U.S. History Books for Kids: CC Cycle 3 Book List

Every homeschool year has its own rhythm, and sometimes that rhythm calls for a fresh stack of books.

Maybe you’re landing here in the middle of spring, when the school year feels a little long and the thought of starting something new sounds refreshing. Or maybe it’s late summer, you’re new to homeschooling, and you’re wondering how to even begin tackling U.S. History with your kids.

Wherever you’re coming from, you’re in the right place. A well-chosen book list has a way of breathing fresh life into a homeschool year, and American history is a subject every family will return to again and again. This U.S. History Books for Kids list was created with homeschool readers in mind, offering living books and stories that invite conversation, curiosity, and connection. These titles also align naturally with the weekly themes we study during Classical Conversations Cycle 3, making it easy to use alongside your existing plans.

Book List of U.S. History Books for Kids

If I thought the Medieval to Modern book list was vast… this year’s list far surpasses that one. There are simply so many options for American people, places, and events. Every single person or topic you could think of has more than enough AMAZING choices. I’m sure I have missed some of everybody’s favorite titles, but I had to set SOME limits!

This U. S. History book list is perfect for any family studying U. S. History, geography, authors, and artists. Even if you’re not in Classical Conversations, you will find this list can be a useful breakdown of what to read week by week in your homeschool study of U. S. History!

At the end of this post, I have a free PDF download of the U.S. History for Kids book list, so you can print it out and keep track of which titles you read year after year!

JUMP TO THE PRINTABLE!

U.S. History Time Period

CC Cycle 3 covers U. S. History from the exploration of Columbus through September 11th, 2001, which is over 500 years of time. Since history is horizontal, we could spend a tremendous amount of time trying to cover all that was happening during this era. For instance, World War I and II are European wars, but eventually involved the United States of America.

For the Medieval to Modern list, I limited the World War books to the ones that featured European involvement. In the same way, for this list, I tried to focus on books that cover the U. S. aspects and involvement in the war. You may find a few books that overlap. This list is an attempt to keep that in mind, while also providing a wide variety of resources and perspectives.

The pictures below may be linked to my Amazon Affiliate account. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

U.S. History For Kids Book List for CC Cycle 3

Book Codes

(IEW) = Recommended reading by the Institute for Excellence in Writing program
(PB) = Picture Book
(PRB) = Picture Reference Book
(IB) = Illustrated Book (more pages / text than most picture books)
(Comic) = Comic strip format
(Audio CD) = physical CD
(Series) = Additional books follow or precede

U.S. History for Kids Book List – GENERAL REFERENCE

The Story of the World, Vol. 3
The Story of the World, Vol. 4
A Child’s History of the World, V.M. Hillyer
The Usborne Encyclopedia of World History
The Kingfisher History Encyclopedia
When on Earth? History as You’ve Never Seen It
The Children’s Book of America, William J. Bennett
U.S. History Bites
Hand in Hand, an American History through Poetry

The Story of the World Vol 3 CD The Story of the World Vol 4 CD A Child’s History of the World

U. S. Geography Books For Kids & Reference

Surrounded by Sea, Gail Gibbons
The Brooklyn Bridge
Mississippi Going North
Stone Fox, by John Reynolds Gardiner
Welcome to the Sea of Sand
Squirrel and John Muir
Up on Denali
Storm Run
The Adventures of Balto
Geography from A-Z, A Picture Glossary
Our 50 States
Into the Unknown, How Great Explorers Found Their Way by Land, Sea, and Air
A Kingfisher Atlas of the Modern World

Surrounded By Sea: Life on a New England Fishing Island The Brooklyn Bridge: The story of the world’s most famous bridge and the remarkable family that built it Mississippi Going North

U.S. History Books for Kids Through the 1700’s

Columbus & Exploration

Follow the Dream: The Story of Christopher Columbus – Peter Sis (PB) (BIO)
Christopher Columbus – Ingri & Edgar d’Aulaire (PB) (BIO)
Christopher Columbus – Stephen Krensky (R) (BIO)
Columbus – Demi (PB) (BIO)
Lief the Lucky – Ingri & Edgar d’Aulaire (PB) (BIO)
A Fine Dessert – Emily Jenkins (PB) (F)
Pedro’s Journal – Pam Conrad (RA) (F)
Exploration and Conquest: The Americas After Columbus: 1500-1620 – Betsy Maestro (PB) (NF)
Explorers Who Got Lost – Diane Sansevere-Dreher (PB) (NF)
First Voyage to America: From the Log of the “Santa Maria” – Christopher Columbus (REF) (NF)
You Wouldn’t Want to Sail With Christopher Columbus! – Fiona Macdonald (PB) (NF)

