The Time Machine A Reading Trip through America's History
	The summer after my third grade year, my mom was taking classes once again at the local university, and once again our family was unable to go on a "real" vacation.  This year we decided to do a different kind of traveling.  Our family took a trip through time -- a journey through American History.  Here is a list of the picture books and easy readers (I have a five year old sister) we read. If you would like to read some novels, check out our historical fiction page and look under the time period you are interested.  You will also find some great books on the biography and hip history pages if you are interested in the history of our country or the world. So settle back and take a trip through time in your very own time machine -- a book!
		Discovery and Exploration The Discovery of the Americas by Betsy and Giulio Maestro Columbus by Ingri and Edgar Parin D'Aulaire Where Do You Think You're Going, Christopher Columbus? by Jean Fritz Encounter by Jane Yolen If You Were There in 1492 by Barbara Brenner Colonization and Colonial Life The Double Life of Pocahontas by Jean Fritz Across the Wide Dark Sea: The Mayflower Journey by Jean Van Leeuwen On the Mayflower by Kate Waters Who's That Stepping on Pymouth Rock? by Jean Fritz The Pilgrims of Plymouth by Marcia Sewall Squanto's Journey by Joseph Bruchac Sarah Morton's Day by Kate Waters Samuel Eaton's Day by Kate Waters Tapenum's Day by Kate Waters Three Young Pilgrims by Cheryl Harness The Story of William Penn by Aliki If You Lived in Colonial Times by Ann McGovern The Revolution What's the Big Idea, Ben Franklin? by Jean Fritz Where Was Patrick Henry on the 29th of May? by Jean Fritz The Boston Tea Party by Steven Kroll Can't You Make Them Behave, King George? by Jean Fritz Sleds on Boston Common by Louise Borden Revolutionary War on Wednesday by Mary Pope Osborne (a Magic Tree House Book) The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (two versions one illustrated by Ted Rand, the other Christopher Bing) And Then What Happened, Paul Revere? by Jean Fritz Why Don't You Get a Horse, Sam Adams? by Jean Fritz Will You Sign Here, John Hancock? by Jean Fritz Mary Geddy's Day by Jean Fritz Sybil's Night Ride by Karen B. Winnick (Paul Revere wasn't the only night rider in the Revolution!) George Washington by Cheryl Harness George Washington: A Picture Book Biography by James Giblin Crossing the Delaware by Louise Peacock Young John Quincy by Cheryl Harness Molly Bannaky by Alice McGill The Young United States A More Perfect Union: The Story of Our Constitution by Betsy and Giulio Maestro Shh! We're Writing the Constitution by Jean Fritz Aurora Means Dawn by Scott Russell Sanders Warm as Wool by Scott Russell Sanders Lewis and Clark by Steven Kroll Thomas Jefferson: A Picture Book Biography by James Giblin Dear Benjamin Banneker by Andrea Davis Pinkney The War of 1812 By the Dawn's Early Light by Steven Kroll The Erie Canal (completed 1824) The Erie Canal by Peter Spier The Amazing Impossible Erie Canal by Cheryl Harness Remember the Alamo (1836) Susanna of the Alamo by John Jakes Voices of the Alamo by Sherry Garland Gold Rush! (1849) Gold Fever by Verla Kay Nine for California by Sonia Levitn Boomtown by Sonia Levitin Taking Charge by Sonia Levitin Westward Expansion The Way West: Journal of a Pioneer Woman by Amelia Stewart Knight, illustrated by Michael McCurdy Slavery Follow the Drinking Gourd by Jeanette Winter Who Owns the Sun? by Stacey Chobosky Sweet Clara and the Freedom Quilt by Deborah Hopkinson Minty: A Story of Young Harriet Tubman by Alan Shroeder The Pony Express (1860) The Sweetwater Run by Andrew Glass They're Off! The Story of the Pony Express by Cheryl Harness The Civil War Honest Abe by Edith Kunhardt Civil War on Sunday by Mary Pope Osborne (A Magic Tree House Book) Cecil's Story by George Ella Lyon Pink and Say by Patricia Polacco (note: this book is not for young children -- best for 3rd grade and up) Reconstruction and Recovery The Promise Quilt by Candice Ransom The Ten Mile Day by Mary Ann Fraser The Late 1800's Stickeen by John Muir Train to Somewhere by Eve Bunting The Titanic Sinks (1912) The Heroine of the Titanic by Joan Blos Polar the Titanic Bear Tonight on the Titanic by Mary Pope Osborne (A MagicTree House Book) World War I Waiting for the Evening Star by Rosemary Wells In Flanders Fields by Casey Over There by Staton Rabin The Great Flu Epidemic (1918) Marvin of the Great North Woods by Kathryn Lasky Women's Suffrage The Ballot Box Battle by Emily Arnold McCully So You Want Women to Vote, Lizzie Stanton? by Jean Fritz The Great Depression Uncle Jed's Barbershop by Margaree Mitchell The Dust Bowl Angels in the Dust by Margot Raven Leah's Pony by Elizabeth Friedrich Dust for Dinner by Ann Turner Coal Mining/Company Towns The Rag Coat by Lauren Mills In Coal Country by Judith Hendershot World War II All the Secrets of the World by Jane Yolen The Farm Summer 1942 by Donald Hall Baseball Saved Us by Ken Mochizuki The Race for Space One Giant Leap by Don Brown The Civil Rights Movement If a Bus Could Talk by Faith Ringgold The Story of Ruby Bridges by Robert Coles