Burr, and many others. It reveals the complicated relationship between Jefferson and Adams, two very different men united in their devotion to the United States.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: April 2006
As you can probably predict, this look at our founding fathers by the author of The Stinky Cheese Man is irreverent. John Hancock, Paul Revere, George Washington, Ben Franklin, and Thomas Jefferson are portrayed as young rascals though their problematic talents pay off in the end. A final section called “Taking Liberties” sorts fact from fiction.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: June 2001
This newly illustrated version of a poem, first published in 1933, tells of the contributions of John Chapman, or Johnny Appleseed. A map of Ohio and Indiana shows where Chapman planted apple trees.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: September 2005
As the German army prepared to enter Paris in June 1940, Margret and Hans Rey rode bicycles out of the city on the first leg of a journey that would take them to Portugal and South America before finally ending in the United States. This book focuses on the Reys’ careers before Curious George. Drummond’s illustrations capture the excitement of their narrow escape. The book includes contemporary photographs, artifacts, and artwork. Maps on the end papers trace the Reys’ journey.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: March 2001
Hannah, a young Amish girl, travels with her mother and a friend to Chicago. This picture book takes the form of entries in a diary, Hannah's "silent friend." With alternating images the authors contrast Chicago with Hannah's quiet life in an Amish community.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: March 2001
This collection of twenty maps tells the stories of well known and less well known journeys in American history. Trace the routes of the Anishinabe from the east coast to the Great lakes, of Venture Smith from West Africa to Rhode Island, and of John Muir from Indiana to Florida. This picture book includes text on each subject and bibliographical notes for further research.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: January 1999
Young adults readers learn about farm life and migrant families in Olson's tale about a teenager's summer working alongside Mexican strawberry harvesters. When vandals threaten the crop in a climactic closing to the novel, the main character is forced to question his own allegiances.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: November 1998
The author who brought us Out of the Dust now turns her considerable talents to present-day Appalachia and paints a rich portrait of the eight-member Faulstich family. Readers age 9-12 will be attracted to Juice, the 9-year-old resourceful heroine, and her family as they struggle to survive in their small, poverty-stricken rural community.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: September 2004
Today a penny might not seem even worth stooping to pick up, but in 1899 the newsies, the boys and girls who sold The World and The Journal on the streets, refused to sell papers because the newspaper owners had raised their rates from five cents per ten copies to six cents. One penny made a difference when ten dollars a week supported a family. This is an inspiring David and Goliath story.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: June 2007
This kids' guide covered Africa, Colonial America, plantation life, freedmen, abolitionists, Civil War and freedom, Harlem Renaissance, the Civil Rights Movement, and hope for the future. The book features maps, illustrations, sidebars, and activities. Each activity lists needed materials. The author has included a selected reading list.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: January 2003
The author, an attorney specializing in juvenile law and youth advocate, has prepared a guide to the juvenile justice system. The book’s three sections examine what is done by kids, what is done for and to kids, and the future of juvenile justice. An appendix covers Federal involvement in juvenile law. A glossary is included. This book would make a good resource for civics classrooms.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: June 1998
Readers age 9-12 with an entrepreneurial spirit will enjoy reading Erlbach's lively profiles of twelve young business owners. These kids age 7-12 give advice on choosing and starting a business, accounting, and promoting your business.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: October 1999
This readable discussion of James Madison and the first ten amendments to the Constitution is perfect for students 9-12. Each amendment is introduced and discussed in terms of current social issues and concerns. The final chapter, entitled "When the Bill of Rights Goes Wrong," describes changing social needs and the amendment process. Additional resources for young readers are specifically identified in the bibliography.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: January 2004
Sir Gregor Macgregor fought in the Napoleonic Wars and the South American wars for independence under Simon Bolivar. In 1823, Macgregor, now a self-styled Central American prince, convinced a group of Scots to immigrate to his nation of Poyais. When they landed on the Mosquito Coast, they discovered that there was no Poyais and that their guidebooks and banknotes were worthless. Few survived. Incredibly Macgregor escaped justice and retired to Venezuela on a pension.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: June 2003
Born in poverty in18th century Palermo, Italy, Guiseppe Balsamo fashioned himself Count Alessandro di Cagliostro, magician, alchemist, healer, and freemason. He influenced the poet William Blake, inspired Mozart's Magic Flute, established "healing clinics" for the poor, and ended his days in solitary confinement having been declared a heretic. McCalman focuses on seven key episodes in Cagliostro's career. Dumbledore or Gilderoy Lockhart? You decide.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: June 2001
Less than two weeks after the American evacuation of Saigon, Cambodian gunboats hijacked the merchant ship S.S. Mayaquez in international waters. Forty-one Americans died in subsequent military operations, including a helicopter assault on a heavily defended island. While examining the entire crisis, the author focuses on the fate of three Marines left behind.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: May 2002
In July 1945, the USS Indianapolis carried an atomic bomb to Tinian that was later dropped on Hiroshima. After making its delivery, the ship was torpedoed by a Japanese submarine. Four days later, 317 survivors of more than one thousand sailors who went into the water were rescued. This book tells how a sixth grade boy’s history fair project helped clear the name and record of the ship’s captain who was unjustly court-martialed.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: December 2001
Lord Eight Deer ruled the Mixtec people of Mexico from 1063-1115. This retelling of his epic is based on 500 year-old codices painted on deer-hide. A beautifully illustrated book, it includes an introduction setting the events of the story in historical context, a chronology, and a final section relating the author’s search for the truth behind the legend.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: September 2002
Hubert and Edmund are squires who have served their knights in the Crusades. After the siege of Acre, they set sail for England, but the return is arduous as was the fighting in the Holy Land. A secret mission, swordplay, and friendship figure large in this realistic novel of the Middle Ages.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: May 2000
This book for 9-12 year olds tells the story of the Statue of Liberty and Auguste Bartholdi, the French sculptor who was commissioned to design her. The book examines the statue's design stages and details its construction in 1886 and renovation in the 1980s. It also explains the contribution of engineer Gustave Eiffel who created the statue's armature. The illustrations, especially those of the under the skin technical aspects, are fascinating.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: May 2006
We use libraries all the time and never give a second thought to how special they are. This illustrated history covers the subject from the Library of Alexandria to the most recent digitization projects. Sidebars and marginal notes provide fascinating information about people, manuscripts and books, and ideas. A notes section and appendix suggest books and websites for further investigation.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: June 2003
Libraries shape as well as collect knowledge. This brief history traces the development of the library from Mesopotamia to the present, addressing its often contradictory roles of champion of the best and warehouse of the rest. It portrays the library as intellectual and sometimes physical battleground, as during the book burnings of the Nazi era and the destruction of the Bosnian National Library in Sarajevo.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: April 2002
How could a nation be enthralled by a man who now seems so clearly evil? This biography puts Hitler in context, revealing the social, economic, political, and international factors that helped provide the right moment for his ascendance. The book is filled with archival photos and contemporary art. It includes a glossary of German words and terms, notes, and bibliography.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: March 1998
Readers ages 9-12 will actually feel as though they can open the mummy-shaped box, smell the must of the tomb and reveal the secrets within mummies. They'll discover all of the creepy characteristics and history of mummies while having lots of fun creating their own mummy!
