Literature+List

__Literature List__
1. Title: __Phoebe The Spy__ Author: Judith Berry Griffin Summary: This historical fiction book tells the story of Phoebe, a young African American girl whose father sends her to be a spy in General George Washington’s house. While acting as his housekeeper, Phoebe must watch carefully for an unknown killer. In the end, Phoebe saves General Washington, who then goes on to lead the American Army to victory in the Revolutionary War.

2. Title: __George Washington: Our First Presiden__t Author: Garnet Jackson Summary: This biography for young readers outlines the life of George Washington. George Washington, as he story goes, was a natural born leader and an extremely honest person. During his adolescence he worked as a surveyor. He served as a Colonel in the French and Indian war and a General in the Revolutionary War. The biography ends with his election and life as president.

3. Title: __Hero on Horseback: The Story of Casimir Pulaski__ Author: David R. Collins Summary: This biography for young readers follows the life of Casimir Pulaski. Casimir Pulaski was a native of Poland whose father led the Knights of the Holy Cross against invading Russian soldiers. After both his father and brother died in battle, Casimir fled to France, where he went to Benjamin Franklin and asked to fight in the Revolutionary War. Casimir taught American soldiers how to ride and shoot and was eventually promoted to a General in the American Army. He was killed in battle in 1779.

4. Title: __Independent Dames__ Author: Laurie Halse Anderson Summary: This amazing non-fiction book tells the lesser-known tales of the women involved in the Revolutionary war. These women boycotted British goods, acted as spies, provided supplies for the American Soldiers, and even acted as Soldiers themselves. Not only does it provide all of this information, but it also includes humorous illustrations and a timeline of the American Revolution.

1. Title: __Our Colonial Year__ Author: Cheryl Harness Summary: This book shows how life was lived during the colonial times, and what it was like each month throughout these times. It goes through the months of the year from January to December, and what was generally happening in a particular state. This book is very appealing to kids, with colorful pages, big font, and vivid illustrations.

2. Title: __The New Americans: Colonial Times 1620-1689__ Author: Betsy Maestro Summary: This is a non-fiction picture book that travels through the years of 1620-1689 and discusses what life was like during this time. It talks about the competition that was between the peoples of the land for fur, timber, land, and other resources that were critical to daily life in these years. This book was very well-illustrated, with vivid details, captions under pictures, maps with legends, and many colorful illustrations of the material being discussed on the page.

3. Title: __The Chickenhouse House__ Author: Ellen Howard Summary: This is a fictional book that talks about a young girl, Alena, and the experience she goes through with her family when they first move to new farmland on the prairie. Because there was not enough time for her family to build a house before winter, they were forced to live in the chickenhouse. The story then tells of the excitement Alena feels when winter is over and she and her family are able to build the new house they wanted so that they no longer had to live in the chickenhouse. The main focus of the story is on pioneer life during that time.

4. Title: __Colonial America__ (Primary sources teaching kit) Author: Karen Baicker Summary: This book is intended more for teachers to use and benefit from, rather than students. It provides a great amount of background information on colonial times in America, teaching suggestions and tips, activities for students to do, and images of materials from those years. The book is intended for grades 4-8, but if it is used by teachers, I think it is a good resource to help educate both teachers and students on Colonial America. It would be the teacher’s job to pick and choose material that is relevant to a 2nd grade class. It may not be a book that you could just hand off to a student to let them use on their own, but it is a good book to use to show images of document, materials, etc. to provide examples to students.

1. Title: __A is for America: An American Alphabet__ Author: Devin Scillian A is for America is in the form of an Alphabet book. It is all about different aspects that make America what it is. When reading this book, the students will come across topics such as important battles, historical sites, the Constitution, inventors, holidays, authors, immigration, and other great people that helped to change the nation.

2. Title: __The United States Constitution: A Graphic Adaptation__ Author: Jonathan Hennessey Summary: This book is amazing for younger kids! It is written in comic book form and outlines the entire Constitution (Preamble and Bill of Rights included) in less than 140 pages of comic strips. Students will be able to not only read the words on the page, but also see the illustrations that will help them better connect with the text they are reading.

3. __The First Book of American Expansion__ Author: Wyatt Blassingame Summary: This is the first book that I picked out that specifically mentions (and gives an entire paragraph to) the Louisiana Purchase, which is a huge part of American history. In The First Book of American Expansion, students will learn about different countries that owned certain territories, Native Americans, the thirteen original colonies, the different Treaties, and how America came to own the land that we do. Out of all the books, I would say this would be one of the books that stronger readers would learn the most from because it goes into more detail.

