Living Books for Geography

This is a list of mostly picture books that I used to do a U.S. geography study in first grade.  I used a good U.S. children's atlas to read about each state and look at a map.  The A to Z Geography book would also make a good foundation as it covers lots of geographical terms that would be useful to know (good for memory work, too). 

These books are mostly about some aspect of the state in question.  Some are written by authors from that state.

I'm sorry that I didn't manage to put authors' names with all the books.  I'll try to go back and do that sometime when I get a chance....

A list for world geography follows this one!


Alabama:

A Picture Book of Rosa Parks - Adler
From Plant to Blue Jeans - Hommedieu (re: cotton)
Life on a Plantation - Kalman
Plantations - Stone
Eli Whitney - Alter

Alaska:

Mama Do You Love Me?
A Child's Alaska
Mush!
Circle of Thanks
Akiak

Arizona:

Tuesday in Arizona
Cottonwood Trees - Prevost
Squirrel's Song - Wolkstein
Is My Friend at Home? Bierhorst

Arkansas:

Come Go With Me: Old Time Stories From the Southern Mountains - Thomas (re: Oachita Mountains)

California:

How Far Felipe?
Smoky Night
Condor's Egg
Striking it Rich
Nine for California

Colorado:

Fat Chance Claude
Stones, Bones and Petroglyphs - Goodman
Native Americans and Mesa Verde - Martell

Connecticut:

Solomon Grundy
Warm as Wool (or Ohio?)

Delaware:

The Legend of the Cranberry
The Light in the Forest (books on tape)
Standing in the Light (video)

Florida:

Elizabeth and Larry and Ed
A Visit to Grandma's
St. Augustine (video)
A Kid's Guide to Florida
The Great Pig Search
Freddy Goes to Florida
All Dressed up and Nowhere to Go
My Family Vacation
The Worst Goes South
Beezy

Georgia:

Georgia Music
Peach and Blue - Kilborne
A Confederate Girl - Steele
Mama and Me and the Model T

Hawaii:

The Last Princess: Ka'Iulani - Guzzetti
Haleakalala National Park - Radlander
Hawaii in Words and Pictures - Fradin
The Last Hawaiian Queen - Stanley
The Island Below the Star
Dear Katie, the Volcano is a Girl - George
Punia and the King of Sharks
Luka's Quilt

Idaho:

Mailing May
Wolf: Return of a Legend (video re: Sawtooth Mountains)
One Potato - Porter
Sunday Potatoes, Monday Potatoes - Shiefman
More Potatoes - Belsam
Potato - Watts
The Enormous Potato - Davis
Potato: A Tale From the Great Depression - Leid

Illinois:

The Journey
Joshua's Westward Journal

Indiana:

The Floating House
Story of Johnny Appleseed - Aliki
True Tale of Johnny Appleseed - Hodges
Johnny Appleseed: A Tall Tale - Steven Kellogg
Johnny Appleseed: The Story of a Legend - Will Moses
A Place Called Freedom

Iowa:

Eve and Smithy
Story of Paul Bunyan - Emberly

Kansas:

Wagon Wheels
The Loudest, Fastest, Best Drummer in Kansas
Climbing Kansas Mountains
The Van Gogh Cafe

Kentucky:

Your Best Friend, Kate
Daniel Boone
Just in Time for Christmas
Kentucky Troll: Mysteries Underground (nat. geo. video on Mammoth Cave, et al)
'B' is for Bluegrass
Kentucky in Words and Pictures

Louisiana:

Why Lapin's Ears are Long
All the "Clovis Crawfish" books
Mimi and Jean Paul's Cajun Mardi Gras
Cajun Through and Through
Feydra Leroux: A Cajun Tall-Tale

Maine:

Blueberries for Sal
One Morning in Maine
Miss Rumphius
Grandpappy
Grandmother Bryant's Pocket
Time of Wonder

Maryland:

Molly Bannaky

Massachusetts:

Make Way for Ducklings
Cranberry Thanksgiving
She's Wearing a Dead Bird on her Head
A Picture Book of Paul Revere
Plimoth Plantation (video)
Across the Wide, Dark Sea
Paul Revere's Midnight Ride
Which Way to the Revolution
Letting Swift River Go

Michigan:

Paul Bunyan: How a Terrible Timber Fellar Became a Legend - Rogers
Paul Bunyan Fights the Monster Plants - Blassingame
The Christmas Tree Ship
The Log Cabin Church
Mrs. Mack

Minnesota:

Follow the Stars: A Native American Woodlands Tale - Rodanas
Legend of the Lady Slipper - Lunge-Larsen
Sacred Harvest: Wild Rice - Reggiunti

Mississippi:

Freedom School, Yes!
Oh Lord, I Wish I was a Buzzard
Grandaddy's Gift
Little Toot on the Mississippi

Missouri:

Mark Twain and Huck Finn - Ross
River Boy: The Story of Mark Twain - Anderson
Mark Twain and the Queens of the Mississippi - Harness
Mark Twain? What Kind of Name is That? Quackenbush (what kind of name is *that*?)
Tom Sawyer, Danger in the Graveyard - Richardson
Tom Sawyer Gives up the Brush (video - 30 minutes)
Wagons West!
Fiddlin' Sam Dengler
There Goes Lowell's Party - Hershenhorn

Montana:

Once We Had a Horse

Nebraska:

Dandelions
The Huckabuck Family

Nevada:

Tulip Sees America (covers several states)
Any books on desert life, particularly the Mojave, would work for studying this state. Books on red rock canyonlands would also work.

New Hampshire:

Ox Cart Man (or is this Vermont?)
Lucy's Summer
Sara Whitcher's Story

New Jersey:

The Colony of New Jersey
The 18 Penny Goose

New Mexico:

Josephina books
Spanish and Colonial Santa Fe (video)
Carlos and the Cornfield
Cowboy's Roundup on an American Ranch
Los Posadas: An Hispanic Christmas Celebration
Grandmother's Adobe House

New York:

My New York
How Pizza Came to Queens
Anna, Grandpa and the Big Storm
The Inside-Outside Book of New York City
Liberty
The Story of the Statue of Liberty
Joe and the Skyscraper
Under New York

North Carolina:

Back Home
My Great Aunt Arizona
Mountain Boy
The Colony of North Carolina
The Jack Tales
Grandfather's Land: We are Mountain People - Fitch

North Dakota:

River Friendly, River Wild - Kurtz
Thrashin' Time: Harvest Days in the Dakotas

Ohio:

Aurora Means Dawn
Lentil
(Warm as Wool may fit better here than previously stated state)
Flatboats on the Ohio: Westward Bound

Oklahoma:

I Have Heard of a Land
Angels in the Dust
They Came From the Bronx: How the Buffalo Were Saved

Oregon:

Oregon's Journey
Long Ago in Oregon
Roughing it on the Oregon Trail

Pennsylvania:

Just Plain Fancy
A Humble Life: Plain Poems
The Folks in the Valley
The Egg Tree
The Colony of Pennsylvania
Pioneer Church
Bewildered for Three Days
Punxatawney Phil

Rhode Island:

Finding Providence: The Story of Roger Williams
The Colony of Rhode Island
Loud and Crowing (Rhode Island Red roosters)
Roger Williams and Rhode Island (video)

South Carolina:

Carolina Shout!
The Colony of South Carolina

South Dakota:

Mount Rushmore (two titles)
Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox - Bleeter

Tennessee:

Swamp Angel
Davy Crockett (Rabbit Ears, w/ tape)
Luck with Potatoes (do they grow these in Tennessee?)

Texas:

Legend of the Bluebonnet
Beats Me, Claude
Armadillo Rodeo
Bluebonnet at Dinosaur Valley State Park
Bubba the Cowboy Prince
Susanna of the Alamo
The Inside-Outside Book of Texas
Armadillo from Amarillo
The West Texas Chili Monster
Jalepeno Hal
The Cowboy and the Black-eyed Pea
Fish Fry
Freedom's Gifts: A Juneteenth Story
Ganzy Remembers
Prairie Christmas
A Cowboy Named Ernestine

Utah:

Salt Lake City - Doubleday
Grandfather's Gold Watch

Vermont:

Least of All
The Wonderful Hay Tumble
Red Leaf, Yellow Leaf
Snowflake Bentley

Virginia:

The Relatives Came
When the Whipoorwill Calls
One Christmas Dawn
Appalachia: Voices of Sleeping Birds
The Blue Hill Meadows
Night in the Country
This Year's Garden

Washington:

Island Time
A Horse's Tale

West Virginia:

When I was Young in the Mountains
In November
But I'll be Back Again
Scarecrow
Silver Packages
Waiting to Waltz

Wisconsin:

Giant Ball of String
Dance at Grandpa's
Christmas in the Big Woods
Winter Days in the Big Woods
The Deer in the Wood
Going to Town
Summertime in the Big Woods

Wyoming:

Tonweya and the Eagles - YellowRobe
Lakota Hoop Dancer - LeftHandBull
Inktomi and the Buzzard - Goble
Jack Creek Cowboy

Washington, D.C.:

Capitol: Washington, D.C. From A to Z
The White House
The Wall
Inside-Outside Book of Washington, D.C.

Puerto Rico:

The Outside Dog
Take a Trip to Puerto Rico
Sergio and the Hurricane
Abuelita's Paradise

Virgin Islands:

The Day the Hurricane Happened
Izzard

Pacific Territories:

U.S. Territories and Possessions
Pacific Islands

Here is my World Geography picture book (mostly) list!

I have a book by DK called Children Just Like Me:  Celebrations!  This looks at the way children in different cultures celebrate various holidays.  I also have some cultural atlases that look at peoples from around the world.  I utilized these books, along with one other, to study world cultures in the grammar stage.

I have a book called Children From Australia to Zimbabwe: A Photographic Journey Around the World, by Maya Ajmera and Ana Rhesa Versola.  This book details info. on one country for each letter of the alphabet and lists all other countries in the world that also begin with that letter.  I pulled a list of library books to correlate with each country detailed.

Again, these books are either about some aspect of the country or culture, or were written by a native author (or both).  And again, I did not manage at the time I made the list to put down all authors' names, so sorry about that!

Australia:

Pumpkin Runner, Arnold
Where the Forest Meets the Sea, Baker
Bossy Boots, Cox
Bright Star, Crew
Dial-a-Croc, Dumbleton
Flood Fish, Eversole
Possum Magic, Fox
Big Rain Coming, Germein
Don’t Dig so Deep, Nicholas!  Harrison
Counting by Kangaroos, Hulme
Ernie Dances to the Didgeridoo, Lester
Wombat Goes Walkabout, Morpurgo
Rainforest Children, Pittawpy
Farmer Schulz’s Ducks, Thiele
Snap!  Vaughan
Wombat Stew, Vaughan
Biggest Frog in Australia
Rescuers Down Under – video
A Waltz Through the Hills – video
Old Shell, New Shell, Ward
Old Woman Who Loved to Read, Winch

Brazil:

Count your way through Brazil, Haskins
How Night Came From the Sea, Gerson
Amazon Boy, Lewin
In a Bottle with a Cork on Top, Skurzynski

China:

Ruby’s Wish, Bridges
Story of Kites, Compestine
Visit to China, Packard
Moon Festival, Russell
Chinese New Year, Schaefer
Chinatown, Low
My Chinatown: One Year in Poems, Mak

Dominican Republic:

Dominican Republic – Cobblestone

Ecuador:

Kid’s Discover:  Equator

France:

King’s Day:  Louis XIV of France, Aliki
Giraffe that Walked to Paris, Milton
Joan of Arc: Heroine of France, Tompert
King Tree, French
Boneparte, Chall
Happy Lion, Fatio
Happy Lion in Africa, Fatio
Happy Lion’s Quest
Happy Lion’s Rabbits
Happy Lion’s Treasure
Happy Lion’s Vacation
Three Happy Lions (do all these really have to do with France?)
Jean-Marie at the Fair, Francoise (and other Jean-Marie books)
Inspector Peckit, Freeman
Dinner at Mabritte’s, Garland
Truffle Hunter, Moore
Harry and Lulu, Yorinks

Guatemala:

Mama and Papa have a Store, Carling
Abuela’s Weave, Castaneda
Sleeping Bread: Story, Czernecki
Iguana Beach, Franklin

Hungary:

Song for Lena, Hippely

India:

Heart of a Tiger, Arnold
Story of Little Babaji, Bannerman
Story of Little Black Sambo, Bannerman
Lakshui, the Water Buffalo Who Wouldn’t, Gobhai
Cow for Jaya, Grant
Poombah of Badoombah, Lillegard
Baya, Baya, Lulla-by-a, McDonald
Gay-Neck: Story of a Pidgeon, Mukerji (audio)
Golden Serpent, Myers
Rikki-Tikki – video
Nine Animals and the Well, Rumford

Japan:

Old Man who Made the Trees Bloom, Jijii
Magic Fan, Baker
Crane Girl, Charles
Painter and the Wild Swans, Clement
How My Parents Learned to Eat, Friedman (audio)
Ten Oni Drummers, Gollub
Girl from the Snow Country, Hidaka
Kenji and the Magic Geese, Johnson
Yoshi’s Feast, Kajikawa
Carp for Kimiko, Kroll
Seven Gods of Luck, Kudler
Yoshiko and the Foreigner, Little
Moshi, Moshi, London
Dragon Kite, Luenn
Pair of Red Clogs, Matsuno
Cherry Tree, MacCaughrean
Emperor’s Plum Tree, Nikly
Tea with Milk, Say
Long Silk Strand, Williams

Kenya:

Ndito Runs, Anderson
Family in Kenya, Griffin

Lithuania:

Music of the Soviet Union (Lithuanian folksongs)
Lithuania, Lerner Publications

Mexico:

Mexico ABC’s, Hieman
Hummingbird’s Gift, Czernecki
Manuela’s Gift, Estes
Nine Days to Christmas, Ets
Under the Lemon Moon, Fine
How Nanita Learned to Make Flan, Geeslin
In Rosa’s Mexico, Geeslin
On Ramon’s Farm, Geeslin
Moon was at a Fiesta, Gollub
Twenty-five Mixtec Cats, Gollub
Lorenzo, the Naughty Parrot, Johnston
Day of the Dead, Johnston
Magic Maguey, Johnston
Ghost Wings, Joosse
Piggy Bank Gonzales, Kent
Butterfly Boy, Kroll
Hill of Fire, Lewis (audio)
Blanca’s Feather, Madrigal
Trandi’s Braids, Madrigal
Blue Bug Visits Mexico, Poulet
Today is the Day, Riecken
Mice and Beans, Ryan

Nigeria:

Take a Trip to Nigeria, Lye
Bikes for Rent!  Olaleye
Grandfather’s Work, Onyefulu
Mysterious Gold and Purple Box, Watson
Saying Goodbye, Onyefulu

Oman:

An Arab Family, Dutton

Philippines:

Take a Trip to the Philippines, Oleksy

Qatar:

Qatar, Augustin

Russia:

A Look at Russia, Frost
Babushka Babayaga, Polacco
Philipok, Tolstoy
Little Kim’s Doll, Yaroshevskaya
Three Cheers for Catherine the Great, Best (audio)
Apple Pie and Onions, Caseley
A Piece of Home, Levitin
Trees of the Dancing Goats, Polacco
Uncle Vova’s Tree, Polacco
Dream Jar, Pryor
Twenty-two Russian Tales for Young Children, Tolstoy

Senegal:

In Bikole:  Eight Modern Stories About Life in a West African Village, Gilroy
Senegal in Pictures, Lerner Publications

Turkey:

Take a Trip to Turkey, Lye

United States

Since we’re also doing a more specific US study, I’ve chosen books from all the other “U” countries:

Ukraine:

Ukraine – Cobblestone

Uganda:

Beatrice’s Goat, McBrier (this is about the Heifer Project)

Uruguay:

Uruguay in Pictures, Haverstock

United Kingdom:

The Queen’s Progress: An Elizabethan Alphabet, Davidson
Anno’s Britain, Anno
Country Mouse Cottage: How we Lived 100 Years Ago, Brooks
Town Mouse House: How we Lived 100 Years Ago, Brooks

Vietnam:

Vietnam, Allard
Lotus Seed, Garland
Grandfather’s Dream, Keller
Walking Stick, Trottier

Western Samoa:

Samoans – Cobblestone

Yemen:

Yemen in Pictures, Lerner Publications

Zimbabwe:

Gugu’s House, Stock
Where are You Going, Manyoni?  Stock
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