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: April 1998
9-12 year olds will gain a wealth of information about the lives of children worldwide through Springer's sensitive photoessay. Through charts, maps, and personal accounts, Springer, a former UNICEF worker, introduces young readers to child laborers in many different countries.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: December 2006
Yes, kids can and do philosophize about friendship, responsibility, happiness, justice, time, death, god, nature, and other big ideas. The author, who has been practicing philosophy with young children for fifteen years, has developed a do-it-yourself teaching kit. The book opens with some essential rules. The chapters that follow examine different ideas and provide examples from noted philosophers.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: November 2000
This illustrated book for readers 9-12 contains mini-biographies of twenty women who shaped history. Like Krull's previous books, this collection outlines each life and career, including just the kind of quirky anecdotes you would expect to hear if you called one of Cleopatra's neighbors on the phone. Perhaps Queen Victoria would not be, but you will be amused.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: September 1998
It's hard to escape news of the presidency these days, even in this book list. But you and your students are sure to be delighted by Krull and Hewitt's cleverly illustrated, witty and intelligent examination of past presidents; everything from policy to pets to pet peeves is included in this resource for kids age 9-12.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: January 2005
Long-long goes with his grandfather to town to sell cabbages so they can earn money for Spring Festival. A flat tie, a dishonest rival cabbage seller, and one coin short of what they need to pay for their festival supplies present obstacles, but all works out for the best in the end. He Zhihong’s muted rice paper paintings capture the excitement of a young boy’s first visit to market.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: May 2004
What happened to the 115 settlers of the Roanoke Colony? Fritz retells this familiar story and examines the numerous theories and scant evidence to explain what happened. For those intrigued by this enduring historical mystery, she has included a bibliography. Talbott’s illustrations establish a suitably gloomy mood.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: September 2004
In the Andes, guinea pigs are still raised and bought as food. In this tale, a crafty guinea pig called Cuy does his best to avoid becoming a meal for a gullible fox and an angry farmer. Knutson’s illustrations combine features of block prints and watercolors. She has included a glossary of Spanish and Quechua words.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: May 1999
Readers age 4-8 will be pulled in to this adaptation of the fairy-tale classic "The Fisherman and His Wife." Polacco sets the story in Russia; instead of a fish, it's a wren who grants the main character, Luba, any wish she can make. When Luba's parents learn about the wren, the wishes quickly spiral out of control.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: April 2006
This is one of the oldest stories in the world. Recorded on clay tablets 500 years ago in Sumer, the story was uncovered in the 19th century but not translated until the 1970s. Lugalbanda, youngest and weakest of eight brothers, relies on his courage and loyalty to bring victory to his king and an end to war. By the way, Lugalbanda became third king of Uruk and was father of Gilgamesh. The author has included notes on the Sumerians and the two related Lugalbanda stories.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: August 2004
A young girl’s presidential aspirations are questioned, launching an exploration of the role of women in American politics. Readers meet influential first ladies, suffragettes, congresswomen, cabinet persons, Supreme Court justices, and presidential advisors. The U.S. is compared with other nations that include women in their governing bodies. We rank fifty-second. The book ends with a mosaic of the White House composed of photos of females and a timeline of women in politics from 1776-2003.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: February 2000
Meyers's biography for children 4-8 traces the life and career of a powerful leader in the civil rights movement. Bold illustrations and forceful quotes from speeches help convey the passion of a man who believed there is no such thing as a nonviolent revolution.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: April 2005
Susan Elizabeth’s mother believes women should have the right to vote. Susan Elizabeth would rather play, but slowly she is won over to the cause by her mother’s passion. When her mother is arrested and sent to jail for picketing outside the Capitol, Susan Elizabeth take her place on the picket line.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: July 2003
On August 7, 1974 as the last construction on the World Trade Center was being completed, a street performer, Philippe Petit, walked, danced, and lay down for an hour on a wire strung between the two towers, ¼ of a mile above the city’s streets. The preparations for his historic walk make as exciting reading as the event itself. Gerstein’s illustrations capture all the drama with dizzying perspective.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: February 2006
This is an hour-by-hour account of the twelve day hunt for John Wilkes Booth from Ford’s theater to Garrett Farm. Swanson bases his narrative on archival material, trial transcripts, and artifacts. The author has included a bibliography and notes for eager Lincoln scholars.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: October 2001
In the years after the King Sundiata, the glory of Mali faded. In this gloriously illustrated tale, the future king, Kankan Musa, is taken by slave raiders. Finding himself in the desert among strangers, he discovers an unexpected friend who helps him to learn about himself. Kankan finally returns and rules as one of Mali’s greatest kings.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: September 2000
Lisa's class is making maps. Her teacher says she can make a map of anyplace so Lisa makes a map of her bedroom and others showing her Boston terrier Penny's favorite hiding places, favorite spots in the park, and how a neighbor dog finds her way when she visits. Readers 4-8 will learn how maps represent the world, how they are made, and how to read them. This picture book would make a good introduction to maps in a social studies class.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: February 2005
This biography, based on an unpublished memoir, traces the life of an African American woman born free in New York City in 1848. Maritcha attended the first world’s fair, fled New York City during the Draft Riots of 1863, and returned to become teacher. The book is filled with contemporary art and artifacts as well as family photographs.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: May 2000
Folk art from the Americas, Africa, and Asia is used to tell a story of market day. Bright colors and rhyming couplets will make this book a winner for readers and listeners 4-8. A key at the end of the book identifies each piece of folk art and tells where it came from and how it was made.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: February 2004
According to this historical interpretation, the real American Revolution took place in the marketplace before 1776. Breen argues that the colonist's shared experience as consumers provided the cultural resources needed to develop a bold new form of political protest, the consumer boycott. Consumer choices became political acts that created shared trust among the colonists.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: August 2003
How did people wake before clocks? One way, at least if they lived in London’s East End, was to hire Mary Smith, a “knocker-up,” who rose early and shot dried peas at her customer’s windows until they woke. Mary didn’t have a snooze alarm. She kept firing peas until they showed their faces. In this tale, Mary returns to find her own daughter still in bed. Did she oversleep? Let’s just say the pea doesn’t fall too far from the peashooter.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: October 2000
Matilda is an unusual person for the Middle Ages. Father Leufredus has given her a religious education. She can read, write, figure and knows Latin, French and some Greek. When she's sent to serve Red Peg the Bonesetter, she finds herself surrounded by people who laugh and eat sausages while she aspires to higher things. This story of a young woman learning how to live in the world is intended for young adults.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: March 1998
When Bubbe and Eleanor prepare the family's Passover meal, each family member sneaks a matzo ball until there are too few left for the dinner. Greenstein's gouache illustrations add a lively accompaniment to a tender intergenerational tale.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: October 2005
Esther Krinitz was fifteen when Germany invaded Poland, and she and her younger sister were separated from their family. They pretended to be Catholic farm workers and hid from the Nazis for years. They were the only family members to survive. She created 32 hand-stitched embroidered panels to illustrate her memories and was still at work on them when she died. Each panel is accompanied by Esther’s description and a commentary written by her daughter, Bernice Steinhardt.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: 2002
The Berlin Airlift circumvented Stalin’s blockade of roads, railroads, and canals into West Berlin. During 1948-1949 British and American pilots flew more than 277,000 missions. This picture book relates how the efforts of one American, Lt. Gail S. Halvorsen, made a lasting impression on seven-year-old Mercedes Simon. An epilogue tells of their meeting in 1972.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: May 2001
The Metaphysical Club met in Cambridge, Massachusetts in 1872. The informal discussion group included Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., William James, and Charles Sanders Pierce. Later, John Dewey, a student of Pierce, was associated with the founders of Pragmatism. Though the club probably met for only nine months, its ideas about the role beliefs play in people's lives had a profound influence in America. This collective biography spans the years from the Civil War to 1919.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: November 2003
As if painting the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel were not challenge enough, Michelangelo had to contend with debt, poor health, the Pope’s impatience, artistic rivalry, and power politics. King has written an engrossing narrative that puts great art in its social context.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: September 1999
