Fortune Cookies for Everyone!: The Surprising Story of the Tasty Treat We Love to EatMia Wenjen, illustrated by Collen Kong-SavageA grandmother's claim about the inventor of the fortune cookie launches an investigation into the treat's disputed California origins, immigrant bakers, and enduring cultural history.Kindergarten to Fifth GradeView book detailsNCSS/CBC Notable Social Studies Trade Books for Young People 2026
Social studies books selected each year by NCSS and the Children's Book Council.
2026 Notable Social Studies Trade Books for Young PeopleSee the original list
Selections138
Published byNational Council for the Social Studies
Sections7 sections
Browse sections7 sections
Kindergarten to Fifth Grade
19 of 24 selections on this pageContinued from page 1
Fortune Cookies for Everyone!: The Surprising Story of the Tasty Treat We Love to EatMia Wenjen, illustrated by Collen Kong-SavageA grandmother's claim about the inventor of the fortune cookie launches an investigation into the treat's disputed California origins, immigrant bakers, and enduring cultural history.Kindergarten to Fifth GradeView book details
Fred FlipsFrederick Richard with Ryan G. Van Cleave, illustrated by Darcie OlleyGymnast Frederick Richard faces bullying and the feeling of standing out as a Black boy in gymnastics, then learns to treat his differences as a source of confidence and strength.Kindergarten to Fifth GradeView book details
The Gift of EidShifa Saltagi Safadi, illustrated by Aaliya JaleelWith Baba gone, Yasmine doesn’t have enough money to buy Mama’s Eid gift and can’t think of anything she wants for herself when Mama asks. While Mama’s haggling with the baker, she gets an idea.Kindergarten to Fifth GradeView book details
Grandmother MoonWunneanatsu Lamb-Cason, illustrated by Trisha B. WatersOn weekly rides to the reservation, a Native girl listens as her grandmother shares teachings about Grandmother Moon, family, and their Indigenous community.Kindergarten to Fifth GradeView book details
Hopeful Heroes: More Poems about Amazing LatinosMargarita EnglePoems introduce lesser-known Latino figures from across history, honoring artists, scientists, activists, athletes, and leaders whose resilience strengthened their communities.Kindergarten to Fifth GradeView book details
The House on the CanalThomas Harding, illustrated by Britta TeckentrupAn Amsterdam canal house narrates four centuries of inhabitants and change, including the period when it hid Anne Frank.Kindergarten to Fifth GradeATOS 4.5AR interest Middle Grades (MG 4-8)View book details
How the U.S. Government Works: A Kid's Guide to CivicsSyl Sobel J.D.This civics primer explains the origins of the U.S. federal system, the roles of the executive, legislative, and judicial branches, and how democracy affects everyday life.Kindergarten to Fifth GradeLexile 840LView book details
I Love Salmon and LampreysBrook Thompson, illustrated by Anastasia KhmelevskaBrook Thompson connects her Yurok and Karuk upbringing with the Native-led campaign to remove four Klamath River dams, restore fish habitat, and pursue environmental justice.Kindergarten to Fifth GradeView book details
A Line Can Go AnywhereCaroline McAlister, illustrated by Jamie GreenRuth Asawa turns the lines she observes in nature and in a wartime incarceration camp into an innovative life of drawing, teaching, and wire sculpture.Kindergarten to Fifth GradeView book details
Love Your NeighborChris Singleton with Ryan G. Van Cleave, illustrated by Jayri GomezThis picture book asks children to think broadly about who counts as a neighbor and shows how including, defending, respecting, and apologizing can express care for others.Kindergarten to Fifth GradeView book details
Muzoon: From Refugee to LeaderMuzoon Almellehan, illustrated by Asma EnayehThis early-reader biography follows Muzoon Almellehan from her childhood in Syria and displacement as a refugee to her work advocating for education and the rights of girls and women as a UNICEF goodwill ambassador.Kindergarten to Fifth GradeView book details