The Pilgrims & The Colonial Era

Squanto and the Miracle of Thanksgiving – Eric Metaxas (PB) (BIO)
Squanto, Friend Of The Pilgrims – Clyde Robert Bulla (RA) (BIO) (IEW)
Squanto’s Journey: The Story of the First Thanksgiving – Joseph Bruchac (PB) (BIO)
Surviving Jamestown: The Adventures of Young Sam Collier – Gail Langer Karwoski (RA) (BIO)
A Lion to Guard Us – Clyde Robert Bulla (RA) (F)
Across the Wide Dark Sea: The Mayflower Journey – Jean Van Leeuwen (PB) (F)
Samuel Eaton’s Day: A Day in the Life of a Pilgrim Boy – Kate Waters (RA) (F)
Sarah Morton’s Day: A Day in the Life of a Pilgrim Girl – Kate Waters (RA) (F)
The Mighty Mastiff of the Mayflower – Peter Arenstam (RA) (F)
Three Young Pilgrims – Cheryl Harness (RA) (F)
Almost Home: A Story Based on the Life of the Mayflower’s Mary Chilton – Wendy Lawton (RA) (F)
Alone Yet Not Alone: Their Faith Became their Freedom – Tracy Leininger Craven (RA) (F)
A Journey to the New World: The Diary of Remember Patience Whipple – Kathryn Lasky (RA) (F)
1621: A New Look at Thanksgiving – Catherine O’Neill Grace (PB) (NF)
Colonial Living – Edwin Tunis (REF) (NF)
If You Sailed on the Mayflower in 1620 – Ann McGovern (PB) (NF)
Mayflower 1620: A New Look at a Pilgrim Voyage – Plimoth Plantation (REF) (NF)
N.C. Wyeth’s Pilgrims – Robert D. San Souci (PB) (NF)
Pilgrims Of Plymouth – Susan E Goodman (PB) (NF)
Stories of the Pilgrims – Margaret Pumphrey (RA) (NF)
The Mayflower Compact – Elizabeth Raum (REF) (NF)
The New Americans: Colonial Times: 1620-1689 – Betsy Maestro (REF) (NF)
The Pilgrims of Plimoth – Marcia Sewall (PB) (NF)
The Pilgrims’ First Thanksgiving – Ann McGovern (PB) (NF)
The Thanksgiving Story – Alice Dalgliesh (PB) (NF)
You Wouldn’t Want to Sail on the Mayflower! – Peter Cook (PB) (NF)
Om-Kas-Toe – Kenneth Thomasma (RA) (F)
The Witch of Blackbird Pond – Elizabeth George Speare (RA) (F)
Carry On, Mr. Bowditch – Jean Lee Latham (RA) (F) (ChA)
The Adventurous Life of Myles Standish and the Amazing-but-True Survival Story of Plymouth Colony – Cheryl Harness (REF) (NF)
American Documents: The Mayflower Compact – Judith Lloyd Yero (REF) (NF)
The Mayflower and the Pilgrims’ New World – Nathaniel Philbrick (REF) (NF)

Boston Tea Party & The American Revolution

George Washington’s Breakfast – Jean Fritz (PB) (BIO)
John Adams Speaks for Freedom – Deborah Hopkinson (R) (BIO)
Paul Revere and the Bell Ringers – Jonah Winter (R) (BIO)
Paul Revere’s Ride (Step into Reading) – Shana Corey (R) (BIO)
Robert Fulton Boy Craftsman – Marguerite Henry (RA) (BIO)
Where Was Patrick Henry on the 29th of May? – Jean Fritz (RA) (BIO)
Arrow over the Door – Joseph Bruchac (RA) (F)
Mr. Revere and I – Robert Lawson (RA) (F)
Sam the Minuteman (I Can Read) – Nathaniel Benchley (R) (F)
George the Drummer Boy (I Can Read) – Nathaniel Benchley (R) (F)
America’s Paul Revere – Esther Hoskins Forbes (RA) (NF)
And Then What Happened, Paul Revere? – Jean Fritz (RA) (NF)
Boston Tea Party – Pamela Duncan Edwards (PB) (NF)
Can’t You Make Them Behave, King George? – Jean Fritz (PB) (NF)
Francis Marion and the Legend of the Swamp Fox – Kate Salley Palmer (PB) (NF)
Let It Begin Here!: Lexington & Concord – Dennis Brindell Fradin (PB) (NF)
Paul Revere’s Ride by Longfellow/Rand – Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (PB) (Poetry) (NF)
The Boston Tea Party by Russell Freedman – Russell Freedman (RA) (NF)
We Were There at the Boston Tea Party – Robert N. Webb (RA) (NF)
What Was the Boston Tea Party? – Kathleen Krull (RA) (NF)
You Wouldn’t Want to Be at the Boston Tea Party! Peter Cook (PB) (NF)

Encyclopedia of World History

The Kingfisher History Encyclopedia

When on Earth?