Molly Bannaky was Benjamin Banneker's grandmother, a courageous woman who survived being banished from England to the Colonies. Once in America, she worked her way out of indentured servitude, farmed her own land, and eventually bought (with the intent to set free) an African-American slave whom she eventually married.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: October 2002
This beautifully illustrated book contains lore, stories, recipes, and activities for a year of Chinese holidays. The book lists print and web resources for adults and young readers and includes a Chinese pronunciation guide. Activities and recipes are rated for difficulty.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: September 2006
Hariett Tubman was born a slave in Maryland around 1820. She escaped to Philadelphia using the Underground Railroad in 1849. By 1860, she had returned to the South nineteen times to help 300 others, including her parents, escape. This powerfully illustrated book tells the story of her first arduous journey.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: October 2003
In Macaulay’s latest architectural fiction, Admiral Suha Mehmet Pasa, a wealthy aristocrat, decides to build a mosque. Macaulay examines the mosque and its surrounding buildings within its social context, providing a view of Islamic culture unfamiliar to many Westerners. Watercolor illustrations present details of arch and dome construction, tiling, windows, pillars, and more.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: July 2005
Ms. Frizzle takes her class on another field trip. This time to China, but not present day China - China 1000 years ago. You'll have fun, even if Arnold doesn't, learning a lot about life and culture in Imperial China and about what we should thank the Chinese for inventing.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: June 2004
Gibbon's latest picture book highlights the myth, culture, and accomplishments of the Ancient Egyptians. She includes a map and representations of daily life and artifacts. This is a perfect book for mummies and daddies to read to little archaeologists.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: September 2005
In 1999, the mummies of three Inca children were discovered on top of one of the highest mountains in the Andes. Most mummies don’t contain body fluids for testing. These did. DNA tests found a descendent of one of the girls living in Washington, D.C. This fascinating look at mummified human and animal remains from around the world has many photos and a timeline spanning 7000 years.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: March 2004
When Alice was young, she loved to dance, but life got in the way. World War II sent Alice and her husband to an assembly center with other Japanese Americans. When they are given the chance to farm rather than be sent to an internment camp, they take it even though neither has any farming experience. Say’s beautifully illustrated story celebrates determination in the face of adversity.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: April 2002
Samuel Comstock dreamed of starting his own island kingdom in the South Seas. Two years into a whaling voyage, Comstock led a mutiny on the Globe, killing the captain and all the officers. He tried to establish a colony on Mili Atoll in the Marshall Islands, but within days was murdered by his fellow mutineers. This narrative examines the incident and its aftermath, including a counter-revolt by six loyal sailors who seized the Globe and escaped and the rescue of the survivors on Mili Atoll by the U.S. schooner Dolphin.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: September 2003
This collection includes forty-three presidential speeches. Each is given its historical context with an introductory essay. The collection includes photographs, and copies of pages of speeches with handwritten corrections and additions. Two CDs feature historical recordings, some more than 100 years old, as well as reenacted speeches.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: April 2006
If you have never watched Julia Child cook, borrow a DVD from your library. If you want to learn what inspired her to abandon spy work and become a chef, read her memoir. Child’s description of her initial encounter with French cooking, her unworldly first impressions recollected by the expert she became, sets up her book like a good first course.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: September 2000
A nine-year-old girl shares a room with her five little brothers. She loves them, but she wants a place of her own where she can read, write, and dream. When she discovers a storage space her mother has fashioned with flour sack curtains, she asks her mother to help her make a place. This picture book for readers 9-12 is told in parallel texts of English and Spanish.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: February 1999
When Nadia serves as flower girl at her aunt's traditional Pakistani wedding, elaborate designs are painted on her hands with henna. Nadia is worried about explaining her hands to her classmates at school: what will they think when they see her? A gentle story about Pakistani-American culture for readers ages 5-8.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: October 2003
This intriguing book looks at twenty historical mysteries from the building the pyramids to the assassination of JFK. It contains many illustrations and raises many questions. It would make an excellent discussion starter in a social studies class.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: January 2002
During World War II the Japanese were so skilled at tapping American communications and breaking codes that the U.S had few secrets. One man, Philip Johnston, knew how complex the Navajo language was, virtually impossible to master as an adult, with fewer than 30 speakers outside the tribe. Most importantly, the Navajo language didn’t borrow from other languages but invented its own words when the need arose. This book, first published in 1992 and reissued this year, celebrates the contributions of more than 400 Navajo code talkers in the U.S. Marine Corps.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: October 1999
Organized regionally, this reference work is packed with information about Native American arts, medicine, history, and contemporary culture. Sidebars offer insights into kid-friendly topics like the origin of lacrosse, the reason for burial mounds, the uses of buffalo bladders, and more.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: fall 1998
Readers age 10-14 will enjoy this comprehensive, engaging reference work about the important contributions made by Hispanic Americans in the arts, sciences, and government.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: May 2006
In 1989, the wall that had divided East and West Berlin since 1961 came down. More than 5000 East Berliners had tried to escape over the wall in those 28 years. Two hundred forty-four died. The author was the New York Times chief correspondent in Germany and witnessed the end. His narrative is keyed to contemporary Times articles. The book contains many photos and a timeline.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: February 2007
The author, a leading constitutional lawyer, takes a critical look at the Supreme Court, arguing that it is not and never has been a neutral umpire. The CourtÂ’s primary role is to adjust the power balance with the Executive and Legislative branches. He believes that textualism or statutory interpretation guided by a strict adherence to the text rather than its intentions or ideals, by the original meaning of the text rather than by its evolving meaning, shields jurists from the human consequences of a case. The rule, consequently, becomes more important than justice.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: February 2002
African Americans were one percent of the population but made twelve percent of the union forces during the American Civil War. This picture book features the poetry and songs of slaves. It documents slave resistance by telling the stories of eleven who strived to be free. The book includes a time line and a list of books for further reading.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: September 1998
Caldecott award winner Anita Lobel presents a stirring testament to her early childhood in the concentration camps of World War II Europe. Readers will be moved by Lobel's painful return to school and adolescent life after the armistice.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: April 2006
The author spent three days on the Arctic ice with a group of climate researchers. He discusses the effects of climate change on the polar ice cap, the history of Arctic exploration, and the North Pole’s future. Appendices suggest further reading and Internet resources. The book has many illustrations.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: September 2000
It is 1845 and many Irish men and women have been forced from their land by English landowners. Nory's family plants potatoes while her father fishes, but this year blight attacks the potatoes and her father is late returning from the sea. Nory must find a way to help her family survive. This novel is for readers 9-12.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: January 1999
This 1994 NCTE Notable Children's Book is now available in paperback! Readers age 7-10 will delight in the vibrant rhymes and paintings depicting one child's island life in the Caribbean.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: May 1999
Ohanian crafts a powerful argument against the use of standards. It is witty and aggressive and polemical-qualities that will make some giggle with delight and others scowl with anger. The book is certain to inspire debate.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: November 2002
In the 18th century, Britain's tea and silk trade with China was one-sided and threatened to drain its treasury until British merchants began shipping opium to China. The results were devastating. Widespread opium addiction persisted into the mid-twentieth century. When the emperor of China tried to ban opium, Britain decided to force China to keep its ports open and, to do so, fought the two Opium Wars, 1839-1842 and 1856-1860. This account of the opium trade and resulting wars will help explain China's relationship to the West.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: September 2000
Drawing on a close study of George Orwell's complete works, interviews with family and friends, and research into unpublished material in the Orwell Archive, Meyers has written a revealing portrait of a writer whose "worldwide sales and influence are greater than any other serious writer of our time."
