Between the first shaky winter at Jamestown and the summer the Constitution was signed lies one of the most eventful stretches of American history: 180 years of ocean crossings, log houses, harvest feasts, witch trials, apprenticeships, tea in the harbor, and finally a war that turned thirteen colonies into a country. Children meet it best up close—a Pilgrim girl's chore list, a silversmith's ruined hand, a printer's boy running a message through Boston on a December night in 1773.
Our editors combed a collection of 286 books to build a shortlist that covers the whole arc: settlement and survival, everyday colonial life, the arguments that became a revolution, and the founders who wrote the country into existence. You will find Newbery classics, photo-illustrated day-in-the-life books, funny picture-book histories, and first-rate nonfiction. Start with the favorites below, then browse the picture-book and chapter-book shelves—or follow a reader straight to the Revolutionary War, the Pilgrims, or Benjamin Franklin.
A Boston apprentice loses the hand that was going to make him famous—and gains a front-row seat at the birth of a nation.
A sunny Barbados girl lands in gray Puritan Connecticut in 1687 and befriends the old woman the town calls a witch.
Five troublemaking lads named John, Paul, George, Ben—and Tom—grow up to cause the largest trouble of all.
An eleven-year-old London street thief is shipped to Virginia in 1607 as page to Captain John Smith.
What did you eat, where did you sleep, and how bad did it smell on a ship carrying 102 people for 66 days?
Left alone to guard a Maine cabin in 1768, a boy loses his rifle—and owes his survival to the Penobscot family next door.
Follow one Pilgrim girl from the cold dark before dawn to the last chore of the night, in 1627 Plymouth.
December 16, 1773: a printer's errand boy runs through Boston, and thirteen tradespeople tell you what they think of the king's tea.
Swim fins, bifocals, the lightning rod, the public library—one man is still improving your day.
Fifty-five men nail the windows shut in a Philadelphia summer and argue their way to a country.
In 1692 Salem, a few girls' strange fits end with twenty neighbors dead and a colony asking what it had done.
Yellow fever empties Philadelphia in 1793, and the young nation's capital is left to doctors who have no idea what is killing people.
Mayflower voyages, first harvests, hornbooks and candle-making, and founders behaving badly, for listeners ages 4–9.
A biography of George Washington's life, highlighting his love for animals and his role in the American Revolution.
Two patriots attempt to simplify English spelling, facing unexpected challenges.
Two patriots' rivalry leads to a historic duel.
A daring Christmas night gamble could change the fate of a nation.
Discover the untold story of the first Thanksgiving through the eyes of the Wampanoag tribe.
Discover how curiosity shaped Benjamin Franklin's legacy in science and independence.
A daring woman leads a secret militia to defy British rule.
A student uncovers her family's hidden past, revealing a legacy of resilience and hope from 1619.
Discover how Jefferson's book obsession rebuilt the Library of Congress.
A quest for mammoth bones challenges a French insult to America's strength.
Discover how a fearless leader shaped a nation and inspired generations.
In war-torn Philadelphia, a young girl becomes a spy, risking everything for freedom.
Settlements, frontier winters, witch trials, spies, and the fight for independence for independent readers ages 7–11.
A young girl must navigate a treacherous journey to deliver a secret message to a tavern owner in a small town.
A girl fights to rescue a mistreated horse.
A deadly fever engulfs 1793 Philadelphia, forcing a young girl to flee and survive.
A boy becomes a spy amidst pre-Revolutionary War tensions.
A young boy must choose between family loyalty and revolutionary ideals.
Two siblings travel back in time to the Revolutionary War to help a magical librarian save Camelot
A fraudulent artifact threatens an archaeological dig. Can the truth be uncovered?
Witness the 24 hours that ignited the American Revolution.
Time-traveling crew joins the American Revolution, facing danger and discovering heroism.
A history teacher and his talking horse travel to 1765 Boston to witness the American Revolution's beginnings.
A horse's journey reveals its true calling when a friend's life hangs in the balance.
A stolen journal leads kids on a treasure hunt, shadowed by a vengeful figure from their past.