Declaration of Independence & The American Revolution

Benjamin Franklin – Ingri D’Aulaire (RA) (BIO)
Thomas Jefferson – DK Publishing (REF) (BIO)
Thomas Jefferson and the Ghostriders – Howard Goldsmith (RA) (BIO)
Thomas Jefferson Builds a Library – Barb Rosenstock (PB) (BIO)
Thomas Jefferson’s Feast (Step into Reading) – Frank Murphy (R) (BIO)
Aaron and the Green Mountain Boys by Gauch – Patricia Gauch (RA) (F)
Ben and Me: An Astonishing Life of Benjamin Franklin by His Good Mouse Amos – Lawson, Robert (RA) (F)
Calico Bush – Rachel Field (RA) (F)
The Minute Boys of Bunker Hill – Edward Stratemeyer (RA) (F)
The Minute Boys of Lexington – Edward Stratemeyer (RA) (F)
American Documents: The Declaration of Independence – Judith Lloyd Yero (REF) (NF)
Give Me Liberty: The Story of the Declaration of Independence – Russell Freedman (PB) (NF)
The Declaration Of Independence – Sam Fink (RA) (NF)
The Declaration of Independence from A to Z – Catherine Osornio (PB) (NF)
The Declaration of Independence in Translation: What It Really Means (Kids’ Translations) – Amie Jane Leavitt (PB) (NF)
The Fourth of July Story – Alice Dalgliesh (PB) (NF)
The Journey of the One and Only Declaration of Independence – Judith St. George (PB) (NF)

George Washington & The American Revolution

George Washington – Ingri D’Aulaire (RA) (BIO)
George Washington’s World – Genevieve Foster (RA) (BIO)
A Voice of Her Own The Story of Phyllis Wheatley – Kathryn Lasky (RA) (BIO)
Gingerbread for Liberty – Mara Rockliff (PB) (F)
Guns for General Washington: A Story of the American Revolution – Seymour Reit (RA) (F)
Phoebe the Spy – Judith Griffin (RA) (F)
The Cabin Faced West – Jean Fritz (RA) (F)
Toliver’s Secret – Esther Wood Brady (RA) (F)
Brighty of the Grand Canyon – Marguerite Henry (RA) (F)
Queen of the Falls – Chris Van Allsburg (PB) (BIO)
Fever, 1793 – Laurie Halse Anderson (RA) (F)
A More Perfect Union: The Story of Our Constitution – Betsy Maestro (RA) (NF)
A New Nation: The United States: 1783-1815 – Betsy Maestro (RA) (NF)
George vs. George: The American Revolution As Seen from Both Sides – Rosalyn Schanzer (PB) (NF)
The Light and the Glory for Children : Discovering God’s Plan for America from Christopher Columbus to George Washington – Peter Marshall (RA) (NF)
An American Plague – Jim Murphy (REF) (F)

Stone Fox

Welcome to the Sea of Sand

Squirrel and John Muir

U.S. History Books for Kids Through the 1800’s

Louisiana Purchase

North American Indians – Douglas Gorsline (PB) (NF)
DK North American Indian – David Murdoch (IB) (NF)
The Boy Who Drew Birds: A Story of John James Audubon – Jacqueline Davies (PB) (NF)
A Picture Book of Davy Crockett – David A. Adler (RA) (BIO)
Daniel Boone: Frontier Adventures – Brandt, Keith (BIO) (BIO)
David Crockett Creating a Legend – Mary Dodson Wade (BIO) (BIO)
Davy Crockett: A Life on the Frontier – Stephen Krensky (RA) (BIO)
Diary of an Early American Boy: Noah Blake 1805 (Dover Books) – Eric Sloane (RA) (BIO)
Lewis and Clark and Me: A Dog’s Tale – Laurie Myers (RA) (F)
Seaman’s Journal: On the Trail With Lewis and Clark – Patricia Reeder Eubank (RA) (F)
The Captain’s Dog: My Journey with the Lewis and Clark Tribe – Roland Smith (RA) (F)
How We Crossed The West: The Adventures Of Lewis And Clark – Rosalyn Schanzer (RA) (NF)
Lewis and Clark: The Story of Our Nation from Coast to Coast, from 1801 to 1850 – Sally Senzell Isaacs (RA) (NF)
Louisiana Purchase – Peter Roop (RA) (NF)
Of Courage Undaunted – James Daughtery (RA) (NF)
Seaman: The Dog Who Explored the West With Lewis and Clark – Gail Langer Karwoski (RA) (NF)
The Lewis & Clark Expedition: Join the Corps of Discovery to Explore Uncharted Territory – Carol A. Johmann (REF) (NF)
The Louisiana Purchase: Would You Close the Deal? – Elaine Landau (RA) (NF)
What Was the Lewis and Clark Expedition? – Judith St. George (RA) (NF)
You Wouldn’t Want to Explore With Lewis and Clark! – Jacqueline Morley (RA) (NF)