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: January 2001
It is summer, and a fence separates the black and white sides of town. Warned by her mother not to cross to the other side, a young black girl observes a neighbor, a young white girl, watching her. When the girls finally meet at the fence, they decide they can sit together on the fence without defying their mothers. In time, friendship develops. This picture book is for children 4-8.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: June 1999
May Amelia is twelve in 1899 and lives with her Finnish immigrant parents and seven brothers on the Upper Nasel River in Washington. Her mother is going to have another baby, and May Amelia hopes it will be a girl, though her father says he doesn't think he could stand another May Amelia. This book for readers 9-12 is historical fiction inspired by the diary of the author's Finnish-American great-aunt.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: October 2006
This history of the Supreme Court covers the founding of the Court and its decisions in politics and power, free speech, freedom of religion, civil rights, criminal justice and the right to privacy, regulation of business, and property rights. It includes 35 interviews and 14 activities.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: January 2005
Founder of the Earth Policy Institute, Brown is an environmental analyst who has written on population, food, fossil fuels, and other global issues. In this book, he examines the global population stress on food production: water, energy, land, and climate. Climate’s role in food production is especially crucial. A one degree Celsius rise in temperature leads to a ten percent decline in wheat, rice, and corn yield. Not a happy prospect when the world’s population increases at more than 70 million mouths a year.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: January 2004
Have you ever stood in an ice cream store unable to make up your mind which flavor you wanted? Ever wish your DVD player had two buttons start and stop? That’s what this book is about: the paralysis and frustration that results from having too many choices. After examining when and how we choose and why we suffer, Schwartz suggests what we can do to help ourselves.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: May 2003
This encyclopedia of American patriotism is organized in sections covering the flag; visions of America; portraits of Americans; rule of law; freedom; freedom of speech and press; freedom of religion; the right to be left alone; equality; the individual; war and peace; work, opportunity, and invention; and the land. The book is packed with illustrations and provides a cross-section of American voices. Celebratory and critical voices are present.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: April 2006
The argument of this collection of interviews is that political dissenters can be patriots too. Twenty whistle-blowers, peace activists, veterans, journalists, protestors, and former government officials explain their motivations and the consequences of their actions following 9/11.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: May 2002
A young African American soldier on patrol in Vietnam confronts his fears and his enemy. Myers tells the story in verse, heightening tension and surprise with line and page breaks. Grifalconi’s collages use contemporary photos, fabric, and other media. This picture book raises important questions about war and its costs and is probably best used as a discussion starter.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: August 2002
Paul Revere's ride is a familiar tale, but Krensky's retelling is particularly suspenseful and contains more history than many. Harlin's energetic watercolors are a bonus, especially the two-page spread of Revere chased by two British horsemen. An end note tells what Revere did during and after the War for Independence.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: August 2005
America looks and moves the way it does today in large part because of Henry Ford. From farm boy to one of the richest men in America, Ford held wildly contradictory views. He hired African Americans and was anti-Semitic. He paid his workers well, yet opposed labor unions. Enthusiastic about education reform, he admitted he didn’t like to read books because they mussed up his mind.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: October 2006
The iPod has changed how many of us listen to music. Its overwhelming success has turned Apple Computer into a consumer electronics giant. And itÂ’s even transforming the music and broadcast industries. The author tells the iPodÂ’s story, focusing on how it has affected behavior and society.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: April 1999
During the winter 1846-47, the Donner Party was trapped by deep snows in the Sierra Nevadas with little food and few supplies. Of its original 81 members, nearly half children and teenagers, 47 survived their ordeal to reach California. This book for readers 9-12 draws on the letters and recollections of Virginia Reed who was twelve when she left Missouri.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: June 1999
Discover the life of famous female pilot Amelia Earhart, from childhood to her last flight. This book truly gives elementary students an idea of her courage and determination as a woman living in the first half of the century.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: June 2002
Captain Kidd is remembered as a pirate, but this yarn is about his years as a pirate hunter chasing rogues and cutthroats for the governor of New York and secret backers. Sail the seven seas on the Adventure Galley with Kidd and his crew following the track of Robert Culliford, pirate. Har! You have to love a writer who flies the Jolly Roger from his house top to tweak his complacent neighbors.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: May 2005
The distinction between pirate and corsair or buccaneer seems to depend upon which end of the sword you stand. In any case, brothers Jean and Pierre Lafitte made the lives of Spanish merchants miserable during the years between the Louisiana Purchase and the War of 1812, though this didn’t prevent them from selling out others to the Spanish when it meant money. Davis has written an exciting account of a fascinating period of American history.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: January 2006
If China’s economy continues to grow at its current rate, its per capita income will reach the U. S. level in 2031. In that eventuality, China would consume 99 million barrels of oil a day. The current world production is 84 million barrels a day. Earth cannot sustain this kind of growth. In this updated edition of Plan B, Brown examines the problem, presents the response, and offers a plan for structuring a new economy.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: November 2003
From the five-and-dimes and the mail-order catalogs of the 19th century to the Internet markets of today, the author examines American shopping behavior and how it has influenced public and private life. Zukin, a sociology professor at the City University of New York, explores how and where we shop and why shopping has become so important to many of us. She argues that one of the most important results of shopping is the development of community.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: October 2005
Sam Witchall is twelve and longs for adventure at sea. His parents want him to become a teacher, but they finally agree to let him join the merchant navy. England and France are at war in 1800, and once at sea, Sam’s ship is attacked by French privateers. A Royal Navy frigate comes to their aid, but Sam’s relief turns to dismay when he is pressed into service.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: October 1999
Paterson has crafted a novel reminiscent of Tom Sawyer or Huck Finn. Robbie is the son of a preacher in turn-of-the-century Vermont, who turns his back on his father's teachings to embrace "apeism." His new lifestyle causes all kinds of trouble, and eventually he realizes maybe he should mend his ways.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: April 2000
Angelena's friendship with Leeana, a Chinese immigrant, is tested when some in town, even members of her own family, object. This novel for readers 9-12 is set during the gold rush before the Chinese Exclusion Act.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: February 2008
Why does a 50 cent aspirin work better than one that costs a penny? Why do we continue to eat when we are not hungry? A professor of Behavioral Economics at MIT, Ariely explains how expectations, emotions, social norms, and other seemingly illogical forces influence reasoning. The good news is that though we tend to behave irrationally we do so in a predictable fashion, making us predictably irrational.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: May 2002
It’s 1909 and President William Howard Taft exits a train in a small town to dedicate a new flagpole when he suddenly stops and sniffs the air. “What is that wonderful aroma?” he asks. Following the small boy who narrates the story, Taft begins a culinary marathon eating spaghetti, ribs, and stir-fried vegetables until he finally discovers what first captured his nose, a cooling apple pie. An author’s note outlines Taft’s professional career.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: November 2003
While real income has more than doubled since the 1950s, the number of Americans who claim to be happy has not changed. Almost every aspect of Western life has improved in the last century, yet many complain that life is going downhill. Maybe it's time to play the Glad Game. The author offers a sunny view of tomorrow, arguing that today's problems are as solvable as yesterday's.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: April 2005
In 1987, Brown promised a class of twenty-three Oakland first graders that if they graduated from high school, she would pay for their college educations. All graduated and nineteen chose to go to college. To finance her pledge, Brown worked multiple jobs, invested her own money, and established the Oral Lee Brown Foundation. And that’s not all. She is now committed to sending three more classes to college. This is an inspiring tale of how one woman set out to help her community.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: May 2003
