All US lands have a history and legacy before they were US lands. It is important to acknowledge this ourselves and to convey this to our students. One fantastic source I have found to educate myself and to help pass that information along to students is Tribal Nations Maps. For more information and resources, the National Museum of the American Indian offers amazing resources, educational programming, and webinars. If you are looking at a children's book that includes or is about Native Americans, you can check American Indians in Children's Literature for a professional review of that portrayal as well as advice and book lists.
Nonfiction Picture Books
STEAM
The Girl With a Mind for Math by Julia Finley Mosca, Illustrated by Daniel Rieley
Wonderful STEAM connections.
Code Breaker, Spy Hunter by Laurie Wallmark
You could do all sorts of cool code-breaking activities with this one!
Art and Artists
Maya Lin by Jeanne Walker Harvey, Illustrated by Dow Phumruk
Could this be STEAM? Probably. Monuments are certainly feats of engineering. I guess I always feel torn on whether to be designers and architects in STEAM or Art/ Artists. They are both!
This pairs very well with The Wall, listed below.
Monument Maker by Linda Booth Sweeney, Illustrated by Shawn Fields
Famous People and/ or Events- Nonfiction or Historical Fiction
I Have a Dream by Keery A Graves
For older elementary readers
If the Walls Could Talk by Jane O'Connor, Illustrated by Gary Howland
O Captain, My Captain by Robert Burleigh, Illustrated by Sterling Hundley
For older elementary and junior high readers. I would definitely use this with high schoolers if I were still teaching in the English classroom.
Ghosts of the White House by Cheryl Harness
Next President by Kate Messner and Adam Rex
What were future presidents doing when they were kids?
Carter Reads the Newspaper by Deborah Hopkinson, Illustrated by Don Tate
We March by Shane W Evans
Frederick Douglass: The Lion Who Wrote History by Walter Dean Myers, Illustrated by Floyd Cooper
Books about Landmarks- Fiction and Nonfiction
Looking at Lincoln by Maira Kalman
Pairs nicely with I Am Abraham Lincoln by Brad Meltzer
The Wall by Eve Bunting, Illustrated by Ronald Himler
Beautiful and sad. Helps kids get the meaning of Veterans Day. Pairs very well with Maya Lin above.
The House That George Built by Suzanne Slade, Illustrated by Rebecca Bond
N is for Our Nation's Capital by Marie and Roland Smith, Illustrated by Barbara Leonard Gibson
The White House by Campbell Collison
Nonfiction for older elementary
White House by RJ Bailey
Great for younger readers
This is a whole series and includes other titles like Lincoln Memorial, Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial, Washington Monument, and U.S. Capital.
Fiction Books- Government/ Civic Duty
V is for Voting by Kate Farrell, Illustrated by Caitlin Kuhwald
Vote for Our Future by Margaret McNamara and Micah Player
You Matter by Christian Robinson
Maybe not a traditional choice for civic engagement and government, but this is really what it boils down to for me, personally. You matter. You-- your vote, your opinion, your perspective. It matters.