War of 1812 & The Monroe Doctrine

Scrambled States of America – Laurie Keller (PB) (NF)
How to Make a Cherry Pie and See the U.S.A. – Marjorie Priceman (PB) (F)
The Great Little Madison – Jean Fritz (RA) (BIO)
Justin Morgan Had a Horse – Marguerite Henry (RA) (F)
Once on This Island – Gloria Whelan (RA) (F)
Francis Scott Key and “The Star Spangled Banner” – Lynea Bowdish (PB) (BIO)
By the Dawn’s Early Light: The Story of the Star-spangled Banner – Steven Kroll (PB) (NF)
The Star Spangled Banner in Translation: What It Really Means (Kids’ Translations) – Elizabeth Raum (RA) (NF)
The Star-Spangled Banner – Peter Spier (RA) (NF)
The Town that Fooled the British: A War of 1812 Story – Lisa Papp (RA) (NF)
The War of 1812: Expanding & Preserving the Union – Jill Mulhall (REF) (NF)
What Caused the War of 1812? – Sally Senzell Isaacs (REF) (NF)
The Little Man in the Map: With Clues to Remember All 50 States – E. Andrew Martonyi (PB) (NF)
Storm on the Desert – Carolyn Lesser (PB) (F)
The Bears on Hemlock Mountain – Alice Dalgliesh (RA) (F)
Mountain Born – Elizabeth Yates (RA) (F)
My Side of the Mountain (Puffin Modern Classics) – Jean Craighead George (RA) (F)

Missouri Compromise & The Underground Railroad

Dred and Harriett Scott: A Family’s Struggle For Freedom – Gwenyth Swain (RA) (BIO)
Escape North! The Story of Harriet Tubman – Monica Kulling (RA) (BIO)
Harriet Tubman and the Freedom Train – Sharon Gayle (PB) (BIO)
Henry’s Freedom Box: A True Story – Ellen Levine (PB) (BIO)
Sojourner Truth’s Step-Stomp Stride – Andrea Pinkney (PB) (BIO)
Up from Slavery – Booker T. Washington (RA) (BIO)
The Courage of Sarah Noble – Alice Dalgliesh (RA) (F)
The Matchlock Gun – Walter D. Edmonds (RA) (F)
Amos Fortune, Free Man – Elizabeth Yates (RA) (F)
Follow the Drinking Gourd – Jeanette Winter (PB) (F)
Freedom Song: The Story of Henry “Box” Brown – Sally M. Walker (PB) (F)
The Drinking Gourd – F. N. Monjo (R) (F)
Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Young Folks’ Edition – Harriet Beecher Stowe (RA) (F)
Moses: When Harriet Tubman Led Her People to Freedom – Carole Boston Weatherford (PB) (F)
By the Great Horn Spoon! – Sid Fleishmann (RA) (F)
If You Traveled on the Underground Railroad – Ellen Levine (RA) (NF)
What Was the Underground Railroad? – Yona Zeldis McDonough (RA) (NF)
What was the Missouri Compromise? And other questions about the Struggle over Slavery – Wendy Hint Lanier
Sign of the Beaver – Elizabeth George Speare (RA) (F)
The Last River: John Wesley Powell and the Colorado River Exploring Expedition – Stuart Waldman (RA) (BIO)
Mississippi – Diane Siebert (PB) (NF)
Sierra – Diane Siebert (PB) (NF)

The Children’s Book of America

U.S. History Bites

Hand in Hand: An American History Through Poetry

Slavery & Secession of the Southern States

Escape North! The Story of Harriet Tubman (Step-Into-Reading) – Monica Kulling (RA) (BIO)
Harriet Tubman and the Freedom Train – Sharon Gayle (PB) (BIO)
Henry’s Freedom Box: A True Story – Ellen Levine (PB) (BIO)
Sojourner Truth’s Step-Stomp Stride – Andrea Pinkney (PB) (BIO)
Follow the Drinking Gourd – Jeanette Winter (PB) (F)
Freedom Song: The Story of Henry “Box” Brown – Sally M. Walker (PB) (F)
The Drinking Gourd – F. N. Monjo (R) (F)
Moses: When Harriet Tubman Led Her People to Freedom – Carole Boston Weatherford (PB) (F)
By the Great Horn Spoon! – Sid Fleishmann (RA) (F)
Dred and Harriett Scott: A Family’s Struggle For Freedom – Gwenyth Swain (RA) (BIO)
Up from Slavery – Booker T. Washington (RA) (BIO)
Amos Fortune, Free Man – Yates, Elizabeth (RA) (F) (ChA)
Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Young Folks’ Edition – Harriet Beecher Stowe (RA) (F)
If You Traveled on the Underground Railroad – Ellen Levine (RA) (NF)
What Was the Underground Railroad? – Yona Zeldis McDonough (RA) (NF)
Minn of the Mississippi – H. C. Holling (PB) (F)
Paddle-to-the-Sea – H. C. Holling (PB) (F)
Seabird – H. C. Holling (PB) (F)

