This list covers a wide variety of ages and genres. All were recommended by Catholic homeschoolers, but parents should be aware that there are different opinions regarding the choosing of books within the Catholic homeschool world. Please help us fill in the gaps by sharing additional suggestions in the comment box.
Alabama
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee (high school)
Alaska
Balto, the Bravest Dog Ever
The Call of the Wild by Jack London (also Canada)
This Old House by Joanne Wild
Water Sky by Jean Craighead George
Arizona
Brighty of the Grand Canyon by Marguerite Henry
We Live in the Southwest by Lois Lenski
Arkansas
Cotton in My Sack by Lois Lenski
California
By the Great Horn Spoon by Paul Fleischman
The Red Pony by John Steinbeck
Mama's Bank Account by Kathryn Forbes
Vallejo and the Four Flags by Esther J. Comstock
Blue Willow by Doris Gates
Grandfather's Journey by Allen Say (picture book) also covers Japan
The Journal of Ben Uchida: Citizen 13559, Mirror Lake Internment Camp by Barry Denenberg
The Song of the Swallows by Leo Politi
Wait for Me, Life of Father Junipero Serra Sister Mary Helen Wallace, FSP
Westward the Bells (biography of Junipero Serra) Marion F. Sullivan
California Missions edited by Ralph B. Wright
The Decoration of the California Missions Norman Neuerburg
Saints of the California Missions by Norman Neuerburg
San Francisco Boy by Lois Lenski
Patty Reed's Doll by Rachel Laurgaard
Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O'Dell
The Story of The Pony Express by R. Conrad Stein
The Miner Was a Bishop The Pioneer Years of Patrick Manogue William Breault S.J.
Winter of Entrapment A New Look at the Donner Party Joseph A. King
Colorado
Beany Malone series by Lenora Mattingly Weber
Little Britches by Ralph Moody
The Home Ranch by Ralph Moody
Connecticut
26 Fairmount Avenue Series by Tomie de Paola
The Courage of Sarah Noble by Alice Dalgliesh
Flight into Spring by Bianca Bradbury
Rabbit Hill by Robert Lawson
The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare
Delaware
Florida
The Cross in the Sand by Michael Gannon
Secret Agents Four by Donald Sobol
Strawberry by Lois Lenski
The Yearling by Marjorie Rawlings
Georgia
The Hundred Penny Box by Sharon Bell Mathis
Hawaii
Father Damien and the Bells by Arthur and Elizabeth Sheehan
The Quiet Light: Mother Marianne of Molokai by Eva K. Betz (Catholic Treasury Series)
Idaho
Year Walk Ann Nolan Clark
Bonanza Girl Patricia Beatty
Louly Carol Ryrie Brink
Illinois
From Slave to Priest: A Biography of Reverend Augustine Tolton, First Black American Priest of the United States by Sister Caroline Hemesath (high school)
Molly American Girl Stories
Indiana
Turn Homeward, Hannalee Patricia Beatty (also Georgia )
Floating House Scott Sanders (also Ohio ) – picture book
Laddie, Freckles, Girl of the Limberlost by Gene Porter Stratton
Iowa
Kansas
Climbing Kansas Mountains by George Shannon (picture book)
Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder
Kentucky
The Happy Little Family and the rest of the Fairchild Family Series by Rebecca Caudill
Louisiana
Bayou Suzette by Lois Lenski
The Louisiana Purchase (Landmark)
Mother Cabrini: Missionary to the World by Frances Parkinson Keyes
Maine
Blueberries for Sal by Robert McCloskey
Calico Bush by Rachel Field
One Morning in Maine by Robert McCloskey
The Secret of Pooduck Island by Alfred Noyes
The Sign of the Beaver by Elizabeth George Speare
Time of Wonder by Robert McCloskey
The Sea Chest by Toni Buzzeo
L is for Lobster by Cynthia Furlong Reynolds
Keep the Lights Burning Abbie by Peter Roop and Connie Roop
Birdie's Lighthouse by Deborah Hopkinson
Miss Rumphius by Barbara Cooney
Island Boy by Barbara Cooney
A Penny for a Hundred Ethel Pochocki
Maryland
Charles Carroll and the American Revolution by Milton Lomask
Mother Seton and the Sisters of Charity (Vision)
