Kansas is bored, sitting in the middle of the country, so all the states switch places. Minnesota lakes visit the Grand Canyon, Alabama peanuts go hiking in Rocky Mountains, but Alaska is crowded by other states and waves are ruining Arizona's hairdo. Wisecracking states and humorous illustrations! (Picture book)

Also, The Scrambled States of America + CD

Izzy Roybal comes to New Mexico to stay with her grandmother in a rustic village. She finds herself in a place suffused with color and enchantment, where the wind whispers secrets and she learns to make tortillas round like the sun. (Chapter book)

Take a family trip with Sienna, to discover her African American heritage – Amistad slave ship in New Haven, the streets of Harlem, a black-doll museum in Philadelphia, historic sites in Washington, DC, and more. Sienna's scrapbook is chock-full of hand-written entries, lively illustrations and historical photographs – an inspiration for your own road trip. (Picture book)

Babar, Celeste and the family take a grand tour of the United States – sightseeing in New York City, hiking in the West, riding the cable cars in San Francisco, visiting the Grand Canyon, kayaking in Florida, standing at the Cloud Gate in Chicago, and more! (Picture book)

A visual guide to the American Revolution – battles and leaders, soldiers, spies and traitors, battlefields and the home front, peace and birth of a nation. Rich, historical illustrations. (Picture book)

John, Paul, George & Ben
Lane Smith

Never a dull moment when the Founding Fathers were kids – bold John Hancock, noisy Paul Revere, honest George Washington, clever Ben Franklin, and independent Thomas Jefferson. They wanted a revolution, and the rest is history. Humorous, delightful illustrations. (Picture book)

Patience Wright was an accomplished wax sculptor, who created true-to-life portraits of Ben Franklin and the king and queen of England. She was also a spy during the American Revolution, hiding secret messages in her wax sculptures. An exciting story, beautifully illustrated. (Picture book)

Planning a trip to visit the Revolutionary War battlefields? This is the place to start – a box with info about all the battles, plus plans, maps, a flag, currency, and other memorabilia. Great for older kids. (Activity pack)

Ste-e-e-e-eamboat Comin'!
Jill Esbaum, Adam Rex

A sleepy town along the Mississippi River comes to life when the steamboat arrives. Passengers push down the gangplank, barrels, foods and farm animals are unloaded, news spreads fast, but when the whistle blows, it's time to wave farewell. Bygone days in colorful paintings and rhymes. (Picture book)

Travel with young Abe Lincoln down the mighty Mississippi River, piloting his flat boat filled with cargo down to New Orleans. And along the way, Lincoln finds himself on his own voyage of discovery. Good for older kids. (Illustrated chapter book)

Glorious telling of an old folktale that African people could fly. Long ago in Africa, they say that people could soar like shining blackbirds in the sky. Enslaved and sent from Africa, their wings are lost, but an old man calls the magic, and "Say they flew away to Free-dom." Spellbinding illustrations. (Picture book)

Pictorial history of the Civil War – battles east and west, camp life, soldiers and generals, war timeline, plus 21 activities, make a quilt, create a code, berry ink, coffee can drum, homemade hardtack, and more. Wonderful historical photographs (Chapter book)

Wild and wonderful adventures of America’s westward expansion – Indians, mountain men, pioneers, miners, cowboys, immigrants, filled with amazing tales of boom and bust (no one ever said life would be easy out west). Super illustrations, fresh stories, thoughtful insights with a light touch, this is fun for kids and parents alike. (Chapter book)

Disguised as boys, sisters Sallie and Maude March ride west to Missouri, looking for their long-lost uncle. Newspapers report that Maude leads a gang of bank robbers, but it's just the two sisters, trying to avoid mountain lions, treacherous snows, and real desperados. A fun, wild west read. (Chapter book)

Spooked by a thunderstorm, a young girl rides with the village horses. In the hidden hills, she meets the wild horses, led by a magnificent stallion, who welcomes her to live with them. A vibrant, spirited tale with bold illustrations, like Native American art. (Picture book)

Summer, 1914. Fourteen year old Eleanor (Peewee) McGrath dreams of being an auto mechanic in her brother's garage in rural Indiana, but all that changes when four young ladies take over the never-used library, and Eleanor finishes in the Hendricks County car race. Full of wonderful characters, this is a gem! (Chapter book)

Three kids, a mystery, and one tattered baseball with a hole in the center. To earn money to save the family fortunes, the kids play on a baseball team traveling around the country, but when they hold that baseball, strange things happen ... (Chapter book)

More Sluggers adventures and the magic of baseball with Horsin' Around, Great Balls of Fire, and Water, Water Everywhere, Blastin' the Blues, and the finale, Home of the Brave.

With a spooky baseball card, young Joe travels back in time to 1932, where he meets Babe Ruth. It's the Depression, but food is cheap, it's game three of the World Series, and Babe Ruth is the home run king of baseball. (Chapter book)

More baseball card adventures: Jackie & Me

Absolutely charming biography of Mark Twain, seen through the eyes of his daughter Susy. Here's Mark Twain at home, writing by day and reading pages to his family at night, riding a balky donkey, making jokes and discussing deep questions. (Picture book)

For an excellent chapter book biography of Mark Twain: The Trouble Begins at 8

Louis Armstrong was too poor to have a real trumpet, but he had a tin horn. And music was everywhere in the streets of New Orleans, jazz, blues, ragtime. This is the story of how Louis got his first real horn, when he was just a boy with a dream. (Easy reader)

Discover the wideness and wonder of deserts and canyons through the eyes of painter Georgia O'Keefe. Deep-colored cut paper collages capture the artist's imagination and amazing landscapes that inspired her work. (Picture book)

Monday on the Mississippi
Marilyn Singer, Frané Lessac

A fascinating trip down the Mississippi River today, starting as a stream in Minnesota, the river flows south, past old men sitting on the levee in Iowa, by the great Arch in St. Louis, under wide bridges, to the delta in Louisiana, where the river ends and the sea begins. Illustrated in a charming folk-art style. (Picture book)

The national parks from A to Z, in quick rhymes and fun facts, with richly detailed illustrations. Fifty national parks, from Acadia in Maine, to petrified forests, gushing geysers, bat-filled caves, and Zion in Utah. (Picture book)

Also, a wonderful introduction to wild animals of the national parks: Antelope, Bison, Cougar

Go with Jeff Corwin to see animals in four different habitats – Monterey on the California coast, Yellowstone National Park, the Sonoran desert in Arizona and the Florida Everglades. (Picture books)

Check out all the dinosaurs that lived 70 million years ago the United States – Stegosarus and Triceratops in Colorado, duck-billed dinosaurs in New Jersey, velociraptor-like dinosaurs in Utah, Jurassic giants in Wyoming, armored dinosaurs in Texas, plus where to see dinosaur fossils. Fabulous illustrations (Picture books)

Wacky facts about all 50 states, plus humorous questions and answers (Why is this state so moooooody?), state capital word search, interstate scramble, colorful maps and more. Illustrated like a scrapbook, this is lots of fun. (Activity book)

In Gee's Bend, Alabama, generations of women have stitched up quilts, sewed, talked, sang and laughed, for as long as anyone can remember. Each piece tells a story. (Picture book)