The "More Perfect Union" Bookshelf Theme

The We the People Bookshelf theme, “A More Perfect Union,” invites reflection on the idea of the United States as a “union,” a “One” as well as a “Many,” and is the literary complement oflibrary programs observing the sesquicentennial of the Civil War in American history and culture.

In spring 2010, NEH and ALA will select 4,000 libraries to receive the 17 books for young readers, as well as bonus materials for readers of all ages, and the option to receive three titles in Spanish translation. Libraries selected will be required to use the Bookshelf selections in programs for young readers in their communities.

The Books and Resources

—Grades K-3—

Tico and the Golden Wings—Leo Lionni (K-3)

In this beautifully illustrated book, a bird comes to know himself and his own worth through selfless acts for others.

[©1964] (Knopf Books for young Readers, 2007)
ISBN-10: 0394817494 / ISBN-13: 978-0394817491

Related Lesson Plans

• Helpful Animals and Compassionate Humans in Folklore
• Aesop and Ananse: Animal Fables and Trickster Tales
• Folktales and Ecology: Animals and Humans in Cooperation and Conflict

Related Websites

• International Children's Digital Library
• Art Safari
• Metropolitan Museum of Art
• National Gallery of Art

When Marian Sang: The True Recital of Marian Anderson—Pam Muñoz Ryan (K-3)

Marian Anderson’s recital at the Lincoln Memorial was a dramatic moment in the nation’s long quest to rise above racial divisions.

Brian Selznik (ill.)
(Scholastic Press, 2002)
ISBN-10: 0439269679 / ISBN-13: 978-0439269674.

Related Lesson Plans

• Dr. King's Dream
• Let Freedom Ring: The Life & Legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr.
• Eleanor Roosevelt and the Rise of Social Reform in the 1930s

Related Websites

• American Experience: Marian Anderson
• History Matters
  • Penn Library Exhibitions; Marian Anderson, A Life in Song
• African American History Month
• Eleanor Roosevelt Papers Project (George Washington University)
• The History of Jim Crow
• National Park Service: Marian Anderson's recital at Lincoln Memorial
• Marian Anderson: The Lincoln Memorial Concert (1939, film)
• PBS The Presidents: FDR

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A More Perfect Union: The Story of Our Constitution—Betsy and Giulio Maestro (K-3)

The authors offer a clear and simple account of why and how thirty-nine
men devised a Constitution that tied thirteen separate states into one United States of America.

(Lothrop Lee & Shepard, 1987)
ISBN-10: 0688068391 / ISBN-13: 978-0688068394

Related Lesson Plans

• The Preamble to the Constitution: How Do You Make a More Perfect Union?
• The First Amendment: What's Fair in a Free Country?
• Balancing Three Branches at Once: Our System of Checks and Balances

Related Reviewed Websites

• Constitution Day
• The Bill of Rights Institute
• Congress for Kids: Learn about the Constitution

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—Grades 4-6—

Cesar: ¡Si, Se Puede! / Yes, We Can!—Carmen T. Bernier-Grand, David Diaz (ill.) (4-6)

The life and times of César Chávez are vividly re-created in this collection of poems. Where most biographies stick to the facts of what a person did, this one also touches on the man's character and values. Children will learn about Chávez, but, more importantly, they will learn the important lessons he taught, and they will be able to apply them to their own lives.

(Marshall Cavendish Children’s Books, 2005)
ISBN-10: 0761451722 / ISBN-13: 978-0761451723

Related Lesson Plans

• Esperanza Rising: Learning Not to Be Afraid to Start Over
• Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Power of Nonviolence

Related Reviewed Websites

• The Fight in the Fields: Cesar Chavez and the Farmworkers’ Struggle
• LANIC
  • Mexican Migration Project
• City/La Ciudad
• History Matters
  • The Cycle of Poverty
  • In the Shadow of Society
  • The Triangle Shirtwaist Fire

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Darby—Jonathon Scott Fuqua (4-6)

It is 1926, and nine-year-old Darby creates a stir in her small South
Carolina town by writing columns for the local newspaper urging whites to treat blacks as equals.

