Regional History

Once upon a time, schoolchildren could be expected to know the name of the mountains separating France from Spain, the location of the Nile River, the capitals of all fifty states, and what and where the Pampas could be found. Now, even adults have a hard time naming the most populous city in the U.S. or the countries of Asia. These are, indeed, sad times, and doomed to become sadder if this geographic ignorance is not turned to knowledge.

Without a firm grasp on geography, how can we expect to know anything about history? History is rooted in a sense of place. Why did the Union troops lose the Battle of Cold Harbor? Because they were attacking Confederate fortifications uphill. And if you don't know anything about the Alps, the fact that Hannibal's army crossed them with elephants won't surprise you near as much as it should. Understanding the physical terrain and the demographics of an area are essential to understanding the history of that region.

Which is why studying history by place is such a good idea. There are cultural considerations, of course, and these can be immensely helpful guides in their own right, but simply looking at the lay of the land so to speak will provide a sense of context more abstract boundaries never can. African history, for instance, makes so much more sense if you know what the continent is like.

Even cultures are influenced by geography. Take the United States: some of the most important advances in transportation technology happened within her borders largely due to necessity. The steam engine train was perfected here, automobiles and airplanes were invented here, and in the last few decades we've led the world in space exploration.

It's not that no one traveled before the 19th and 20th century, or outside the North American continent—it's just that because the new nation was so vast, and there were so many natural barriers (the Mississippi River, the Grand Tetons and Great Smokey Mountains, the Mojave Desert), new forms of getting from here to there were not only a good idea, they were a necessity.

There probably isn't one instance in the history of the world in which geography and events weren't directly tied. Certainly this is true for military history, and exploration, and agriculture, but it's also true of ideas and ideologies. Part of the reason slavery was such an important part of Southern culture in the U.S. was that cotton was an immensely growable crop and only armies of slaves could be counted on to get all the work done; in order to justify the use of forced labor, however, a philosophical ethos was developed.

Other instances may be more obscure, but no less true. In France, the mild climate and fertile country led to a series of approaches to thought that emphasized experience and the pursuit of pleasure for its own sake (particularly existentialism); in ancient Greece, the geographical isolation enforced by mountains and seas allowed democratic polity to emerge among the city states.

Geography and history are pretty much Siamese twins, and academic technology has not advanced to the point where they can be separated without risk of life to both. We've organized the subcategories in this section along pretty standard lines (continents, countries, and the like), but standards arise because they work. Explore a region you're unfamiliar with; you're likely to uncover quite a few surprises.