Manifest Destiny & Westward Expansion

Dakota Dugout – Ann Turner (PB) (F)
Bound for Oregon – Jean Van Leeuwen (RA) (F)
Dear Levi: Letters from the Overland Trail – Elvira Woodruff (RA) (F)
Little Britches: Father and I Were Ranchers* – Ralph Moody (RA) (F)
Little House Nine-Book Box Set – Wilder, Laura Ingalls (RA) (F)
Rachel’s Journal: The Story of a Pioneer Girl – Marissa Moss (RA) (F)
Rip van Winkle – Washington Irving (RA) (F)
Sarah, Plain, and Tall – Patricia MacLachlan (RA) (F)
Tucket’s Travels: Francis Tucket’s Adventures in the West, 1847-1849 – Gary Paulsen (RA) (F)
A Pioneer Sampler: The Daily Life of a Pioneer Family in 1840 – Barbara Greenwood (RA) (NF)
The Mormon Trail – Elaine Landau (REF) (NF)
What Was the Gold Rush? – Joan Holub (RA) (NF)
Which Way to the Wild West? – Steve Sheinkin (RA) (NF)
Dandelions – Eve Bunting (RA) (F)
How Jackrabbit Got His Very Long Ears – Heather Irbinskas (PB) (F)
I Have Heard of a Land – Joyce Carol Thomas (PB) (Poetry) (F)
I’m in Charge of Celebrations – Byrd Baylor (PB) (Poetry) (F)
The Secret Valley – Clyde Robert Bulla (RA) (F)
Daily Life in a Covered Wagon – Paul Erickson (REF) (NF)
If You Traveled West In A Covered Wagon – Ellen Levine (RA) (NF)
Life on the Oregon Trail (Picture the Past) – Sally Senzell Isaacs (RA) (NF)
Prairie School (I Can Read) – Bill Farnsworth (R) (NF)
Ten Mile Day: And the Building of the Transcontinental Railroad – Mary Ann Fraser (PB) (NF)
The Mexican-American War – John DiConsiglio (REF) (NF)
Voices from the Oregon Trail – Kay Winters (RA) (NF)
Wagon Wheels (I Can Read) – Barbara Brenner (RA) (NF)
Caddie Woodlawn – Carol Ryrie Brink (RA) (F)

Up on Denali: Alaska’s Wild Mountain

Storm Run: The Story of the First Woman to Win the Iditarod Sled Dog Race

The Adventures of Balto: The Untold Story of Alaska’s Famous Iditarod Sled Dog

Civil War & Abraham Lincoln

Brick by Brick – Charles R. Smith (PB) (NF)
Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass – Russell Freedman (RA) (BIO)
Abraham Lincoln’s World – Genevieve Foster (RA) (BIO)
Lincoln and His Boys – Rosemary Wells (RA) (BIO)
Meet Abraham Lincoln – Barbara Clay (BIO) (BIO)
Abraham Lincoln and the Heart of America – Jim Weiss (CD) (BIO)
Forty Acres and Maybe a Mule – Harriette Gillem Robinet (RA) (F)
I Survived the Battle of Gettysburg, 1863 – Lauren Tarshis (RA) (F)
Mr. Lincoln’s Drummer – G. Clifton Wisler (RA) (F)
Freedom Crossing – Margaret Goff Clark (RA) (F)
Divided in Two: The Road to Civil War, 1861 – James R. Arnold (REF) (NF)
Letters for Freedom: The Civil War – Douglas M. Rife (REF) (NF)
What Was the Battle of Gettysburg? – Jim O’Connor (RA) (NF)
Abe’s Honest Words: The Life of Abraham Lincoln – Doreen Rappaport (PB) (BIO)
John Henry – Julius Lester (PB) (BIO)
Nurse, Soldier, Spy: The Story of Sarah Edmonds, a Civil War Hero – Marissa Moss (RA) (BIO)
Robert Henry Hendershot: True Stories from America’s Past – Susan E. Goodman (RA) (BIO)
Sarah Emma Edmonds Was a Great Pretender: The True Story of a Civil War Spy – Carrie Jones (RA) (BIO)
Abe Lincoln Crosses a Creek: A Tall, Thin Tale – Deborah Hopkinson (RA) (F)
The Last Brother: A Civil War Tale – Trinka Hakes Nobel (PB) (F)
Ben and the Emancipation Proclamation – Pat Sherman (PB) (NF)
Abraham Lincoln: Lawyer, Leader, Legend – Justine Fontes (RA) (NF)
Just a Few Words, Mr. Lincoln – Jean Fritz (R) (NF)
Fields of Fury: The American Civil War* – James M. McPherson (REF) (NF)
Two Miserable Presidents: The Amazing, Terrible, and Totally True Story of the Civil War – Steve Sheinkin (RA) (BIO)
Little Women – Louisa May Alcott (RA) (F)
With Lee in Virginia A Story of the American Civil War – GA Henty (RA) (F)
Silent Thunder: A Civil War Story – Andrea Pinkney (RA) (F)
Rifles for Watie – Harold Keith (RA) (F)