This unusual ABC follows Queen Elizabeth I of England on her Royal Progress, her annual summer journey through the countryside. Ibatoulline's illustrations are a feast of color and detail. The costumes are especially vivid. Keep you eyes out for traitors. A plot against the queen provides structure.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: October 2005
The authors, Yorinks and fifty librarians, have compiled a history of statehood in words and quilts. Each state is featured in a two-page spread. Yorinks has created a quilt for each state that includes a map and incorporates objects associated with the state. In addition, historic maps depict the U.S. at critical moments in history, such as following the Revolution, Louisiana Purchase, Missouri Compromise, Mexican War, and Secession. Appendices provide more state facts and brief biographies of the librarians involved with the project.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: September 2001
When the king dies, the Baglers are determined to prevent three-week old Prince Hakon from ever becoming king. The Birkebeiners, fierce warriors loyal to the king, are just as determined to make sure he does. This exciting tale, which starts on Christmas Eve, tells of the race to take the infant prince to safety. As always, Azarian’s hand-colored woodcuts are memorable.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: August 2001
When Toad questions Deer’s claim to being the fastest in the jungle, he finds himself challenged to a race. Sound familiar? Slow and steady is not the lesson in this tale, but using your head is, and your friends. With help from other toads in the jungle, Toad wins the race. This retelling of a Maya folktale features Domi’s bright watercolors.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: September 2002
The rhythm and refrain of this poetic tribute to tap dancer Bill Robinson, Mr. Bojangles, are sure to make it a read aloud favorite. Robinson’s energy is clearly conveyed in the illustrations which never show his feet or body at rest.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: October 2004
Ange Zhang was a teenager living in Beijing when Mao’s Cultural Revolution started. Because his father was a famous writer, he was not permitted to join the Red Guard, though he persisted in trying. His father’s study was ransacked. When his father was arrested, he began to question China’s course. This moving autobiography describes a young man’s determination to develop his own ideas. Ange Zhang’s tale is illustrated with family photographs and his own art.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: April 2001
During the American Civil War 100,000 child soldiers were killed. This picture book tells the story of Civil War reenacters and one young boy who assumes the role of Stephen Benjamin Barrow of the 14th Regiment, Company E of Brooklyn, New York. Some might object to an ending that is calculated to startle.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: October 1998
Jiang's powerful memoir introduces middle and high school readers to China's cultural revolution in the late '60s. Jiang, a teenager at the time, recalls tensions within the family, the school, and her community as a whole, including imprisonment, seizure of land and possessions, and betrayal of friends and neighbors.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: July 2004
In this revised edition of a standard text on American religious history, the authors examine religion from Puritan New England to the 2000 Presidential election. Specific chapters look at immigration and diversity and politics and pluralism. The book’s four sections end with suggestions for further reading.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: February 2001
This picture book celebrates American women who have contributed to the national story-from Virginia Dare, the first English child born in the colonies to Ruth Simmons, president of Smith College. Women are presented from different periods in history with maps and representative illustrations. Included are a timeline, mural, glossary, and many suggestions for additional research.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: June 2005
Fifteen WW II survivors tell their stories about being children in Europe, the Pacific, and on the Home Front. A map locates where each person spent the war years. A timeline highlights events in the three theaters. A postscript tells what happened to each. The book features many images.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: October 2003
The men and women in this book who are spoken for and who speak for themselves covered wars from the Spanish Civil War (1936-39) to the Iraq War. Chapters present outstanding correspondents like Edward R. Murrow, Martha Gellhorn, Homer Bigart, and Gloria Emerson. The book examines the issues of censorship, propaganda, and ethics, and reveals the friction between journalists competing for the frontpage.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: September 2002
The Essex was attacked and sunk by a Sperm whale on November 20, 1820. The twenty man crew spent three months in open boats trying to reach land. Eight survived. This is a factual account of the incident that inspired Herman Melville's classic Moby Dick.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: fall 1998
Readers in grades 7-10 will be inspired by the story of the Mississippi laundress who saved part of her wages for over fifty years in order to endow a scholarship.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: July 1999
Inspired by the PBS "American Experience" film, "Riding the Rails," this book tells the story of the quarter of a million teenagers who left home to ride the rails during the Great Depression. The book draws from authentic letters penned by 3,000 of these riders and shows their often dangerous and desperate experiences.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: September 2004
Students interested in researching the roots of the Women’s Rights Movement will find this examination of Stanton and the 1848 Woman’s Rights Convention at Seneca Falls, New York an excellent place to begin. Wellman describes the event within its social context and reveals how Stanton’s leadership united radical Quakers, Abolitionists, and legal reformers to promote the belief that “All men and women are created equal.”
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: March 1999
Robert Fulton came from a poor family and was constantly in trouble in the strict Quaker school he attended, yet he became an inventor, engineer, artist, and successful businessman. His steamboat, though not the first, was reliable and changed transportation forever. This biography for readers 9-12 tells the "best truth" about Fulton's life and work.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: March 2004
The Roman Empire was maintained by the Roman Army. At the height of the their power, roughly 27 B.C. to A.D. 476, no other army could stop them. Some surrendered on sight. This pictorial history describes the soldiers, weapons, equipment, training, and life of the Ancient World’s most successful fighting force.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: September 2005
Rosa Parks was arrested in 1955 for refusing to give up her seat on a crowded bus to a white man. Her arrest sparked the Montgomery bus boycott. A year later the Supreme Court ruled that segregation on a bus was as illegal as it was in schools.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: February 2000
This novel for young adults tells the story of Sacajawea's contributions to the success of the Lewis and Clark expedition. Told from Sacajawea's and Clark's points of view, the story incorporates excerpts from Clark's journals. It includes a bibliography for further reading.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: August 2002
Jerusalem and the Holy Land has been fought over for more than three thousand years. This biography of Saladin (1138-1193) tells why and how he united Muslims to defeat the Crusaders, Christian invaders of the Holy Land. This picture book introduces to Western readers a hero of the East. The book includes a map and glossary.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: January 2002
Who of us gives salt a second thought unless we are up to the hubcaps in snow or our doctor cautions us to use less of it? Yet the salt industry lists 14,000 uses for sodium chloride, including drug manufacturing, soap making, and water softening. Salt contains elements essential to digestion, respiration, and muscle and nerve action. This biography of a rock examines its social, cultural, historical, religious, scientific and culinary importance.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: May 2004
In his eighties, Shiver is still putting his idealism into international practice by trying to better the lives of others. Beginning in the 1960s, Shiver created the Peace Corps; was instrumental in the war on Poverty, Job Corps, VISTA, and Legal Services for the Poor; and with his wife, Eunice Kennedy Shiver, launched the Special Olympics.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: December 2007
The narrator is a rising young African American baseball player in what was called the Negro leagues. When he faces pitcher Satchel Paige for the first time, he hits a double but an injury later in the inning ends his career. The rest of this graphic novel follows the narrator's life in the South, Paige's career, and the social constraints placed on African Americans under segregation.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: May 2005
The British were rumored to need metal to make cannons and shot, and Philadelphians feared they wanted the Great Bell. It wasn’t until 1840 that the Great Bell became known as the Liberty Bell. John Jacon Mickley was eleven when he helped his father smuggle the Great Bell out of the city to prevent the British from taking it.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: September 2004
Maddy Rose seems to be nothing more than a young colonial girl going about her business in the streets of Philadelphia, but she proves to be as much a patriot as her father who died at the Battle of Princeton and her brother who died at Brandywine Creek. Maddy Rose is a spy.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: August 2005
In 1965, eleven years after the Supreme Court ruled segregation illegal, Matthew and Mae Bertha Carter enrolled seven of their children in a formerly all-white school under a freedom of choice plan. This book celebrates the Carter’s courage in the face of racial bigotry.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: October 1998