Review by C. Hollis Crossman
C. Hollis Crossman used to be a child. Now he's a husband and father who loves church, good food, and 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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109 Items found Print
Active Filters: Kindergarten (Ages 5-6), Hardcover, In-Stock Books & Materials
A is for Abigail
by Lynne Cheney
1st edition from Simon and Schuster
for Kindergarten-4th grade
in Biography Anthologies (Location: BIO-ANTH)
$19.99 $10.00 (1 in stock)
America is....
by Louise W. Borden, illustrated by Stacey Schuett
from Margaret K. McElderry Books
for Preschool-2nd grade
in U.S. Monuments & Symbols (Location: HISV-LANUS)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
America the Beautiful
by Katharine Lee Bates, illustrated by Chris Gall
from Little, Brown & Company
for Preschool-2nd grade
in U.S. Monuments & Symbols (Location: HISV-LANUS)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
America's White Table
by Margot Theis Raven, illustrated by Mike Benny
from Sleeping Bear Press
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
America: A Patriotic Primer
by Lynne Cheney
from Simon and Schuster
for Preschool-2nd grade
in American History Reference (Location: HISA-REF)
$5.00 (2 in stock)
America: A Patriotic Primer
by Lynne Cheney
from Scholastic Inc.
for Preschool-2nd grade
in American History Reference (Location: HISA-REF)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Anno's Italy
by Mitsumasa Anno
from Beautiful Feet Books
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$19.95
B is for Beaver
by Marie & Roland Smith, illustrated by Michael Roydon
from Sleeping Bear Press
for nursery-3rd grade
in Alphabet & Counting Books (Location: PIC-ALPH)
$18.99 $8.50 (1 in stock)
B is for Bluegrass
Discover America State-by-State
by Mary Ann McCabe Riehle, illustrated by Wes Burgiss
from Sleeping Bear Press
for nursery-3rd grade
in Alphabet & Counting Books (Location: PIC-ALPH)
$8.50 (1 in stock)
Baba Yaga and Vasilisa the Brave
by written by Marianna Mayer, Illustrated by K. Y. Craft
First Edition from HarperCollins
for Preschool- 3rd Grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$17.99
Bad River Boys
by Virginia Driving Hawk Sneve, illustrated by Bill Farnsworth
from Holiday House
for Kindergarten-2nd grade
in Lewis & Clark Expedition (1801-1803) (Location: HISA-19L&C)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Be a King
by Carole Boston Weatherford
from Bloomsbury Publishing
for Kindergarten-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Benjamin in the Woods
Wonder Books Easy Reader
by Eleanor Clymer, illustrated by William Russell
from Wonder Books
for Kindergarten-2nd grade
in Vintage Readers & Textbooks (Location: VIN-READ)
$5.25 (1 in stock)
Big Red Kangaroo
by Claire Saxby, illustrated by Graham Byrne
from Candlewick Press
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Mammals (Location: SCI-MAM)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Biography of a Rhino
by Alice L. Hopf; illustrated by Kiyo Komoda
from G.P. Putnam's Sons
for Kindergarten-2nd grade
in Vintage Science & Math (Location: VIN-SCI)
$33.00 (1 in stock)
Birds of Killingworth
by Robert D. San Souci, illustrated by Kimberly Bulcken Root
1st edition from Sun Dial Press
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Boxes for Katje
by Candace Fleming
1st edition from Farrar, Straus and Giroux
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$19.99
Bringing in the New Year
by Grace Lin
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
for Preschool-3rd grade
in China (Location: HISMC-CHI)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Bringing the Rain to Kapiti Plain
by Verna Aardema, illustrated by Beatriz Vidal
from Dial Books for Young Readers
for Preschool-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Cassie's Journey
by Brett Harvey; illustrated by Deborah Kogan Ray
from Holiday House
for Kindergarten-2nd grade
in Oregon Trail (Location: HISA-19OR)
$5.00 (2 in stock)
Chinese Mother Goose Rhymes
by Selected and Edited by Robert Wyndham, Illustrated by Ed Young
from Philomel Books
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Mother Goose & Nursery Rhymes (Location: PIC-MG)
$7.50 (1 in stock)
Christopher Columbus
by Elaine Murray Stone
500 Anv from Tyndale House
Biography for Preschool-3rd Grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$4.88 (1 in stock)
Cornstalks and Cannonballs
by Barbara Mitchell
from Carolrhoda Books, Inc.
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Crow Boy
by Taro Yashima
1972 Printing from Viking Press
for Kindergarten-2nd grade
in Oversized Picture Books (Location: PIC-OVER)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Day on Skates
by Hilda van Stockum
from Bethlehem Books
for Nursery-2nd grade
1935 Newbery Honor Book
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$19.95
Diana's White House Garden
by Elisa Carbone, illustrated by Jen Hill
from Viking Books for Young Readers
for Preschool-2nd grade
in WWII: U.S. Homefront (Location: HISA-20WW2H)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Emmanuel's Dream
by Laurie Ann Thompson & Sean Qualls
from Schwartz & Wade
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$18.99 $9.00 (1 in stock)
Enemies of Slavery
from Holiday House
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Biography Anthologies (Location: BIO-ANTH)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Exodus
by Brian Wildsmith
from Eerdmans
Bible Stories for Kindergarten-4th grade
in Oversized Picture Books (Location: PIC-OVER)
$21.00
Fire Stealer
by William Toye; illustrated by Elizabeth Cleaver
from Oxford University
for Kindergarten-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
Firebird and Other Russian Fairy Tales