(Candlewick, 2002)
ISBN-10: 0763622907 / ISBN-13: 978-0763622909

Related Lesson Plans

• Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird: Profiles in Courage
• Dr. King's Dream
• Ordinary People, Ordinary Places: The Civil Rights Movement

Related Websites

• The History of Jim Crow

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Eagle Song—Joseph Bruchac (4-6)

Danny Bigtree, fresh from the Mohawk reservation, is taunted by his new Brooklyn schoolmates. The students move toward greater understanding and peace after they learn the story of Hiawatha, the Iroquois Peacemaker.

Related Lesson Plans

• Native American Cultures Across the U.S.
• Anishinabe/Ojibwe/Chippewa: Culture of an Indian Nation
• Not 'Indians,' Many Tribes: Native American Diversity

Related Reviewed Websites

• PBS We Shall Remain (online video)
• Celebrate We Shall Remain for Native American Heritage Month
• Earth Works (University of Cincinnati)
• National Museum of the American Indian
• Native American History
• Raid on Deerfield: The Many Stories of 1704

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The Great Little Madison—Jean Fritz (4-6)

This biography traces the events and ideas that led James Madison
to become a great champion of a strong union and the Father of the Constitution.

(Putnam Juvenile, 1998) [©1989]
ISBN-10: 0399217681 / ISBN-13: 978-0399217685.

Related EDSITEment Lesson Plans

• James Madison: From Father of the Constitution to President

Related Reviewed Websites

• American President: James Madison
• EDSITEment’s Constitution Day minisite
• Congress for Kids: The Constitution
• American Experience: Dolley Madison

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—Grades 7-8—

Chains—Laurie Halse Anderson (7-8)

This fast-paced novel reveals the heartache and struggles of a country and slave fighting for freedom. The characters are well developed, and the situations are realistic. An author's note gives insight into issues surrounding the Revolutionary War and the fight for the nation's freedom even though 20 percent of its people were in chains.

(Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing, 2008)
ISBN-10: 1416905855 / ISBN-13: 978-1416905851

Related EDSITEment Lesson Plans

• After the American Revolution: Free African Americans in the North
• African-American Communities in the North Before the Civil War
• Perspective on the Slave Narrative
• Taking Up Arms and the Challenge of Slavery in the Revolutionary Era

Related Reviewed Websites

• African American History Month
• Africans in America
• African-American Women On-line Archival Collections

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Hitch—Jeanette Ingold (7-8)

Out of work and out of money, Moss Trawnley signs up for a “hitch” in
the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), helping Montana ranchers facing Depression and drought.

(Harcourt Children’s Books, 1st ed., 2006)
ISBN-10: 0152047476 / ISBN-13: 978-0152047474

Related EDSITEment Lesson Plans

• African Americans and the New Deal’s Civilian Conservation Corp
• Dust Bowl Days
• Depression-Era Photographs: Worth a Thousand Words

EDSITEment Spotlight

• America in Hard Times: How We Dealt with Economic Adversity

Related Reviewed Websites

• New Deal Network
• Wessels Living History Farm
  • Farming in the 1930s

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Lincoln Shot. A President’s Life Remembered—Barry Denenberg (7-8)

Noted children’s book biographer Barry Denenberg, award-winning illustrator Christopher Bing, and book designer Rich Deas collaborate on an intimate portrait of Abraham Lincoln. This arresting combination of Bing’s award-wining illustrations, plus archival photography and period typefaces and design is presented as a 19th century newspaper memorial edition.

(Feiwel & Friends, 2008)
ISBN-13: 9780312370138

Related EDSITEment Lesson Plans

• Abraham Lincoln on the American Union: “A Word Fitly Spoken”
  • Fragment on the Constitution and Union (1861)—The Purpose of the American Union
  • The First Inaugural Address (1861)—Defending the American Union
  • The Gettysburg Address (1863)—Defining the American Union
  • The Second Inaugural Address (1865)—Restoring the American Union
• Picture Lincoln
• We Must Not Be Enemies: Lincoln's First Inaugural Address

EDSITEment Spotlight

• Teaching Abraham Lincoln

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Warriors Don’t Cry—Melba Pattillo Beals (7-8)

Melba Beals recounts her experience as one of the “Little Rock Nine,” the group of students who led the way to desegregation.