Nainai's MountainLivia Blackburne, illustrated by Joey ChouA Taiwanese-American girl is nervous about visiting Taiwan— until her paternal grandmother, her Nainai, takes her on a mountain-climbing adventure and shows her its wonders. Traveling from California to Taiwan for the first time, even with her parents and her Nainai around her, is a lot for a little girl to take in.Kindergarten to Fifth GradeView book details
Oh No! Chinese School!Crystal Murakami, illustrated by Jon Kenzo OkeyaCrystal resents attending Chinese school every Saturday until her bilingual skills help a new classmate who is being bullied. The experience changes how she sees learning Chinese.Kindergarten to Fifth GradeView book details
The Peanut ManCarmen Agra DeedyThe story of a Cuban refugee and her joy in an unexpected encounter that connects her beloved home in Havana with her new home in AtlantaEach evening Coqui waits for the familiar cry of the Peanut Man—"¡Mani!Kindergarten to Fifth GradeView book details
Rap It Up!Carole Boston Weatherford & Jeffery Boston Weatherford, illustrated by Ernel MartinezA narrator guides readers from writing words on a page to performing rhymes on a microphone, introducing the emotions, literary techniques, structures, and motifs used in rap.Kindergarten to Fifth GradeView book details
Rise Up!: 25 Powerful Protests in American HistoryRachel C. Katz, illustrated by Sophie BassThis nonfiction picture book presents 25 moments of protest and resistance in United States history, from the Boston Tea Party to the Capitol Crawl. A timeline, map, and background notes provide additional context.Kindergarten to Fifth GradeView book details
Ruby Bridges: A Talk with My TeacherRuby Bridges, illustrated by Trudy TranRuby Bridges recalls the first-grade teacher who taught her when she integrated William Frantz Elementary School. The story follows their separation and eventual reunion.Kindergarten to Fifth GradeView book details
To Walk the Sky: How Iroquois Steelworkers Helped Build Towering CitiesPatricia Morris Buckley, illustrated by E.B. LewisHigh above the ground, generation after generation, Native workers called skywalkers have sculpted city skylines, balancing on narrow beams, facing down terrifying heights and heartbreaking loss.Kindergarten to Fifth GradeView book details
What Color Is the Baby? A Celebration of Skin TonesHarshini Vankineni, illustrated by Neha RawatWhen relatives focus on the skin tone of Kundana’s newborn sister, Kundana questions why color should determine how the baby is seen. She finds her own way to describe and defend the sister she loves.Kindergarten to Fifth GradeView book detailsThird to Fifth Grade
24 selections
At Last She Stood: How Joey Guerrero Spied, Survived, and Fought for FreedomErin Entrada KellyDuring World War II, Josefina “Joey” Guerrero uses her freedom of movement and extraordinary courage to carry intelligence for the Philippine resistance.Third to Fifth GradeATOS 7.3AR interest Middle Grades (MG 4-8)View book details
Dedushka: Memories of My Grandpa and UkraineKaterina Spaeth, illustrated by Katerina SpaethBrief memories of a 1990s childhood in Kharkiv recall the practical lessons, small adventures, and deep affection a Ukrainian grandfather shared with his granddaughter.Third to Fifth GradeView book details
Dig!Ruth Hatfield, illustrated by Sophia WattsA hands-on introduction to archaeology explains how researchers excavate sites, examine artifacts, and combine evidence to uncover stories about people who lived in the past.Third to Fifth GradeView book details
Dreams to Ashes: The 1871 Los Angeles Chinatown MassacreLivia BlackburneThis picture-book account introduces Chinese immigrants in nineteenth-century Los Angeles and recounts the anti-Chinese violence of 1871, when a mob killed eighteen Chinese men.Third to Fifth GradeView book details
Faye and the Dangerous Journey: An Ojibwe Removal Survival StoryKim Sigafus, illustrated by Soia Di Chiara ManettiIn 1850, Faye and her Ojibwe family make a dangerous journey to Sandy Lake for an annuity payment that never arrives, confronting hunger, illness, and forced removal.Third to Fifth GradeLexile 660LView book details