Kids age 7 to 10 will be tickled by this super story about our fifty states. Keller takes readers to an imaginary party attended by the fifty states; things get out of hand when Idaho leads a limbo and North Dakota creates a conga line. Idaho and Virginia decide to switch places, which leads to wide-scale chaos: Minnesota forgets her sunscreen when she heads south, and the other states encounter a host of humorous problems. Keller's witty story and engaging illustrations are complemented by social studies, geography, and science facts.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: May 1999
Bernstein's memoir of childhood in rural Romania and schooling in Bucharest is a critically acclaimed, haunting account of life in Holocaust-era Europe. Bernstein's journey takes her from expulsion due to her protests about unfair treatment of Jews at her school to Ravensbruck, a women's concentration camp; it is ultimately a story of survival and power.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: September 2003
Young apprentice pirates will learn about the skills and tools of their trade and about the brief lives of some famous pirates, both men and women. Plastic see-though pages give before and after views of piratical activities--some gruesome. After reading this book, they’ll even be able to load a flintlock pistol.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: April 2000
This book for children 4-8, and older, tells the story of Jean-Francois Champollion, who at age 11 vowed to decipher Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics and who at age 32 succeeded. Rumford's watercolors add energy to an already exciting detective story. The text and margins include selected hieroglyphs and their meanings.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: March 2004
Farmer, blacksmith, silversmith, inventor, and leader, Sequoyah’s greatest gift to his people may have been his 1821 Cherokee alphabet. By 1828 the Cherokee had their own newspaper, the Cherokee Phoenix. The book includes a timeline and bibliography of print and Web resources.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: July 2002
The 28 essays collected here were originally published in American Scientist magazine. Because the readership of the magazine is diverse, the essays were written to be understood by a general audience, though they deal almost exclusively with astronomy. Subjects are varied: telescopes and observations, especially the Transit of Venus; stars and asteroids; gamma-ray bursters; hoaxes; Jeremiah Horrocks, a little known English genius who died before he was 22 and who was admired by Isaac Newton; and more.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: March 2002
Curlee examines the architectural wonders of the Ancient World and places them in historical and social context. His illustrations are based on archaeological research conducted over the last 150 years. This picture book includes a map locating the wonders in the Ancient Hellenistic World. A final two-page spread features scale drawings of the wonders and the U.S. Capital and Statue of Liberty for comparison.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: June 2003
What began on June 15, 1904 as a leisurely trip up the East River from Manhattan to Long Island Sound aboard the General Slocum ended as a tragedy when a fire broke out in the lamp room. In all, 1,021 of the steamboat's 1,300 passengers died. This is a fascinating account of a little-remembered event.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: February 2001
In 1841, Manjiro was 14 when he and four other fishermen were shipwrecked and marooned on a small island 300 miles from shore. Rescued by an American whaler, Manjiro was the first Japanese to visit the U.S., breaking Japanese law and risking death. This biography of a young boy who became a hero in Japan and played an important role in opening Japan to the West is for readers 9-12.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: March 2006
Wisconsin Congressman Joe McCarthy’s celebrity began with a speech in Wheeling, West Virginia in 1950 and ended with his censure in Congress in 1953. His groundless accusations of communist connections against politicians, bureaucrats, and private citizens diverted the nation’s attention from real issues and damaged many careers. Wicker traces the rise and fall of an ambitious, self-made man.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: October 2003
What was it like to be a newly arrived immigrant in New York City? Told by five men and women from Belarus, Italy, Lithuania, and Romania who came to the U.S. as teenagers, this book describes their journeys, lives in the tenements, adjustments, work, education, and hopes for the future. The book features many contemporary photos.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: October 2005
Sienna and her family drive south from her home in Connecticut to visit her grandparents in North Carolina. Along the way they visit historical sites important to African Americans. Sienna’s journal covers the eleven day trip. She comments on each site: the Amistad, Apollo Theater, Lincoln memorial, Frederick Douglass House, and others. An appendix provides contact information for 31 historical sites.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: March 2003
This immigrant story takes the form of a silent movie. When Gustave and Mama arrive in the U.S., they can’t find Papa. After wandering penniless in New York, Mama finally finds a job paying a dollar a day, but it is only when Gustave is hired as an actor in a silent movie that the promise of America is realized and Gustave and Mama are reunited with Papa. Mordan’s black and white illustrations recapture the look of silent movies.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: September 2004
Atangan continues his series of graphic tales with this group of three from China. The first is a brief creation myth. The remaining two share an element of magic that is enhanced by Atangan’s subtly colored illustrations. The pictures are small, making this a better lap book for young children.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: August 2003
Simpson's career with the BBC started in 1970 with an attempted doorstep interview of Prime Minister Harold Wilson. Wilson punched him in the stomach and hissed that he didn't do that sort of thing. Simpson has learned when to ask questions but still gets threatened. Osama bin Laden offered a paltry sum to have him shot. This is a witty insider's view of journalism and current events.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: March 2001
This illustrated history outlines the practice of slavery from ancient times to the present. Although much of the book examines slavery in the United States, separate chapters also address becoming a slave and reasons for slavery. The book includes a glossary, timeline, and bibliography.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: October 2000
British troops are camped on Boston Common in the winter of 1774. When his father gives him a sled for his ninth birthday, Henry finds that tents and cooking fires block the best sled runs. Henry's determination impresses even General Gage, the British commander-in-chief. This tale, illustrated by bright watercolors, is for children 4-8.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: January 2000
If you are in high school and considering a tour with the Peace Corps, this book will provide much of what you need to know to get the right work experience, develop the best college program, or even start the application process. Written by a former volunteer, the book addresses what to take, training, finances, living overseas, health and safety, staying in touch with home, the social scene, work, Peace Corps policy, and travel. Appendices explain requirements and provide contacts for further information.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: February 2002
George Soros has been described as the only private citizen with his own foreign policy. Born a Jew in Budapest, Soros survived WWII, avoided the Iron Curtain, and studied at the London School of Economics to become the "greatest money manager in the world." Keeping a low profile, Soros, a billionaire, invests his own money in his Open Society foundations to make the world a better place.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: November 2002
The American Revolution was a revolution in manners as well as a revolution in economics and government. In this social history, Martin reveals many entertaining debates in decorum. Consider titles once proposed for our highest elected office: His Elective Majesty, His High Mightiness, and His Highness the President of the United States of America and Protector of their Liberties. Mr. President sounds refreshingly informal.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: May 2004
How much of our self-image is determined by the attentions or disregard of others? Probably more than we care to admit. The author examines the causes of status anxiety and proposes solutions. As with his earlier books, de Botton includes many examples from art and literature to illustrate his thesis.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: April 2005
A drowsy Mississippi River town comes alive when a steamboat comes. The steamboat unloads passengers, livestock, and goods: lace, blankets, boots, and hats. When the steamboat leaves, the town resumes its doze. Energetic verse and dynamic illustrations convey the excitement of this 19th century American event.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: September 2006
Throughout history, the dominant people have been those who controlled the salt trade. It should be no surprise that today the U.S. is the world’s largest salt producer. This history of NaCl is peppered with interesting facts, maps, diagrams, illustrations, and a timeline.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: November 2000
Based on a true story, Stowaway tells how 11 year-old Nicholas Young hid aboard a ship in 1768 only to learn too late that the Endeavor was Captain Cook's ship bound for a three-year voyage in search of an unknown continent. This historical novel takes the form of a diary.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: August 1999