4. __The Constitutio__n Author: David P. Currie Summary: The Constitution is written in textbook form. The chapters are about American Government, the Constitution, Amendments, and shows the different charts, maps, and tables at that time in history. There are four to seven lessons, mini reviews, and one chapter quiz at the end of each chapter. The lesson reviews and quizzes would be helpful for students to do either individually or with a small group so that they can use it for study material for a Unit assessment.

1. __You Wouldn’t Want to be an American Colonist__ Author and Illustrator: Jacqueline Morley and David Antram. Summary:This is a nonfiction picture book that makes the reader an English settler about to make the journey to the colonies of the New World. The book explains all the difficulties that the settlers went through as well as the interaction between the Native Americans. The book gives details about the establishment of Virginia as well as background information on why the colonies were being created. It also shows information of how hard it was for settlers and colonists to live in the new land.

2. __Magic Tree House Research Guide: American Revolutio__n Authors and Illustrator: Mary Pope Osborne and Natalie Pope Boyce, and Sal Murdoca. Summary: Magic Tree House Research Guide: American Revolution is a great nonfiction book. It covers diverse aspects about the life of the early colonies. This includes food, housing situations, natural resources, and how fertile every colony was. There are pictures to illustrate the main ideas discussed in the book. There are also tiny blurbs on the side of the pages giving different interesting facts about colony life and the surroundings. The book also covers the Revolutionary War, the declaration of Independence. There is also a timeline of important events as well as resources to do more research about this topic.

3. __John, Paul, George & Ben__ Author: Lane Smith Summary: John, Paul, George & Ben is a very funny book about the history of our founding fathers. There are interesting scenarios about the childhood of so many important figures in American History. The illustrations that are included in this book will make students enjoy learning about John Hancock, Paul Revere, George Washington, Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson. Each figure in history is described by a certain aspect of their character and then the book explains how this trait helped them leave a mark in history. The book also dispels myths about several figures. They also explain that they took some liberties telling the story to make it funnier.

4. __Betsy Ross__ Author: Helen Frost Summary: Betsy Ross is a small biographical book that gives information about the life of Elizabeth Griscom also known as Betsy Ross. The book starts with the life of Betsy Ross when she was a child. It is also explained in the book how she liked to sew. There is information about her marriages and how many children she had. This book also talks about when Betsy Ross sewed the American flag. It is explained as a legend that has been passed down from generations. The first person who spoke about this was her grandson. This is a great book for reluctant readers because there is information that has been simplified so students comprehend the life of Betsy Ross.

1. __The Statue of Liberty__ Author and Illustrator: Lucille Recht Penner and Jada Rowland Summary: This picture book tells the story of the Statue of Liberty. Penner starts with describing the importance of the statue and what it stands for. Then, she tells the reader about how the statue was made and constructed. This book would be ideal for the readers who are at the lower level of second grade reading skills due to its simple language and short sentences.

2. __Yankee Doodle__ Author and Illustrator: Dr. Richard Shackburg and Ed Emberley Summary: This book is the song Yankee Doodle put to pictures. The book and song are about the American soldiers during the American Revolution. It tells the story of one particular American soldier and his journey during the war. I loved the book because it gave background to the song along with fun activities to do with the students.

3. __George Washington__ Authors: Ingri and Edgar Parin D’Aulaire Summary: This book is about George Washington’s life. It is very detailed starting from his birth to his appointment as the first president. The book surprisingly covers many aspects of Washington’s life. It details the American Revolution to when Washington met Indians to his personal life. This book would be great in giving groups a certain time period of Washington’s life. Each group could just read the section that pertained to their time period.

4. __We the People: The Story of Our Constitution__ Author and Illustrator: Lynne Cheney and Illustrated by Greg Harlin Summary: This book details the events leading up to the Constitution. It starts with explaining the state of the country before the Constitution had been created. It also detailed why a new government system needed to be adopted with the Constitution. In great detail, it explained the steps leading up to the Constitution being signed. This book is great for kids because it uses lots of details which will help them to picture the actual events while they are reading the book.


 * //How the U.S. Government Works//.** Syl Sobel. Happauge, NY: Barron's Educational Series, 1999. Grades 3-5.
 * [[image:http://www.senate.gov/reference/resources/graphic/thumbnail/howgovtworks_t.JPG align="left"]] || Explains why government is necessary ("Can you imagine what your school would be like if each class had rules that were different from the rules in other classes? . . . And what if the school had no principal?"). Then goes on to describe what the three branches of government do. Readers learn how officials are elected or appointed and how government agencies work for the benefit of the people. Contains a glossary and index. ||