A Flea For Justice: Marian Wright Edelman Stands Up for ChangeValerie Bolling, illustrated by TeMika GroomsThis picture-book biography follows Marian Wright Edelman from childhood encounters with injustice to a life advocating for civil rights and children.Third to Fifth GradeLexile 690LView book details
The Friendship Train: A True Story of Helping and Healing after World War IIDebbie Levy, illustrated by Boris KulikovAfter World War II, American children and families load the Friendship Train with food for hungry people across Europe.Third to Fifth GradeView book details
George Washington's Spectacular Spectacles: The Glasses That Saved AmericaSelene Castrovilla, illustrated by Jenn HarneyAt the Newburgh crisis, George Washington's unexpected use of reading glasses helps calm angry officers and defuse a confrontation that threatened the young United States.Third to Fifth GradeLexile 530LView book details
Hiding in Plain Sight: Kate Warne and the Race to Save Abraham LincolnBeth Anderson, illustrated by Sally Wern ComportDetective Kate Warne uncovers a plot to assassinate president-elect Abraham Lincoln and uses disguises, false names, and careful planning to help him reach Washington safely.Third to Fifth GradeView book details
If You Were a Kid at the March on WashingtonAaron Talley and Josh Gregory, illustrated by Ana LateseThrough fictional young marchers Eugene and Lori, this illustrated history introduces the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom and the children who joined the movement.Third to Fifth GradeLexile 750LView book details
Jella Lepman and Her Library of Dreams: The Woman Who Rescued a Generation of Children and Founded the World's Largest Children's LibraryKatherine PatersonThe true story of how one visionary woman used children’s books to help heal a generation of Germany’s children after WWII and went on to set up the International Youth Library and International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY).Third to Fifth GradeView book details
Lady of the Lines: How Maria Reiche Saved the Nazca Lines by Sweeping the DesertMichaela MacCollIn 1941, scientist Maria Reiche began studying and sweeping sand from Peru’s Nazca Lines. Her research and advocacy helped protect the ancient geoglyphs from destruction and contributed to their later recognition as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.Third to Fifth GradeView book details
Leyendas/Legends: 60 Latine People Who Changed the WorldMónica Mancillas, illustrated by Isadora ZeferinoThis collective biography introduces 60 Latine artists, engineers, activists, athletes, and other figures whose work changed their communities and fields.Third to Fifth GradeView book details
The Library in the WoodsCalvin Alexander RamseyWinner of the Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award A Coretta Scott King Author Honor BookCenter for the Study of Multicultural Children's Literature Best Books of the YearAfter a storm devastates the farm his parents have been renting, Junior moves with his family to Roxboro, North Carolina.Third to Fifth GradeView book details
Make Good TroubleJamia Wilson, illustrated by Devon Blow and Ashley LukashevskyThis illustrated nonfiction collection recounts more than 70 protest movements, from the 1899 newsboys’ strike to climate strikes and campaigns against book bans. It also offers dates, a glossary, and practical guidance for young activists.Third to Fifth GradeView book details
Max in the Land of LiesAdam GidwitzBritish-trained young spy Max Bretzfeld returns to Nazi Berlin with two missions: infiltrate the Funkhaus propaganda center and find his missing parents. Surveillance and conflicting loyalties blur the line between truth and deception.Third to Fifth GradeLexile 660LFountas & Pinnell YView book details
