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Historical Picture Books

Some of the best illustrations aren't realistic, at least not in the way the Digital Age generation has come to define realism (i.e., as perfect photographic replication). And we're not promoting Modern Art, either: far be if from us to prefer squiggles or big shapeless color patches to depictions of actual landscapes and people. What we are promoting is the exercise of the artist's art and skills, not simply as an imitator, but as a revelator and interpreter of facts.

This emphasis on artistic creativity has largely informed our selection of historical picture books. Do all of the d'Aulaire illustrations perfectly resemble key figures and events of the past? Not at all, but they do consistently capture the spirit of American history and historical figures, portraying each as they were perceived and not necessarily how they actually were. Purists may balk at this approach, but rest assured that the textual content of these books is accurate and trustworthy.

Which brings us to one of the essential aspects of history study: interpretation. If it's pure authenticity you want, photographs will do just fine, whether of individuals, places, artifacts, or buildings. But facts are only one side of history, and as far as one's worldview goes, probably not even the most important part. Not that you can do without them, but learning to read the facts and interpret them is the only reason learning about the past is a worthwhile endeavor.

Good historical picture books can help you cultivate this skill, especially when teaching younger students who aren't ready to make abstract connections between seemingly disparate facts. For instance, a picture book about the American Civil War could simply depict images of battle....or, the artist could use dark colors and heavy strokes to show both the evils of warfare as well as the deep racial themes and animosities shared by both sides throughout the War Between the States.

Some of our favorite books of the latter kind are those by Ingri and Edgar d'Aulaire. Each of these volumes is dedicated to an important American historical figure like Abraham Lincoln, Buffalo Bill Cody, and Leif Erickson, and each is well-known for its lovely lithograph prints. The accompanying text is poetic and accessible, offering a child's-eye view of people history has generally turned into mythic characters.

In a similar vein, though with cartoon-y illustrations, the Jean Fritz books are perennially popular, and justly so. These are a little more fact- and text-heavy, though still written in story form, and often focus on the more eccentric elements of famous peoples' personalities. Many of the figures covered in this series are heroes of the American War for Independence, and make excellent supplements to a study of the Colonial and New Nation eras.

A newer series from Banner of Truth Trust is destined to be among our favorites: the Heroes of the Faith books by Sinclair B. Ferguson, a Presbyterian pastor and theologian. Each book covers a covers an important church father (Ignatius of Antioch, Polycarp, Irenaeus) and is illustrated with somewhat stylized full-color pictures. Kids are introduced to famous saints, as well as to their basic ideas and significance, all in a format they'll welcome.

There are so many other excellent historical picture books we'd like to introduce you to, but it's probably easier for us and you to just let you browse our collection. For the most part, only narrative histories (history in story form) have made their way into this category, though there are a few exceptions. The important thing to remember is that it's never too early to introduce kids to the study of the past, and when they're particularly interested in pictures is as good a time as any to start.

Review by C. Hollis Crossman
C. Hollis Crossman used to be a child. Now he is a husband and father, teaches adult Sunday school in his Presbyterian congregation, and likes weird stuff. He might be a mythical creature, but he's definitely not a centaur.Read more of his reviews here.

 