by Jacqueline Onassis, illustrated by Boris Zvorykin
from Viking Press
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Short Story Anthologies for Kids (Location: FIC-ANTH)
$6.00 (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)
For You Are a Kenyan Child
by Kelly Cunnane
from Atheneum
for Preschool-1st grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Four Feet, Two Sandals
by Karen Lynn Williams, Khadra Mohammed, illustrated by Doug Chayka
1st edition from Eerdmans
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Fry Bread
by Kevin Noble Maillard, illustrated by Juana Martinez-Neal
from Roaring Brook Press
for Kindergarten-2nd grade
2020 Robert F. Sibert Medal winner
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
God’s Very Good Idea
by Trillia Newbell and Catalina Echeverri
from Good Book Company
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Diversity & Multicultural Books (Location: HISMC-MUL)
$16.99
Golden City
by Neil Waldman
from Atheneum
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Near & Middle East (Location: HISMC-NME)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Gonna Sing My Head Off
by Kathleen Krull, illustrated by Allen Garns
First Printing from Scholastic Reference
for Preschool- 3rd Grade
in Music Education & Reference (Location: ELE-MUSREF)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Grandfather's Journey
by Allen Say
from Houghton Mifflin
Realistic Fiction for Kindergarten-2nd grade
1994 Caldecott Medal winner
in Oversized Picture Books (Location: PIC-OVER)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
Grandfather's Journey
by Allen Say
Reprint from Sandpiper Books
Realistic Fiction for Kindergarten-2nd grade
1994 Caldecott Medal winner
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$7.99 $5.00 (1 in stock)
Grandfather's Journey
by Allen Say
from HMH Books for Young Readers
for Kindergarten-2nd grade
in Oversized Picture Books (Location: PIC-OVER)
$17.99
Henry's Freedom Box
by Ellen Levine
from Scholastic Press
for Nursery-1st grade
2008 Caldecott Honor Book
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$18.99
Her Stories
by Virginia Hamilton
1st Ed. from Blue Sky press
for Preschool- 3rd Grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
Herd Boy
by Niki Daly
from Eerdmans
for Kindergarten-4th grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$9.99
Hiawatha and the Peacemaker - Book and CD
by Robbie Robertson, Illustrated by David Shannon
from Abrams Books for Young Readers
for Preschool-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$20.99
Home in the Woods
by Eliza Wheeler
from Nancy Paulsen Books
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$18.99
Hot Air
by Marjorie Priceman
from Atheneum
for Preschool-3rd grade
2006 Caldecott Honor Book
in Oversized Picture Books (Location: PIC-OVER)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
How Grace Got Her Name
by Alice Elshoff, illustrated by Jennifer Curtis
from Moonglade Press
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
If the World Were 100 People
by Jackie McCann, illustrated by Aaron Cushley
from Crown Books for Young Readers
for Kindergarten-6th grade
in Diversity & Multicultural Books (Location: HISMC-MUL)
$17.99
If the World Were a Village
by David J. Smith
1st edition from Kids Can Press
for Kindergarten-4th grade
in Diversity & Multicultural Books (Location: HISMC-MUL)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Inside-Outside Book of London
by Roxie Munro
from E.P. Dutton & Co.
for Preschool-4th grade
in Great Britain / England (Location: HISMC-BRIT)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
John, Paul, George & Ben
by Lane Smith
1st edition from Hyperion/Madison Press
for Preschool-3rd grade
in Biography Anthologies (Location: BIO-ANTH)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
Joke's on George
by Michael O. Tunnell; illustrated by Kathy Osborn
from Tambourine Books
for Preschool-4th grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Kids Book of Canada
by Barbara Greenwood
from Kids Can Press
for Kindergarten-4th grade
in Canada (Location: HISMC-CAN)
$3.50 (2 in stock)
King's Day
by Aliki
from Thomas Y. Crowell & Co.
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$15.00 (1 in stock)
Klondike Gold
by Alice Provensen
from Simon and Schuster
for Kindergarten-2nd grade
in Oversized Picture Books (Location: PIC-OVER)
$5.00 (2 in stock)
Kubla Khan: The Emperor of Everything
by Kathleen Krull, illustrated by Robert Byrd
from Viking Press
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Middle Ages (Location: HISW-MID)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
Last Princess
by Fay Stanley; illustrated by Diane Stanley
from HarperCollins
Picture Book Biographies for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
Little Dragonfly's Quilt
by D. Katharine Adams, illustrated by Beth Pennington Taylor
from Publication Consultants
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Little Humpbacked Horse
by Adapted by Elizabeth Winthrop, Illustrated by Alexander Koshkin
from Clarion Books
for Kindergarten-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$7.50 (1 in stock)
Lon Po Po
by Ed Young
from Philomel Books
for Preschool-3rd grade
Caldecott Medal Winner 1990
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Lost and Found
by Oliver Jeffers
from Philomel Books
for Preschool-1st grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$17.99
Lotus Seed
by Sherry Garland
from HMH Books for Young Readers
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$7.50 (1 in stock)
Magic Brush
by Robert B. Goodman & Robert A. Spicer (adapters), illustrated by Y. T. Mui, edited by Ruth Tabrah
from Island Heritage Publishing
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