Civil War & Generals Robert E. Lee and Ulysses S. Grant

Oxcart Man – Donald Hall (PB) (F)
Miss Rumphius – Barbara Cooney (PB) (NF)
One Morning in Maine – Robert McCloskey (PB) (F)
Thy Friend, Obadiah – Brinton Turkle (PB) (F)
Apples to Oregon: Being the (Slightly) True Narrative of How a Brave Pioneer Father Brought Apples, Peaches, Pears, Plums, Grapes, and Cherries (and Children) Across the Plains – Deborah Hopkinson (PB) (F)
Clara Barton: Courage Under Fire – Janet and Geoff Benge (RA) (BIO)
Tree in the Trail – H. C. Holling (PB) (F)
America the Beautiful – Katharine Lee Bates (PB) (NF)
Mojave – Diane Siebert (PB) (NF)
Gray Fox: Robert E. Lee and the Civil War – Burke Davis (CD) (BIO)
The Education of Little Tree * – Forrest Carter (Audio) (F)
Benjamin West and His Cat Grimalkin – Marguerite Henry (RA) (F)
Eyewitness Civil War – DK Publishing (REF) (NF)
A Picture Book of Robert E. Lee – David A. Adler (PB) (BIO)
Mary Walker Wears the Pants – Cheryl Harness (PB) (BIO)
The Story of Ulysses S. Grant – Tamara Smith (PB) (BIO)
Hitty: Her First Hundred Years – Rachel Field (RA) (F)
Louisa May’s Battle – Kathleen Krull (PB) (F)
The Birchbark House – Louise Erdrich (RA) (F)
Thee, Hannah! – Marguerite de Angeli (PB) (F)

Balto and the Great Race (Totally True Adventures): How a Sled Dog Saved the Children of Nome

Geography from A to Z: A Picture Glossary

Our 50 States: A Family Adventure Across America

U.S. History Books for Kids Through the 1900’s

14th Amendment

Aunt Harriet’s Underground Railroad in the Sky – Faith Ringgold (PB) (F)
George Washington Carver – Janet and Geoff Benge (RA) (BIO)
Frederick Douglass, The Lion Who Wrote History – Walter Dean Myers (PB) (BIO)
Martin’s Big Words: The Life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. – Dorren Rappaport (PB) (BIO)
Words Set Me Free: The Story of Frederick Douglas – Lisa Cline Ransome (PB) (BIO)
Dear Benjamin Banneker – Andrea Davis Pinkney (PB) (F)
Heart and Soul, The Story of America and African Americans – Kadir Nelson (RA) (NF)
Everybody Paints – Susan Goldman Rubin (REF) (NF)
Grandma Moses – Mike Venezia (PB) (BIO)
DK Biography: Martin Luther King, Jr. – Amy Pastan (RA) (BIO)

Industrial Age & Tycoons

Liberty Arrives! – Robert Byrd (PB) (NF)
The Story of Thomas Alva Edison – Margaret Cousins (RA) (BIO)
Smokestacks and Spinning Jennys: Industrial Revolution – Sean Price (PB) (NF)
Picasso and the Girl with a Ponytail – Laurence Anholt (PB) (F)
The Man who Loved Libraries: The Story of Andrew Carnegie – Andrew Larsen (PB) (F)
All About America: The Industrial Revolution – Hilarie N. Staton (PB) (NF)
The Early American Industrial Revolution, 1793-1850 – Katie S. Bagley (PB) (NF)

Immigration & Theodore Roosevelt

Through Georgia’s Eyes – Rachel Victoria Rodriguez (PB) (BIO)
Bully for You, Teddy Roosevelt! – Jean Fritz (RA) (BIO)
Theodore Roosevelt: An American Original – Janet and Geoff Benge (RA) (BIO)
Young Teddy Roosevelt – Cheryl Harness (PB) (BIO)
Hannah’s Journal: The Story of an Immigrant Girl – Marissa Moss (RA) (F)
The Singing Tree – Kate Seredy (RA) (F)
At Ellis Island: A History in Many Voices – Louise Peacock (PB) (NF)
Ellis Island: Coming to the Land of Liberty – Raymond Bial (RA) (NF)
If Your Name Was Changed At Ellis Island – Ellen Levine (RA) (NF)
The Met Georgia O’Keeffe: She saw the world in a flower – Gabrielle Balkan (PB) (BIO)
My Name is Georgia – Jeanette Winter (PB) (BIO)
Teddy Roosevelt: The People’s President – Sharon Gayle (R) (BIO)
Teedie: The Story of Young Teddy Roosevelt – Don Brown (PB) (BIO)
The Camping Trip that Changed America – Barb Rosenstock (PB) (BIO)
The Extraordinary Music of Mr. Ives – Joanne Stanbridge (PB) (BIO)
To Dare Mighty Things: The Life of Theodore Roosevelt – Dorren Rappaport (PB) (BIO)
You’re On Your Way, Teddy Roosevelt – Judith St. George (PB) (BIO)
At Home in a New Land – Joan Sandin (RA) (F)
Fiona’s Lace – Patricia Polacco (PB) (F)
Grandfather’s Journey – Allen Say (PB) (F)
Landed by Milly Lee – Milly Lee (RA) (F)
Peppe the Lamplighter – Elisa Bartone (PB) (F)
The Arrival – Shaun Tan (PB) (F)
The Gift by Marcia Freeman – Marcia S. Freeman (PB) (F)
The Matchbox Diary – Paul Fleishman (PB) (F)
The Memory Coat – Elvira Woodruff (PB) (F)
The Year of the Perfect Christmas Tree – Gloria Houston (PB) (F)
When Jessie Came Across the Sea – Amy Hest (PB) (F)
Coming to America: The Story of Immigration – Betsy Maestro (PB) (NF)
Dreaming Of America: An Ellis Island Story – Eve Bunting (PB) (NF)
Emma’s Poem: The Voice of the Statue of Liberty – Linda Glaser (PB) (NF)
The Legend of the Teddy Bear – Frank Murphy (PB) (NF)
Georgia in Hawaii: When Georgia OKeeffe Painted What She Pleased – Amy Novesky (PB) (BIO)
Georgia O’Keeffe – Mike Venezia (PB) (BIO)
On the Horizon – Lois Lowry (RA) (Poetry) (F)

