Each year the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) selects a theme that proudly displays our nation's traditions, ancestry, and identity. This collection of books is fondly called the We The People Bookshelf. The Bookshelf advocates understanding through literature for young readers from kindergarten to high school.
The NEH then awards the Bookshelf to schools and libraries that have applied for the grant. The Harker Heights Public Library was awarded with the 2009 Bookshelf Picturing America and is using the books to promote the importance of art and ideals in our nation's history.
Kindergarten to Grade 3
Walt Whitman: Words for America by Barbara Kerley
Cosechando esperanza: La Historia de César Chávez by Kathleen Krull (translated by Alma Flor Ada and F. Isabel Campoy)
Harvesting Hope: The Story of Cesar Chavez by Kathleen Krull
The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Sweet Music in Harlem by Debbie Taylor
Grades 4 to 6
The Birchbark House by Louise Erdrich
American Tall Tales by Mary Pope Osborne
On the Wings of Heroes by Richard Peck
Forty Acres and Maybe a Mule by Harriette Gillem Robinet
The Captain's Dog: My Journey with the Lewis and Clark Tribe by Roland Smith
Grades 7 to 8
The Life and Death of Crazy Horse by Russell Freedman
La Leyenda de Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving (translated by Manuel Broncano)
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving
Across America on an Emigrant Train by Jim Murphy
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
Grades 9 to 12
Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation by Joseph J. Ellis
Restless Spirit: The Life and Work of Dorothea Lange by Elizabeth Partridge
Travels with Charley in Search of America by John Steinbeck
Viajes con Charley - En Busca de América by John Steinbeck (translated by José Manuel Alvarez Flórez)
Democracy in America by Alexis de Tocqueville
Bonus books for readers of all ages:
Our White House: Looking In, Looking Out by The National Children's Book and Literacy Alliance
1776: The Illustrated Edition by David McCullough