First choice:
ISBN-10: 0671866389 / ISBN-13: 978-0671866389
Second choice:
ISBN-10: 0671866397 / ISBN-13: 978-0671866396

Related EDSITEment Lesson Plans

• Dr. King's Dream
• Let Freedom Ring: The Life & Legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr.
• Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Power of Nonviolence
• Martin Puryear’s Ladder for Booker T. Washington
• Ordinary People, Ordinary Places: The Civil Rights Movement

Related Reviewed Websites

• The History of Jim Crow

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—Grades 9-12—

American Creation: triumphs and tragedies at the founding of the republic—Joseph Ellis (9-12)

A brilliant examination of the period between the War of Independence and the Louisiana Purchase. Six stories, each centering on a significant creative achievement or failure, combine to portray often flawed men and their efforts to lay the republic's foundation.

(Knopf, 2007)
ISBN-10: 030726369X / ISBN-13: 978-0307263698

Related EDSITEment Lesson Plans

• The American War for Independence
• George Washington: The Living Symbol
• The Declaration of Independence: “An Expression of the American Mind”
• What Made George Washington a Good Military Leader?
• The Native Americans' Role in the American Revolution: Choosing Sides
• The Federalist and Anti-federalist Debates on Diversity and the Extended Republic
• The Constitutional Convention of 1787
• The Sedition Act: Certain Crimes Against the United States
• The First American Party System: U.S. Political Parties: The Principle of Legitimate Opposition

Related Reviewed Websites

• Alexander Hamilton: The Man who Made Modern America
• Jefferson’s Monticello: Thomas Jefferson and the Louisana Purchase
• Teaching American History
  • Founding Era
  • Constitutional Convention
  • The Federalist-Antifederalist Debate
• Louisiana Digital Library
• Louisiana Territory at the time of the Purchase
• American Experience: Alexander Hamilton film

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Killer Angels—Michael Shaara (9-12)

Michael Shaara won the Pulitzer Prize for this riveting and unforgettable novel about the Battle of Gettysburg.

(Ballantine Books, 2001) [Ó 1974]
ISBN-10: 0345444124 / ISBN-13: 978-0345444127

Related EDSITEment Lesson Plans

• The American Civil War: A “Terrible Swift Sword”
  • On the Eve of War: North vs. South
  • The Battles of the Civil War
  • Abraham Lincoln and Wartime Politics
• The Gettysburg Address (1863)—Defining the American Union
• Life in the North and South 1847-1861: Before Brother Fought Brother

Interactives

• Meet the Army Commanders!
• Interactive Map of Military Campaigns of the Civil War

Related Reviewed Websites

• National Park Service, Links to the Past
  • Virtual tour of Gettysburg battlefield
• Valley of the Shadows
• Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers

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Lincoln in His Own Words—Milton Meltzer (9-12)

Historian Milton Melzer contributes context and commentary on the life and times, ideas, and achievements of Lincoln. Otherwise he lets Lincoln speak for himself.

Stephen Alcorn (ill.) (1993)
First choice:
Harcourt; 1st edition (October 1, 1993) ISBN-10: 0152454373 / ISBN-13: 978-0152454371
Second choice:
Sandpiper; Reprint edition (January 1, 2009) ISBN-10: 0152064362 / ISBN-13: 978-0152064365

Related EDSITEment Lesson Plans

• Abraham Lincoln on the American Union: “A Word Fitly Spoken”
  • Fragment on the Constitution and Union (1861)—The Purpose of the American Union
  • The First Inaugural Address (1861)—Defending the American Union
  • The Gettysburg Address (1863)—Defining the American Union
  • The Second Inaugural Address (1865)—Restoring the American Union

EDSITEment Spotlight

• Teaching Abraham Lincoln

Related Reviewed Websites

• The Lincoln Institute: Studies of Abraham Lincoln
• Lincoln/Net
• Teaching American History
  • Abraham Lincoln

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Carver: A Life in Poems—Marilyn Nelson (9-12)

Marilyn Nelson’s lyrical poems, complemented by black and white photographs, speak eloquently about the inspiring life and character of George Washington Carver.