WWI & President Wilson

Littlejim – Gloria Houston (RA) (F)
Where Poppies Grow: A World War I Companion – Linda Granfield (PB) (NF)
Thank you, Sarah: The Woman Who Saved Thanksgiving – Laurie Halse Anderson (PB) (BIO)
Christmas in the Trenches – John McCutcheon (PB) (NF)
Disasters at Sea – Andrew Donkin (R) (NF)
War Game: Village Green to No-Man’s-Land – Michael Foreman (RA) (NF)
Norman Rockwell – Mike Venezia (PB) (BIO)
Norman Rockwell: Storyteller With A Brush – Beverly Gherman (RA) (BIO)
Rockwell: A Boy and His Dog – Loren Spiotta-DiMare (PB) (BIO)

19th Amendment & The Great Depression

Esperonza Rising – Pam Munoz Ryan (RA) (F)
Miss Paul and the President: The Creative Campaign for Women’s Right to Vote – Dean Robbins (PB) (BIO)
Around America to Win the Vote: Two Suffragists, a Kitten, and 10,000 Miles – Mara Rockliff (PB) (F)
Out of the Dust – Karen Hesse (RA) (F) (Poetry)
Children of the Dust Bowl – Jerry Stanley (IB) (NF)

Into the Unknown: How Great Explorers Found Their Way by Land, Sea, and Air

The Kingfisher Atlas of the Modern World

WWII & Pearl Harbor

Franklin Delano Roosevelt: The Story of Our Nation from Coast to Coast, from 1929 to 1948 – Sally Senzell Isaacs (PB) (BIO)
Jacob DeShazer: Forgive Your Enemies – Janet and Geoff Benge (BIO) (BIO)
Echo – Pam Munoz Ryan (RA) (F)
Going Solo (Age 12 and up) – Roald Dahl (BIO) (F)
Journey to Topaz – Yoshiko Uchida (RA) (F)
Snow Treasure – Marie McSwigan (RA) (F)
Twenty and Ten – Claire Huchet Bishop (RA) (F)
The Journey That Saved Curious George: The True Wartime Escape of Margret and H.A. Rey – Louise W. Borden (RA) (BIO)
The Unbreakable Code – Sara Hoagland Hunter (PB) (F)
Cher Ami: Based on the World War I Legend of the Fearless Pigeon – Melisande Potter (PB) (NF)
Franklin and Winston: A Christmas That Changed the World – Douglas Wood (PB) (NF)
Pearl Harbor (Ready To Read) – Stephen Krensky (R) (NF)
Pearl Harbor National Geographic – William Allen (REF) (NF)
The USS Arizona – R. Conrad Stein (RA) (NF)
D-Day Landings: The Story of the Allied Invasion – Richard Platt (R) (NF)
Roy Lichtenstein (Getting to Know the World’s Greatest Artists) – Mike Venezia (PB) (BIO)
Whaam! The Art and Life of Roy Lichtenstein – Susan Goldman Rubin (PB) (NF)
Franklin Delano Roosevelt – Russell Freedman (REF) (BIO)
The Chestry Oak – Kate Seredy (RA) (F)

NATO, Communism, & The Cold War

Homer Price – McCloskey, Robert (RA) (F)
Spying and the Cold War – Michael Burgan (IB) (REF) (NF)
The Wall: Growing Up Behind the Iron Curtain – Peter Sis (RA) (NF)
BOMB: The Race to Build – and Steal – the World’s Most Dangerous Weapon – Steve Sheinkin (CB)
Ronald Reagan: Fortieth President 1981-1989 – Mike Venezia
Richard Wurmbrand: Love Your Enemies – Janet and Geoff Benge (CB)
Breaking Stalin’s Nose – Eugene Yelchin (CB)
Where is the Kremlin? – (CB)
Cold War Correspondent (Nathan Hale’s Hazardous Tales #11): A Korean War Tale – Nathan Hale (Comic)
A Night Divided – Jennifer A Nielsen (RA) (F)