One Girl's Voice: How Lucy Stone Helped Change the Law of the LandVivian KirkfieldNonfiction Silver Honor Award (California Reading Association)A Bank Street Best BookSuffragist and abolitionist Lucy Stone, a pioneer in the 19th century’s two greatest movements for equality, finds her voice in this STEAM picture book for budding activists.Lucy Stone grew up in a world where men’s voices rang out, but women swallowed their words.Third to Fifth GradeView book details
Returning the Sword: How a Japanese Sword of War Became a Symbol of Friendship and PeaceCaren StelsonIn 1945, just after the end of World War II, Captain Orval Amdahl brought home a Japanese sword as a souvenir of war. Sixty-eight years later, he gave it back.Third to Fifth GradeView book details
The Sandy Lake Tragedy: Following in the Footsteps of the OjibweEmily Faith JohnsonIn 1850, about 5,000 Ojibwe people were forced to travel for treaty payments that never arrived. More than 400 died on the winter journey home, an event remembered as the Sandy Lake Tragedy or Ojibwe Trail of Tears.Third to Fifth GradeView book details
She Persisted: Kamala HarrisRaakhee Mirchandani with introduction by Chelsea Clinton, illustrated by Alexandra Boiger and Jessica W. ClarkThis chapter-book biography follows Kamala Harris from childhood community organizing to work as a lawyer and senator and her election as the first woman vice president of the United States.Third to Fifth GradeView book details
The Spy in the Museum: How Rose Valland Saved Art from the NazisErin McGuireDuring the Nazi occupation of Paris, museum worker Rose Valland secretly used her knowledge of German to record where stolen artworks were being sent. Her intelligence helped recover thousands of works after the war.Third to Fifth GradeView book details
This Skirt Won't WorkJennifer Cooper, illustrated by Eva ByrneHistorical examples show how women athletes challenged impractical dress expectations and changed clothing so they could participate more freely in sports.Third to Fifth GradeView book details
Where Are the Women?: The Girl Scouts' Campaign for the First Statue of Women in Central ParkJanice Hechter, illustrated by Janice HechterWhen a group of New York City Girl Scouts learn in 2016 that there are no statues of women in Central Park, they organize and combine forces in a quest to change that shocking fact.Third to Fifth GradeLexile 810LView book details
Who Discovered How to Breathe Underwater?: Jacques CousteauNed Wolfe, illustrated by Caroline HuThis STEM graphic biography follows French naval officer Jacques Cousteau’s work developing technology that allowed divers to breathe underwater and transformed modern ocean exploration.Third to Fifth GradeView book detailsThird to Eighth Grade
12 selections
El NiñoPam Muñoz RyanSwimmer Kai Sosa is still grieving his missing sister when a strange library book begins echoing through his life, drawing him into a storm where myth, memory, and reality collide.Third to Eighth GradeLexile 740LATOS 5.3View book details
Fight for the Right to Read: Samuel Wilbert Tucker and the 1939 Sit-Down Strike for Library Reading EqualityJeff Gottesfeld and Michelle Y. Green, illustrated by Kim HoltIn 1939, lawyer Samuel Wilbert Tucker organizes a peaceful sit-in at a segregated Virginia library and begins a long legal fight for equal access to public reading spaces.Third to Eighth GradeView book details
It's About Time!: Big Ideas That Changed the World #6 (A Nonfiction Graphic Novel)Don Brown, illustrated by Don BrownWith Albert Einstein as guide, this graphic nonfiction book explores how people have measured time, from ancient monuments and sundials to watches, standardized time, and atomic clocks.Third to Eighth GradeLexile GN940LView book details
The Lost Women of ScienceMelina Gerosa Bellows and Katie Hafner, illustrated by Karyn LeeDrawn from the Lost Women of Science podcast, this collection profiles ten women scientists whose lives and contributions were overlooked or omitted from conventional histories.Third to Eighth GradeView book details
One Wrong StepJennifer A. NielsenTwelve-year-old Atlas Wade joins his father on an expedition to climb the still-unconquered Mount Everest. After an avalanche strands the team, Atlas, Maddie, and the injured Sherpa Chodak climb into danger to search for survivors while fearing a Nazi spy.Third to Eighth GradeATOS 4.8View book details