The Story of the Star Spangled Banner, (Cornerstones of Freedom) by
Natalie Miller
Kate Finds A Friend, a Mother Seton Story by Joan Stromberg
Captain Kate by Carolyn Reeder
Massachusetts
Amos Fortune, Free Man by Elizabeth Yates (also New Hampshire)
And then What Happened, Paul Revere? by Jean Fritz
Johnny Tremain by Esther Forbes
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
Make Way for Ducklings by Robert McCloskey
The Wild Horses of Sweetbriar by Natalie Kinsey-Warnock
Invincible Louisa by Cornelia Meigs
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
Puritan Adventure by Lois Lenski
Carry On, Mr. Bowditch Jean Lee Latham
Downright Dency Caroline Snedeker
"The Charlotte Years" Little House Books by Melissa Wiley
Michigan
Thomas Edison: Young Inventor by Sue Guthridge (CFA)
We Live in the North by Lois Lenski
Minnesota
Betsy-Tacy Series by Maud Hart Lovelace
Kirsten American Girl Stories
On the Banks of Plum Creek by Laura Ingalls Wilder
Mississippi
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry Mildred D. Taylor
Let the Circle be Unbroken Mildred D. Taylor
Missouri
Katie John Series by Mary Calhoun
Little House on Rocky Ridge by Roger Lea MacBride
Little Farm in the Ozarks by Roger Lea MacBride
In the Land of the Big Red Apple by Roger Lea MacBride
Montana
San Domingo: the Medicine Hat Stallion Marguerite Henry
To Yellowstone : A Journey Home Robert McKinnon
Nebraska
A Lantern in Her Hand by Bess Streeter Aldrich
Nevada
Mustang, Wild Spirit of the West by Marguerite Henry
New Hampshire
The Devil and Daniel Webster by Stephen Vincent Benet
George the Drummer Boy by Nathaniel Benchley
The Great Stone Face by Nathaniel Hawthorne
New Jersey
Cheaper by the Dozen by Gilbreth
The Edison Mystery by Dan Gutman
Time Enough for Drums by Ann Rinaldi
The Story of Baseball by Lawrence A. Ritter
Abigail Takes the Wheel by Avi
The First Air Voyage in the United States: the story of Jean Pierre Blauchard by Alexandra Wallner
New Jersey Timeline: a chronology by Marsh
Priest on Horseback by Eva K Betz
Woodrow Wilson, 28th President of the U.S. by Collen
The Village: Life in Colonial Times by Knight
New Mexico
Death Comes for the Archbishop by Willa Cather (high school)
Josefina American Girl Stories
Tree in the Trail by Holling Clancy Holling
We Live in the Southwest by Lois Lenski
New York
Bully for You, Teddy Roosevelt by Jean Fritz
The Deerslayer by James Fenimore Cooper
Farmer Boy by Laura Ingalls Wilder
High-Rise Secret by Lois Lenski
Karen by Marie Killilea
St. Isaac and the Indians
The Moffats by Eleanor Estes
New York City
The Copper Lady by Alice Rosee and Kent Ross
Lou Gehrig: One of Baseball's Greatest by Guernsey Van Riper
The Saturdays by Elizabeth Enright
In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson by Bette Bao Lord
All-of-a-Kind Family by Sydney Taylor
From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E.L. Konigsburg
The Little Red Lighthouse and the Great Gray Bridge by Hildegard H. Swift and
Lynd Ward (picture book)
Samantha American Girl Stories
Shadow of the Bear and Black as Night by Regina Doman
The Story of the Statue of Liberty (Cornerstones of Freedom Series)
Lily and Miss Liberty
The Orphans Find a Home: A St. Frances Xavier Cabrini Story by Joan Stromberg
A Cricket in Times' Square
North Carolina
Blue Ridge Billy by Lois Lenski
They Loved to Laugh Kathryn Worth
North Dakota
Ohio
Homer Price and Centerberg Tales by Robert McCloskey
Kit American Girl Stories
Lentil by Robert McCloskey (picture book)
Oklahoma
Boom Town Boy by Lois Lenski
Where the Red Fern Grows Wilson Rawls
Oregon
Emily's Runaway Imagination by Beverly Cleary
To Be a Logger by Lois Lenski
Year of the Black Pony
Pennsylvania
Addy American Girl Stories
The Amazing Life of Benjamin Franklin by James Cross Giblin
The Battle of Gettysburg by Bruce Catton
Ben Franklin of Old Philadelphia (Landmark).