Brown vs. The Board of Education

The Erie Canal – Peter Spier (PB) (NF)
Martin Luther King Jr.: The Story of Our Nation from Coast to Coast, from 1948 to 1976 – Sally Senzell Isaacs (RA) (BIO)
The Story Of Ruby Bridges – Robert Coles (PB) (BIO)
Through My Eyes – Ruby Bridges (RA) (BIO)
A Dream Of Freedom – Diane Mcworter (REF) (NF)
I Have a Dream – Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (PB) (NF)
Cracking the Wall: The Struggles of the Little Rock Nine – Eileen Lucas (PB) (NF)
We Are the Ship: The Story of Negro League Baseball – Kadir Nelson (RA) (NF)
What’s the Supreme Court? – Nancy Harris (REF) (NF)
The Amazing Impossible Erie Canal – Cheryl Harness (PB) (NF)
Freedom on the Menu: The Greensboro Sit-Ins – Carole Boston Weatherford (PB) (NF)
Look to the Stars – Buzz Aldrin (PB) (NF)
Remember: The Journey to School Integration – Toni Morrison (RA) (NF)
Freedom Summer – Deborah Wiles (PB) (F)
Peter Tchaikovsky – Mike Venezia (PB) (BIO)
Little Rock Girl 1957: How a Photograph Changed the Fight for Integration* – Shelley Marie Tougas (RA) (BIO)

U.S. Astronauts

Mission Control, This is Apollo: The Story of the First Voyages to the Moon – Andrew Chaikin (RA) (NF)
Moonwalk: The First Trip to the Moon – Judy Donnelly (R) (NF)
Spacebusters: The Race to the Moon – Philip Wilkinson (R) (NF)
One Giant Leap – Robert Burleigh (PB) (NF)
Reaching for the Moon – Buzz Aldrin (PB) (NF)
Space Heroes: Amazing Astronauts – Caryn Jenner (R) (NF)
Destination: Moon – James Irwin (PB)
Godspeed John Glenn – Richard Hilliard (PB)
You Wouldn’t Want to be on Apollo 13! – Ian Graham (PB)
Hidden Figures: The True Story of Four Black Women & the Space Race – Margot Lee Shetterley (PB)

Government and Modern U.S. History Books for Kids

September 11, 2001

I Survived the Attacks of September 11th, 2001 – Lauren Tarshis (RA) (F)
The Man Who Walked Between the Towers – Mordecai Gerstein (PB) (BIO)
America Is Under Attack: September 11, 2001: The Day the Towers Fell – Don Brown (RA) (NF)
The Little Chapel that Stood – A. B. Curtiss (PB) (NF)

Preamble & U.S. Government

American Documents: The Constitution – Paul Finkelman (PB) (NF)
If You Were There When They Signed the Constitution – Elizabeth Levy (PB) (NF)
Shh! We’re Writing the Constitution – Jean Fritz (RA) (NF)
We the People: The Story of Our Constitution – Lynne Cheney (PB) (NF)
Our Living Constitution, Grades 5 – 8: Then and Now – Good Apple (REF) (NF)
Our White House: Looking In, Looking Out – Various Authors (RA) (NF)

Bill of Rights & U. S. Presidents

American Documents: The Bill of Rights – Judith Lloyd Yero (REF) (NF)
So You Want to Be President? – Judith St. George (PB) (NF)
The Buck Stops Here – Alice Provensen (PB) (NF)
The President’s Stuck in the Bathtub: Poems About the Presidents – Susan Katz (Poetry) (NF)
U.S. Presidential History Bites – Solomon Schmidt (RA) (NF)
Yo Millard Fillmore!: (And all those other Presidents you don’t know) – Will Cleveland (RA) (NF)
Don’t Know Much About the Presidents – Kenneth Davis (PB)

Get a Printable Copy of this U.S. History for Kids Book List!

If you’d like a printable copy of this list for library runs or shopping at thrift stores, I have that for you! This printable is organized by CC Week, and has labeled themes each week so it can fit any U. S. History study.

Sign up for my emails below to receive the PDF of this entire US History for Kids Book List. The PDF will open in a new browser window after you submit the form – be sure to SAVE this file to your computer!

Or, check out our handy Amazon buying guide here:

U.S. History Booklist on Amazon

Want more U. S. History resources for your homeschool?

Check out my U. S. History Classical Morning Menu – a full year of morning time materials to start your day! Scripture, Poetry, Artwork, and more in a handy PDF you can use on your device or print out and put in a plastic menu sleeve!

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