Martin Luther King, Jr
by Carol Hilgartner Schlank, Barbara Metzger, illustrated by John Kastner
from Gryphon House
for Kindergarten-2nd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Meet Andrew Jackson
by Ormonde de Kay
from Random House
for Kindergarten-2nd
in Step Up Books (Location: VIN-STEP)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Mei Li
by Thomas Handforth
from Doubleday & Company
1939 Caldecott Medal winner
in Vintage Picture Books (Location: VIN-PIC)
$11.25 (1 in stock)
Misoso
by Verna Aardema
illustrated edition from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
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)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Moses
by Carole Boston Weatherford
1st edition from Hyperion/Madison Press
for Preschool-3rd grade
2007 Caldecott Honor Book
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$18.99
Moving the Millers’ Minnie Moore Mine Mansion
by Dave Eggers, illustrated by Julia Sarda
from Candlewick Press
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Oversized Picture Books (Location: PIC-OVER)
$19.99
My Brothers' Flying Machine
by Jane Yolen
from Little, Brown & Company
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
$4.00 (1 in stock)
N.C. Wyeth's Pilgrims
by Robert D. San Souci
from Chronicle Books
for Kindergarten-5th grade
in Pilgrims at Plymouth (Location: HISA-17PIL)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Not Regina
by Christmas Carol Kauffman
Fourth Printing from Pathway Publishers
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Nya’s Long Walk
by Linda Sue Park, illustrated by Brian Pinkney
from Clarion Books
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$17.99
Old Billy's Enchanted Valley
by Bruce Reardon, author & illustrator
from Mouth and Foot Painting Artists
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
One Morning in Maine
by Robert McCloskey
from Viking Press
Realistic Family Stories for Kindergarten-3rd grade
1953 Caldecott Honor Book
in Oversized Picture Books (Location: PIC-OVER)
$19.99
Other Side
by Jacqueline Woodson
from Putnam Juvenile
for Nursery-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$16.99
Peter the Great
by Diane Stanley
from William Morrow & Company
Biography for Preschool-3rd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Pocahontas: A Little Indian Girl of Jamestown
Tip Top Elf Books
by Frances Cavanah, illustrated by Manning de V. Lee
from Rand McNally
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Vintage Picture Books (Location: VIN-PIC)
$4.50 (1 in stock)
Rare Treasure
by Don Brown
from Houghton Mifflin
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$16.00 (1 in stock)
Rfaud Tastes Wisdom
Plain Proverbs Book #1
by Martin D. Carlson
1st edition from BoCook Publishing
for Preschool-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$16.95
Room for Everyone
by Naaz Khan, illustrated by Merce Lopez
from Atheneum
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$17.99
Safari, So Good!
Cat in the Hat's Learning Library
by Bonnie Worth, illustrated by Aristides Ruiz and Joe Mathieu
from Random House Books for Young Readers
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Cat in the Hat's Learning Library (Location: EAR-CAT)
$4.50 (1 in stock)
Sailing the Unknown
by Michael Rosen, Illustrated by Maria Cristina Pritelli
from Creative Editions
for Kindergarten-2nd grade
in Ships, Boats & Submarines (Location: HISV-SHIP)
$7.50 (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)
$19.99
Snow Princess
by Ruth Sanderson
from Crocodile Books
for Preschool-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$17.95
So Tall Within
by Gary D. Schmidt, Illustrated by Daniel Minter
from Roaring Brook Press
for Preschool-3rd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$18.99
Spiders, Crabs, and Creepy Crawlies
by Kathleen Arnott, illustrated by Bette Davis
from Garrard Publishing Company
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Story of Little Babaji
by Helen Bannerman
from HarperCollins
for Kindergarten-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$19.99
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 Mayflower Compact
from Children's Press
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Cornerstones of Freedom (Location: VIN-CORN)
$5.00 (2 in stock)
Tales of the American West
by Neil & Ting Morris, illustrated by Anna Clarke
from Derrydale Books
for Kindergarten-2nd grade
in Western Expansion (1800-1898) (Location: HISA-19WES)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
This Land Is Your Land
by Woody Guthrie; with painting by Kathy Jakobsen
from Little, Brown & Company
for Kindergarten-5th grade
in U.S. Monuments & Symbols (Location: HISV-LANUS)
$9.00 (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)
Three Little Indians
by Gene S. Stuart, illustrations by Louis S. Glanzman
from National Geographic
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Vintage Nonfiction (Location: VIN-NFIC)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Trail Through Danger
by William O. Steele, illustrated by Charles Beck
from Harcourt, Brace & World
for Kindergarten-5th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$6.00 (2 in stock)
Unfading Beauty
by Tracy M. Leininger
from His Seasons
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Unspeakable
by Carole Boston Weatherford, illustrated by Floyd Cooper
from Carolrhoda Books, Inc.
for Kindergarten-2nd grade
2022 Robert F. Sibert Honor Book
in Civil Rights Movement (1955-1968) (Location: HISA-20CIV)
$17.99
Viola Desmond Won't Be Budged!
by Jody Nyasha Warner, Richard Rudnicki
from Groundwood Books
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Civil Rights Movement (1955-1968) (Location: HISA-20CIV)
$6.50 (1 in stock)
12