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Active Filters: Preschool (Ages 4-5), Hardcover
Alvin Ailey
by Andrea Davis Pinkney; illustrated by Brian Pinkney
from Hyperion Books for Children
for Preschool-3rd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
America: A Patriotic Primer
by Lynne Cheney
from Simon and Schuster
for Preschool-2nd grade
in American History Reference (Location: HISA-REF)
$3.20 (2 in stock)
Amy Carmichael: Can brown eyes be made blue?
Little Lights #01
by Catherine Mackenzie
from Christian Focus Publications
for Nursery-1st grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Because Barbara
by Sarah Mackenzie, illustrated by Eileen Ryan Ewen
from Waxwing Books
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$16.14
Blackbeard's Last Fight
by Eric A. Kimmel, illustrated by Leonard Everett Fisher
from Farrar, Straus and Giroux
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Pirates (Location: HISV-PIRATE)
$4.80 (1 in stock)
Blockhead: The Life of Fibonacci
by Romola Anderson, R. C. Anderson
1st edition from Henry Holt and Company
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$16.99
Boy Who Loved Math
by Deborah Heiligman, illustrated by LeUyen Pham
from Roaring Brook Press
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$4.80 (1 in stock)
Boy, a Mouse, and a Spider
by Barbara Herkert, illustrated by Lauren Castillo
from Henry Holt and Company
for Preschool-3rd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$16.14
Brave Girl
by Michelle Markel, illustrated by Melissa Sweet
from HarperCollins
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Bright Path
by Don Brown
from Roaring Brook Press
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Camille Pissarro
by Alix Wood
from Windmill Books
for Preschool-3rd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Charles Darwin's Around-the-World Adventure
by Jennifer Thermes
from Abrams Books for Young Readers
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$6.40 (1 in stock)
Christopher Columbus
by Elaine Murray Stone
500 Anv from Tyndale House
Biography for Preschool-3rd Grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$5.20 (1 in stock)
Coming to America
by Betsy Maestro
from Scholastic Inc.
for Preschool- 3rd Grade
in Immigration & Emigration (Location: HISA-20IM)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Corrie ten Boom: Are all of the watches safe?
Little Lights #03
by Catherine Mackenzie
from Christian Focus Publications
for Nursery-1st grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Damon, Pythias, and the Test of Friendship
by Teresa Bateman
from Albert Whitman & Company
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Finding Narnia
by Caroline McAlister, Illustrated by Jessica Lanan
from Roaring Brook Press
for Preschool-3rd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$18.69
First Step
by Susan E. Goodman, illustrated by E. B. Lewis
from Bloomsbury Publishing
for Preschool-3rd grade
in American Civil War Era (1850-1865) (Location: HISA-19CW)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
Flight
by Robert Burleigh; illustrated by Mike Wimmer
from Philomel Books
for Preschool- 3rd Grade
1992 NCTE Orbis Pictus Award
in Aviation History (Location: HISV-AVIA)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
George Washington: America's Patriot
Heroes of History for Young Readers
by Renee Meloche
from Emerald Books
for Preschool-3rd grade
in Heroes for Young Readers (Location: BIO-HERO)
Giraffe That Walked to Paris
by Nancy Milton & Roger Roth
from Purple House Press
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$16.96
Go Forth and Tell
by Breanna J. McDaniel; illustrated by April Harrison
from Penguin Random House
for Preschool-3rd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$16.14
Granny Smith Was Not an Apple
by Sarah Glenn Fortson, illustrated by Kris Aro McLeod
from Peter Pauper Press
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$14.44
Great Buildings
Mack's World of Wonder
by Mack van Gageldonk
from Clavis Publishing
for Preschool-2nd grade
in International Landmarks & Symbols (Location: HISV-LANINT)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Hatmaker's Sign: A Story by Benjamin Franklin
by Candace Fleming (reteller), illustrated by Robert Andrew Parker
from Orchard Books
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$6.40 (1 in stock)
Helen Roseveare: What's in the parcel?
Little Lights #05
by Catherine Mackenzie
from Christian Focus Publications
for Nursery-1st grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$3.20 (1 in stock)
Home in the Woods
by Eliza Wheeler
from Nancy Paulsen Books
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$16.14
Hudson Taylor: Could somebody pass the salt?
Little Lights #02
by Catherine Mackenzie
from Christian Focus Publications
for Nursery-1st grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$3.20 (2 in stock)
In the Belly of an Ox
by Rebecca Bond
from HMH Books for Young Readers
for Preschool-1st grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Joe Louis
by David A. Adler, illustrated by Terry Widener
from Gulliver Books
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$4.80 (1 in stock)
John Knox: Who Will Save You?
Little Lights #14
by Catherine Mackenzie
from Christian Focus Publications
for Nursery-1st grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$3.20 (1 in stock)
John Ronald’s Dragons
by Caroline McAlister, Illustrated by Eliza Wheeler
from Roaring Brook Press
for Preschool-3rd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$19.54
John, Paul, George & Ben
by Lane Smith
1st edition from Hyperion/Madison Press
for Preschool-3rd grade
in Biography Anthologies (Location: BIO-ANTH)
$7.20 (1 in stock)
Joni Eareckson Tada
by Kristyn Getty; illustrated by Hsulynn Pang
from Good Book Company
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$12.74
Make Way