(Front Street imprint of Boyds Mill Press, 1st ed., 2001)
ISBN-10: 1886910537 / ISBN-13: 978-1886910539

Related EDSITEment Lesson Plans

• More Amazing Americans: A WebQuest
• Martin Puryear’s Ladder for Booker T. Washington
• The Battle Over Reconstruction
  • The Battle Over Reconstruction: The Aftermath of Reconstruction

Related Reviewed Websites

• Meet Amazing Americans
  • George Washington Carver

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Twelve Angry Men—Reginald Rose (9-12)

This stage play, recounting the deliberations of a twelve-man jury in a murder case, examines the complexity of justice in a democratic society.

(Penguin Classics, 2006) [written in 1954]
ISBN-10: 0143104403 / ISBN-13: 978-0143104407

Related EDSITEment Lesson Plans

• Twelve Angry Men: Trial by Jury as a Right and as a Political Institution
• Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird: Profiles in Courage
• To Kill A Mockingbird and the Scottsboro Boys Trial: Profiles in Courage

Related Reviewed Websites

• Oyez Project: A Supreme Court Multimedia Database
  • Miranda v. Arizona

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The Souls of Black Folk—W. E. B. DuBois (9-12)

Looking back at Emancipation and its effects, DuBois’s proclamation that “the problem of the Twentieth Century is the problem of the color line” anticipates and advances the civil rights movement.

(Oxford University Press, 2007) [written in 1903]
ISBN-10: 0192806785 / ISBN-13: 978-0192806789

Related EDSITEment Lesson Plans

• African-American Soldiers in World War I: The 92nd and 93rd Divisions
• African-American Soldiers After World War I: Had Race Relations Changed?

Related Reviewed Websites

• African American History Month
• CSpan American Writers: W.E.B. Du Bois
• Harlem 1900-1940: An African-American Community
• The History of Jim Crow

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—Bonus—

The Civil War: A Film by Ken Burns

The Civil War: An Illustrated History—Geoffrey Ward, Ric Burns, Ken Burns (Bonus)

In the acclaimed, best-selling companion volume to the PBS series, text is interwoven with more than 500 illustrations: rare Civil War photographs, paintings, lithographs, and maps in full color.

(DVD set released 2004)
(to be purchased directly at a discount from PBS)

Related EDSITEment Lesson Plans

• The Growing Crisis of Sectionalism in Antebellum America: A House Dividing
• Life in the North and South 1847-1861: Before Brother Fought Brother
• Families in Bondage
• Abraham Lincoln on the American Union: “A Word Fitly Spoken”
• The American Civil War: A “Terrible Swift Sword”
  • On the Eve of War: North vs. South
  • The Battles of the Civil War
  • Abraham Lincoln and Wartime Politics
• The Red Badge of Courage: A New Kind of Courage
• The Emancipation Proclamation: Freedom's First Steps
• Picture Lincoln

Related Reviewed Websites

• National Archives
  
  • Compromise of 1850
  • Kansas-Nebraska Act (1854)
  • Missouri Compromise (1820)
• The Lincoln Institute: Studies of Abraham Lincoln
• Lincoln/Net
• Teaching American History
  • Abraham Lincoln
  • Civil War Era
• HarpWeek
  
  • Lincoln and the Civil War, 1860-1865
• Valley of the Shadow

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Declaring Independence: The Origin and Influence of America’s Founding Document—ed. Christian Y. Dupont (Bonus)

This handsome volume features images and artifacts from the Albert H. Small Declaration of Independence Collection at the University of Virginia, and includes scholarly essays and biographies of the Declaration’s signers.

(University of Virginia Press, 2008)
(to be reprinted and purchased by National Trust for the Humanities)

Related EDSITEment Lesson Plans

• The Declaration of Independence: “An Expression of the American Mind”
• Declare the Causes: The Declaration of Independence
• Common Sense: The Rhetoric of Popular Democracy
• The American War for Independence

Related Reviewed Websites

• Library of Congress: American Memory
  
  • Declaring Independence: Chronology of Events: June 7, 1776 to January 18, 1777
  • Jefferson's "Rough Draft" of the Declaration of Independence
• National Parks Service: Links to the Past
  
  • Bob Blythe, "All Men Are Created Equal": The Power Of An Idea
  • A Multitude of Amendments, Alterations and Additions: The Declaration of Independence
• Internet Public Library
  
  • John Locke's Second Treatise on Government
  • What Was the Declaration of Independence?

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