Learning American History Through Picture Books (FINAL Part)

Two years ago I was on a mission to learn American History through picture books, and I am thrilled to say that we did it! It’s been hard work getting here in regards to research, but we have all enjoyed the process – I have learned more American History than I ever did in my own schooling, and my kids have actually enjoyed each and every history lesson we’ve learned together.

In the beginning of this project, as I researched different picture books for specific topics, I always ran into the same problem – there were so many! Which one should I read? Which one would give me the best information to teach the topic? The more and more books I found, the more I wanted to stream line the idea and make it much simpler. That is exactly how Learning American History through Picture Books came to be.

As you journey through the timeline of American History, a picture book will take you through each event, and all the books are chosen for you – one book per topic. (We’re focusing on quality over quantity here, and I’m so excited about it!) I’ve organized them all into a simple book list making it easy for you to follow along, check out books from the library, and plan for simple history lessons.

Starting as early as the Viking explorers in Unit 1, this curriculum will take you all the way through current times. To learn more about this curriculum and the different units, start HERE.

It’s bittersweet to come to the end of this since it’s been a big project of mine for the last couple years. My kids and I have learned so much, and we have had a blast doing it.

This newest unit will cover the time period after World War II through current times. You will touch on topics like the Cold War, the space race, the Vietnam war, 9/11, and so much more! Specifically this unit ends about the year 2003, as the last book in the main book list covers the invasion of Iraq in that same year.

The following is a breakdown of each unit and the time period it covers:

Unit 1 – Explorers through the Treaty of Paris (1000-1783)

Unit 2 – Constitution through Civil War (1787-1865)

Unit 3 – Reconstruction through World War II (1865-1945)

Unit 4 – Post World War II through Current Times (1945-2003)

You can also purchase all of the units as a bundle for a discounted price.

The favorite books listed above are the types of stories that walked us through history. They are unforgettable! Each picture book beats a textbook paragraph any day of the week! You can find ALL our favorite American History books in my Amazon store front HERE.

Each of these units comes with a list of videos to enrich the learning of certain stories. Not every book is connected to a video, but sometimes I felt like some background information was helpful. Or, at other times, the video might fill in a gap from one story to the other. The following is the direct link to each video listed in part 4. For more information on each of these videos, you’ll want to check out the descriptions in the curriculum.

Cold War by Christian Palacios (Video Length – 4:31) 

The Korean War: 5 Things to Know | History by HISTORY (Video Length – 3:54)

Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” Speech | History by HISTORY (Video Length – 4:57)

Vietnam War Simplified!  By Maomaw (Video Length – 4:33)

Apollo 11: Landing on the Moon by NASA (Video Length – 2:36)

A soldier’s account of the beginning of Operation Iraqi Freedom (Video Length – 2:43)

Finally, I’d like to share a link to my Pinterest board that contains the coloring pages we used to help us record our narrations. This is an optional part of the curriculum, but it’s such a simple task that I enjoy so much. The narration process is amazing to me, and I love looking back and reading their words of how they remember each story. It’s the perfect little product of learning to hang on to.

Pinterest Board – American History Part 4

There are many wonderful books on each of these topics. I’ve chosen ones that I felt were especially engaging and well-suited for this approach, but they are not the only options.

If you can’t find a specific title, simply look for another book that covers a similar topic. It will still serve your purpose well.

Let this be a guide—not a set of rigid rules. Pick and choose the books you want to read. It’s OK if you don’t read all of them. The goal is to learn, enjoy the process, and build a meaningful understanding of history together.

As a heads up, some books may be a bit longer than your average picture book. My advice would be to split it up into a couple days to keep everyone’s attention and really get the most out of the story.

If you’d like a printable book list to stay organized and check books off as your read them, you can get that at the bottom of this post.

Honestly, I have no idea (ha!) Here’s the thing…I have poured my heart into this over the last two years. I am so passionate about what it is and how much better it is than any kind of history textbook you will ever buy. With that being said, I am having such a hard time trying to decide what we will do next as a family. I don’t want to let this style of learning go!

I am in prayer about this, because I don’t want to give up reading picture books…EVER! However, I am in a busier season of life that makes it tricky to create and research. I also feel a pull to focus on science for a bit because I feel like a slacker in that subject! My point is – something is brewing…I just can’t pin it down quite yet.

You’ll probably never stop hearing about picture books from me – I use them in almost all of our subjects. So, I hope you’ll stay tuned for what’s to come…even if that’s not clear to me just yet. Although deep down, I know a textbook won’t cut it for me. 😉

(EDIT – It’s been a few months of prayer, reading, and writing…and I’m back with more literature-based curricula! See below)

For the last few years, my children and I have created a novel-based language arts program that is family-style and enriched with great literature each week. I’m so excited to share a NEW guides with you on how we do this in our home. If you’re tired of an all-in-one language arts workbook or if you’re itching for a great novel to read aloud to your kids, you’ve got to try this method!

Novel Guides

You can watch multiple videos about this method of Language Arts on my YouTube Channel HERE