by Angela Burke Kunkel, illustrated by Claire Keane
from Random House
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$16.99
Man Who Walked Between The Towers
by Mordicai Gerstein
from Roaring Brook Press
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$7.20 (1 in stock)
Marjory Saves the Everglades
by Sandra Neil Wallace; illustrated by Rebecca Gibbon
from Beach Lane Books
for Preschool-4th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$16.99
Martin Luther
by Paul L. Maier
1st edition from Concordia Publishing House
for Preschool-3rd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$16.14
Martin Luther: What Should I Do?
Little Lights #08
by Catherine Mackenzie
from Christian Focus Publications
for Nursery-1st grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Mona Lisa: The Secret of the Smile
by Letizia Galli, translated by Nicholas B.A. Nicholson
from Doubleday Book For Young Readers
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Moses
by Carole Boston Weatherford
1st edition from Hyperion/Madison Press
for Preschool-3rd grade
2007 Caldecott Honor Book
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$16.14
My Name is Georgia
from Harcourt, Brace & Company
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
One-Minute Stories of Great Americans
by Shari Lewis, illustrated by Robert Barrett
from Doubleday Childrens
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Biography Anthologies (Location: BIO-ANTH)
$3.20 (1 in stock)
Peter the Great
by Diane Stanley
from William Morrow & Company
Biography for Preschool-3rd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$9.60 (1 in stock)
Picture Book of George Washington
by David A. Adler
1st edition from Holiday House
for Preschool-3rd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Picture Book of Paul Revere
by Alexandra Wallner, David A. Adler, John Wallner
1st edition from Holiday House
for Preschool-3rd grade
in Clearance: Biographies (Location: ZCLE-BIO)
Picture Book of Rosa Parks
by David A. Adler; illustrated by Robert Casilla
1st edition from Holiday House
Picture Book Biography for Preschool-3rd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Pilot and the Little Prince
by Peter Sís
from Farrar, Straus and Giroux
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$21.24
Rare Treasure
by Don Brown
from Houghton Mifflin
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$12.80 (1 in stock)
River Boy: The Story of Mark Twain
by William Anderson, illustrated by Dan Andreasen
from HarperCollins
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$7.20 (1 in stock)
Saving the Liberty Bell
by Megan McDonald, Illustrated by Marsha Gray Carrington
from Atheneum
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Oversized History Books (Location: HISW-OVER)
$16.99
Sequoyah: The Cherokee Man Who Gave His People Writing
by James Rumford, translated into Cherokee by Anna Sixkiller Huckaby
from Houghton Mifflin
for Preschool-2nd grade
2005 Robert F. Sibert Honor Book
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$6.40 (1 in stock)
Skyrockets for the President
by Florence Laughlin, illustrated by George Roth
Stated First Printing from Rand McNally
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$16.00 (1 in stock)
So Tall Within
by Gary D. Schmidt, Illustrated by Daniel Minter
from Roaring Brook Press
for Preschool-3rd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$16.14
Sparky & Spike
by Barbara Lowell, illustrated by Dan Andreasen
from Harry N. Abrams, Inc.
Picture Biography for Preschool-3rd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$14.41 $8.00 (1 in stock)
Story of Old Glory
by Albert I. Mayer
from Children's Press
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Cornerstones of Freedom (Location: VIN-CORN)
Story of Old Ironsides
by Norman Richards
from Children's Press
for Preschool- 3rd Grade
in Cornerstones of Freedom (Location: VIN-CORN)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Story of the Flight at Kitty Hawk
by Len W. Meents, R. Conrad Stein
from Children's Press
for Preschool-3rd Grade
in Cornerstones of Freedom (Location: VIN-CORN)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Take the Lead, George Washington
by Judith St. George, illustrated by Daniel Powers
from Philomel Books
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$6.40 (1 in stock)
Thomas Jefferson
by James Cross Giblin
from Scholastic Inc.
for Preschool-3rd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Time to Keep
by Tasha Tudor
Reissue from Simon and Schuster
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Oversized Picture Books (Location: PIC-OVER)
$16.99
Tomfoolery
by Michelle Markel; illustrated by Barbara McClintock
from Chronicle Books
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$18.99
Tutankhamun
by Demi
from Marshall Cavendish Education
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$5.60 (1 in stock)
Two Very Little Sisters
by Carol Carrick, illustrated by Erika Weihs
from Clarion Books
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Very First Christians
by Paul L. Maier
from Concordia Publishing House
in Church History for Kids (Location: XCH-KID)
$7.60 (1 in stock)
Wanda Gag: The Girl Who Lived to Draw
by Deborah Kogan Ray
from Viking Press
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$5.60 (1 in stock)
Wangari's Trees of Peace
by Jeanette Winter
1st edition from HMH Books for Young Readers
for Preschool-1st grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
When Washington Crossed the Delaware
by Lynne Cheney
from Simon & Schuster Macmillan
for Preschool-3rd grade
in American Revolution (1765-1783) (Location: HISA-18REV)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Yankee Doodle
by Gary Chalk
from DK Publishing
for Preschool-3rd grade
in American Revolution (1765-1783) (Location: HISA-18REV)
$3.20 (1 in stock)
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