The authors (he is dean of the Harvard Graduate School of Education, she is a teacher in that department) argue that schools ought to take a more active role in teaching students strong ethics. In doing so, they highlight the hypocrisy with which students are confronted on a daily basis (e.g., education is important, but school buildings are too often dilapidated and unkempt), showing how this hypocrisy often undermines the values schools attempt to teach.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: January 2007
Rosen, an expert on the Supreme Court, presents a history of the Court by examining personal and philosophical differences among its members. He argues that judicial temperament has as much to do with decision making as ideology. He contrasts Marshall and Jefferson, Harlan and Holmes, Black and Douglas, and Rehnquist and Scalia.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: October 2003
Mai Yang has lived with her grandmother in a Thai refugee camp for years waiting for a chance to join the rest of her family in the United States. When they finally move to Rhode Island, Mai Ying discovers that her new life presents many unexpected challenges. Even using a shower is new. Her cousins tease her and her unhappy grandmother turns to her for guidance. Thirteen year old Mai Yang struggles to balance her Hmong traditions with American novelty.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: April 1999
With her Japanese parents, she is Masako and drinks plain green tea, but with her American friends, she is May and drinks tea with milk and sugar. When her parents leave San Francisco and return to live in Japan, May is called a gaijin, a foreigner, and encounters cultural expectations she is unwilling to meet. This story for 4-8 year olds, written and illustrated by Caldecott winner Allen Say, is about a young woman's determination to live her own life.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: October 2002
Today, we take Thanksgiving for granted, but until 1863, Thanksgiving was only a regional holiday. Sarah Hale spent 38 years and a lot of ink trying to persuade five presidents to make it a national holiday. An appendix provides additional Thanksgiving facts.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: January 2004
This biography of Jefferson traces the life of the author of the Declaration of Independence. Paintings illustrate highpoints in his career. Two detail the design of Monticello and the President's home during his two terms. Maps are included for the Colonies during the Revolution and the Lewis and Clark expedition. An appendix describes the world during his presidency. An author's note addresses Jefferson's failure to discontinue his own practice of slavery and the Sally Hemings controversy, a far from decided issue.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: September 1999
This is a book not to be missed. In first person narrative, Bridges recounts her experiences as the African-American six year old who enrolled in an all-white elementary school under armed guard in 1960. Bridges's narrative is supplemented by archival photos, newspaper accounts, and accounts from others at the William Frantz school who remember those events.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: February 2001
In 1875, 50 million buffalo roamed the American Plains. Only 500 remained by 1910. This book, illustrated with photographs and paintings by Russell, Catlin, Peale, and others, describes how the Bison entered North America, thrived, and were nearly exterminated. The book also examines the close relationship between Native Americans and Buffalo.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: November 1998
Peter Sis's Caldecott Honor book is based upon the experiences of his father, a documentary filmmaker who fell in love with the people and landscapes of Tibet. This book--part tribute, part travelogue, part fairy tale--is an artful, dreamlike, thoughtful introduction to Tibetan culture.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: December 2006
After describing the evolution of the presidency and the three branches of government, this illustrated encyclopedia outlines the life and career of each president. A timeline runs across page bottoms identifying important events and giving context to each presidency. A section is devoted to First Ladies.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: January 2003
The men who created the American nation were provincials in the context of eighteenth century civilization. Bailyn argues that this provincialism freed the Founders from an instinctive respect for traditional establishments to create a new political world. Essays examine politics and the creative imagination, Jefferson, Franklin, the Federalist Papers, and the effect of the Founders ideas on other Atlantic nations.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: 2003
Viola, a noted scholar and advocate of Native Americans, covers the Southern Plains Indian Delegation to Washington, the Sand Creek and Wounded Knee Massacres, Red Cloud's ambush, Battle of the Little Bighorn, defeat of the Nez Perce, and the Cheyenne Outbreak. As you can expect of any National Geographic publication, the book is well illustrated.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: October 1999
Filled with details from stained glass windows, illuminated manuscripts, and paintings by Caravaggio, Goya, Ingres, Titian and lesser-known painters, this reference book for children 9-12 outlines the lives and provides quotes and stories about more than fifty saints and martyrs from beginning of the Christian era to the present.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: August 2003
Of the 146 workers who died in the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire in 1911, 123 were young women. This narrative examines the fire and the Jewish and Italian immigrants who poured into New York City and provided the cheap, female labor required by the garment industry.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: October 2005
This picture book looks at the damage from 2004’s Asian tsunami from the view point of two young brothers from Khao Lak on the west coast of Thailand. Maps and incredible photos demonstrate the magnitude of the natural disaster. The story of 12 year old Chaipreak and 8 year old Chaiya tells of the human loss.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: July 1998
Young readers catching 'millennium fever' will appreciate this richly illustrated and entertaining book about life at the beginning of each century since 1000 A.D. Jackson chooses to concentrate on a comparison of life in England (and later, America) during each period, instead of examining different cultures around the world; still, the book's first person narrative, information on everyday life, and bibliography provide a solid and enriching experience.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: March 2000
Ixcocauqui and Coyolxauhqui, the son and daughter of the god and goddess of the sun and moon, are banished from the heavens for breaking their vow never to visit earth. As mortals, they work, suffer, and are parted by death. This beautifully illustrated retelling of a Nahua legend is for children 4-8.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: October 2003
Uluru (Ayers Rock) is the world's biggest single rock. Rising 1115 above the surrounding plain in the heart of Australia's desert, it may reach as far as 3.6 miles into Earth's crust. Uluru is a sacred site for the Anangu, the Aborigines who have lived in its shadows for millennia. The author examines the people, scared place, geology, and wildlife of Uluru. The photographs capture is varied appearance. A glossary and pronunciation guide are included.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: February 2000
Did you know that real cowboys in the Nineteenth Century were called "herders" or "vaqueros" and that the name cowboy was invented by authors and showmen? The West's examine fifteen symbols of the United States from the cowboys to Smokey the Bear and tell the interesting stories behind them. Manson has illustrated this picture book for ages 9-12 with full-page woodcuts.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: October 2004
Ehmet and his mother try to flee the violence of Sarajevo by going to the country, but the war finds them there. His aunt and uncle are taken away. His mother brutally attacked. When she dies of pneumonia, thirteen-year-old Ehmet continues his journey alone in search of a rumored village of peace inhabited by children.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: October 2002
At the end of the last ice age when the glaciers melted, the rising oceans covered more than fifteen million square miles of land, roughly four times the area of the United States. The author claims that by using computers to map the world's changing coastline he found matches with ancient flood myths. After an introductory section, this weighty volume presents speculation and archaeological discovery in India, Malta, Japan, Taiwan, and China. Be assured, not everyone in the scientific community appreciates Graham's claims.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: December 2004
If you dream of discovering treasure, you might start by looking in your own backyard. This guide covers some important considerations for treasure hunters: hazards, law, tools, research, and caring for the finds. Although the author discusses the historical context of his finds, his approach is not archaeological. Appendices list print and web resources.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: January 2003
The Victorian Age (1837-1901) brought radical transformation to the world, its political systems, science, and finance. Wilson examines writers, statesmen, scientists, philosophers, and soldiers as well as the poor and obscure. In six sections, each section covers a decade of Victoria’s reign.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: December 2006
While imprisoned by the Nazis, Frankl relied on the principles of logotherapy, a form of psychotherapy he developed, to help himself and other inmates survive. His book, ManÂ’s Search for Meaning, grew in part out of his prison camp experiences. This book examines FranklÂ’s triumph over suffering. It has many photographs.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: January 2000
Virgie wants to go to school with her brothers. And why not? Lincoln has freed the slaves, and the Quakers have started a school only seven miles away. This story of a strong willed girl who persists in her desire to learn how to read and write will appeal to children 4-8.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: April 2000