Outsider Kids: A Parachute Kids Graphic Novel (Parachute Kids #2)Betty C. Tang, illustrated by Betty C. TangThe Lin siblings have built a fragile life in California while their parents await visas in Taiwan. Their stability is threatened when their privileged cousin Josephine arrives, disrupting their routines and increasing the risk of attracting immigration authorities.Third to Eighth GradeView book details
Putin vs Zelensky: The Russo-Ukranian WarBen ThompsonThis nonfiction overview traces the history of Ukraine and the events leading to Russia’s full-scale invasion, using the backgrounds and leadership of Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelensky as its organizing framework.Third to Eighth GradeView book details
Refugee: The Graphic NovelAlan Gratz, illustrated by Syd FiniThis graphic novel interweaves the journeys of Josef, fleeing Nazi Germany in the 1930s; Isabel, leaving Cuba by raft in 1994; and Mahmoud, escaping Syria in 2015. Although separated by time and place, their searches for safety become connected.Third to Eighth GradeView book details
A Sea of Lemon TreesMaría Dolores ÁguilaA Sea of Lemon Trees is a 2025 children's novel in free verse about Roberto Alvarez and the Lemon Grove Incident, in which a Mexican American community successfully challenged school segregation in 1930s California.Third to Eighth GradeLexile 800LATOS 5.1View book details
Under Attack (Kidnapped From Ukraine #1)Marsha Forchuk SkrypuchWhen Russia attacks Mariupol in February 2022, twelve-year-old twins Rada and Dariia are separated along with their parents. Dariia is sent to live with a Russian family while the sisters struggle to survive and reunite.Third to Eighth GradeView book details
Vanished: Seven Women Magicians Who Simply DisappearedAnna Hays, illustrated by Mary Kate McDevittThis illustrated history profiles seven women magicians who became internationally known for mind reading, levitation, escapes, and other stage illusions before fading from the historical record.Third to Eighth GradeView book details
Where Only Storms GrowAlyssa ColmanIt’s been four years since rain fell on the Oklahoma panhandle and the closeness between the Stanton twins has dried up as much as the land. Howe Stanton has been practicing running away and longs for the family to quit this land of dust where only troubles grow.Third to Eighth GradeView book detailsSixth to Eighth Grade
5 of 13 selections on this pageContinues on page 3
Allyship as Action: 7 Ways to Advocate for OthersTanya Boteju, illustrated by Bithi SutradharSeven practical approaches and realistic scenarios help young readers understand privilege, avoid performative allyship, learn from mistakes, and act in support of others.Sixth to Eighth GradeLexile 970LView book details
Black Girl Power: 15 Stories Celebrating Black GirlhoodLeah Johnson (editor)Fifteen stories and poems by Black women writers celebrate the imagination, friendship, courage, joy, and everyday power of Black girlhood.Sixth to Eighth GradeView book details
A Dangerous Idea: The Scopes Trial, the Original Fight over Science in SchoolsDebbie LevyA Dangerous Idea recounts the 1925 Scopes trial and explains how a Tennessee classroom dispute over teaching evolution became a national argument about science, education, and public policy.Sixth to Eighth GradeView book details
The Daughter of Auschwitz: The Girl Who Lived to Tell Her StoryTova FriedmanIn this adaptation of her memoir, Tova Friedman recounts being sent to a Nazi labor camp at age five, surviving Auschwitz with her parents, and witnessing the Holocaust as one of the camp’s youngest survivors.Sixth to Eighth GradeView book details
Fighter in the Woods: The True Story of a Jewish Girl who Joined the Partisans in World War IIJoshua M. GreeneBased on Celia Kassow's testimony, this account follows a Jewish girl who survives ghettos and forced labor in Nazi-occupied Poland, escapes into the forest, and joins Soviet partisans.Sixth to Eighth GradeView book details