Sarah was born in Louisiana in 1867. Orphaned at seven, this hardworking woman founded the Madame G.J. Walker Manufacturing Company, which created hair and beauty products for black women, and became one of the richest women of her time. She was active in charity, politics, and race relations. Readers 9-12 will be inspired by this compelling and sensitively illustrated biography.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: August 2007
Peter Sis describes growing up in Czechoslovakia in the years following World War II with drawings and diary entries, providing an artistÂ’s impression of the Cold War.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: May 2001
Nothing will put the faces on the statistics of war more surely than this collection of letters from Americans from the Civil War to Bosnia. Letters are grouped by conflict, and each letter is accompanied by biographical and historical information. Some are written by well-known figures, like Julia Child and Douglas Fairbanks Jr., but most are not. This volume furnishes a ground level view of history.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: March 2001
The Reds and Blues have been at war so long no one remembers why. Their armies reduced, the sons of the kings meet in single combat. When Prince Fabien's sheep bleats, Prince Julius's horse panics and he is killed. King Armand the Twelfth, King of the Blues, is ashamed of Fabien and banishes him. With an ingenious letter to both Kings, Fabien ends the war and wins a kingdom--from the King of the Yellows.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: September 1999
With the twentieth century, began the golden age of trash. Before then, goods and money were too scarce not to reuse everything possible. In a book for high school and up, historian Strasser examines how the American passion for convenience, fashion, and technological change has created mountains of trash and how we are defined by what we throw out as much as by what we keep.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: April 1997
Readers grades K-4 will get a glimpse of the unusual lifestyle of families living on Tilghman Island in Chesapeake Bay. Students may use the book and the map at its close to learn about ecology, the fishing industry, and how family and community culture are affected by the watery environment.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: October 2001
Between 1854 and 1929, 200,000 children rode “orphan trains” to every state in the union in search of a family. This history of the Children’s Aid Society and its quest to find homes for homeless children presents the experiences of some of the children who made that journey. Based on interviews, this book has the immediacy of oral history. The book lists recommended reading and tips for Web searching.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: August 2001
Here is American History through the eyes of children. Amply illustrated, the book covers 1492 to the present celebrating the contributions of young Native Americans, African slaves, European immigrants, and their children. Along the way, it examines social issues such as Internment, race, and AIDS.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: May 2005
How can a price be attached to a human life? Is a stockbroker’s life worth more than a fireman’s? How can justice be best served? The author wrestled with these and other questions when he set dollar values on 5,500 lives while administering the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund. Feinberg closes with a discussion of future compensation programs. An appendix supplies statistical data with charts and graphs.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: October 2005
The authors argue that women are bypassing traditional social and business structures and changing America. Two trend-spotters, one Left one Right, examine ten trends in marriage, family, children, workplace, home, work week, aging, health and beauty, budgeting, and politics identified in interviews, focus groups, and polls. An appendix provides data from two surveys.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: September 1999
If you've ever sat at a table wondering which fork or spoon to use, imagine a place setting for a fancy dinner in the late 19th century: 8 forks, 5 knives, 6 spoons, and a toothpick. Children 9-12, and grownups, will learn how dining utensils and table manners have evolved over the centuries and love the sometimes-gross humor of Mander's illustrations.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: April 2003
Our country was a very different place even less than a hundred years ago. Steig describes and pictures the Bronx of 1916 when he was eight and everyone, even monkeys, wore hats and a nickel was real money.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: March 2006
We’re running out of water, and though we can do our best to reduce waste at home, that alone will not save us. Most water is used to grow what we eat and drink. Do you eat rice? One pound of rice takes 250 to 650 gallons of water to grow. A quarter pound hamburger requires 3000 gallons to feed the cow that supplied it. A pound of cheddar takes 650 gallons. A pound of coffee uses 2650 gallons. A teaspoon of sugar requires 50 cups. Pearce examines the problem and what can be done to solve it.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: February 2002
The action preceding and during U.S. involvement in World War II was reported and photographed by 127 women correspondents. This photo-filled history is their story. Some like Martha Gellhorn and Margaret Bourke-White are well known, but many like Dickey Chapelle and Marguerite Higgins (both who died in Vietnam) may be unfamiliar. Thirteen chapters chronicle events leading up to WW II and events in the major theaters of action. The book lists print and Web resources for further research.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: April 2006
In 1791, groups opposed to a federal tax on whiskey began attacking the tax collectors. Three years later president George Washington led 13,000 troops over the Alleghenies to put down what had become an open rebellion. The Whiskey rebellion pitted Washington and Alexander Hamilton against Herman Husband and Hugh Henry Brackenridge.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: September 2006
This is history as textbooks seldom tell it: men and women behaving badly from prehistory to World War II. The book has enough gruesome illustrations and grisly facts to gross out and intrigue the most blasé social studies student. A fold-out highlights fifty of the foulest of the foul.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: January 1999
In this coming-of-age story set in the 1880s, a thirteen-year-old boy leaves his farm and family to run away with a traveling medicine show. The lively story then lets young adult readers taste life across America in the last century.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: January 2007
The narrator’s great great uncle dreamed of flying as a child, jumping from chicken coop roofs and from barns into hayricks. When WWII started, he became one of the Tuskegee Airmen—the African American fighter pilots in the still segregated army. This is a beautifully illustrated celebration of ambition, courage, and flight.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: August 2004
Passed in 1920, the 19th Amendment guaranteed women the right to vote. This history of the National Woman’s Party and the women’s voting rights movement focuses on the contributions of Alice Paul. The book has many archival photographs and includes profiles, chronology, and a resource guide.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: August 2004
In the 1872 presidential election U.S. Grant defeated Horace Greeley and Victoria Woodhull. At the time women didn’t even have the right to vote. Krull traces Woodhull’s rise from poverty to riches to presidential candidate to bankrupt to riches again. No study of the Women’s Rights Movement is complete without the story of Victoria Woodhull.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: September 2005
At a time when letters seem to have been supplanted by cell phones, email, and text messaging, this collection of more than 400 letters serves as a monument as well as a museum. Some written by famous American women, some by unknowns, the letters serve as windows on 230 years of American history.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: October 2001
At the end of his life, Woody Guthrie, the author of more than 1,000 songs, was concerned that the verses in his most popular song “This Land is Your Land” dealing with poverty and inequities were not sung enough. In this book, its seven verses run across the top of the pages as Guthrie’s life is told. Christensen’s mixed-media woodcut-like illustrations are dark, reminding us of the hard times Guthrie lived and sang about.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: May 2000
Aimed at explorers 9-12, this book introduces each of Canada's thirteen provinces, including the newest: Nunavut. The pages are packed with text, photographs, illustrations, maps, marginal drawings, and the kinds of things we find and buy on trips: postcards, stamps, bird feathers, and shells. Thumbnail sketches of each province are provided at the end of the book.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: May 2006
When little sister Jo ran down the mountain she lived on, big sister Izzy followed. From west Coast to East Coats, Chicago to Florida, Alaska to Hawaii, the Grand Canyon to New Orleans, and places in between Izzy and Jo see America and Americans. Neubecker’s two and three-page spreads are bright celebrations of a vast country and culturally diverse people.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: February 2004
Readers follow a Connecticut farmer through four years of soldiering. Ratliff and Antram address aspects of a soldier’s life: daily tasks, battle, weapons, wounds and disease, and some major engagements. Although the book takes a Union soldier’s point of view, it does offer some Southern perspectives.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies
Published: March 2001
This introduction to the American Civil War would make an excellent text for a social studies unit. Filled with photos and factoids, it covers cities of interest, money, transportation, clothing, food, and a lot more. You'll find activities, a timeline, glossary and pronunciation guide, and even a recipe for hardtack. Feature some at your next bake sale.
Resource Type: Recommended Non-PBS Book
Subject: Social Studies