Brady by Jean Fritz
The Cabin Faced West by Jean Fritz
Gettysburg by MacKinlay Kantor
Katie: The Young Life of St. Katherine Drexel by Claire Mohun Jordan
Killer Angels by Michael Shaara (high school)
The Many Lives of Benjamin Franklin by Mary Pope Osborne
Miracles on Maple Hill by Virginia Sorenson
A Picture Book of Benjamin Franklin by David A. Adler
The Riddle of Penncroft Farm by Dorothea Jensen
Shh! We're Writing the Constitution by Jean Fritz
Shoo-fly Girl by Lois Lenski
Silver for General Washington by Enid Lamonte Meadowcroft
The Skippack School by Marguerite de Angeli
The Story of the Declaration of Independence by N. Richards
The Story of William Pennby Aliki
Thee Hannah! by Marguerite de Angeli
Thunder at Gettysburg by Patricia Gauch
What’s the Big Idea, Ben Franklin? by Jean Fritz
The Winter at Valley Forge by VanWyck Mason
Rhode Island
South Carolina
The Swamp Fox of the Revolution by Stewart H. Holbrook (Landmark)
South Dakota
Prairie School by Lois Lenski
Little Sioux Girl by Lois Lenski
By the Shores of Silver Lake by Laura Ingalls Wilder
The Long Winter by Laura Ingalls Wilder
Little Town on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder
Old Sam: Dakota Trotter by Don Alonzo Taylor
These Happy Golden Years by Laura Ingalls Wilder
The First Four Years by Laura Ingalls Wilder
Tennessee
Daniel's Duck by Clyde Robert Bulla (easy reader)
The Rag Coat by Lauren Mills
White Bird by Clyde Robert Bulla
Texas
Old Yeller by Fred Gipson
Savage Sam by Fred Gipson
Texas Tomboy by Lois Lenski
Wilderness Pioneer by Carol Hoff
The Wind Blows Free
Utah
The Great Brain by John Fitzgerald
Vermont
Justin Morgan Had a Horse by Marguerite Henry
The Trapp Family Singers by Maria Augusta Trapp
Understood Betsy by Dorothy Canfield Fisher
Virginia
Felicity American Girl Stories
George Washington by Ingri and Edgar Parin D'Aulaire
The Story of George Washington
Misty by Marguerite Henry
Sea Star, Orphan of Chincoteague by Marguerite Henry
Washington State
Young Mac of Fort Vancouver by Mary Jane Carr
Washington D.C.
The Mitchells: Five for Victory by Hilda Van Stockum
West Virginia
The Rag Coat by Lauren Mills (picture book)
Coal Camp Girl by Lois Lenski
When I Was Young in the Mountains by Cynthia Rylant (picture book)
Wisconsin
First Farm in the Valley: Anna's Story by Anne Pellowski and others in the Polish American Girls Series
Caddie Woodlawn and Magical Melons by Carol Ryrie Brink
Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder
Rascal by Sterling North
Father Marquette and the Great Rivers by August Derleth (also Illinois, Michigan et al.)
Wyoming
My Friend Flicka by Mary O'Hara
17 comments:
Wilderness Pioneer by Stephen F. Austin takes place in Texas.
Johnny Tremain by Esther Forbes takes place in Massachusetts.
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain takes place in Mississippi.
My Friend Flicka by Mary O'Hara takes place in Wyoming.
Terrific! Thank you for the suggestions!
Oops, I just realized that I wrote Wilderness Pioneer was by Stephen F. Austin. It is actually about him. The book is by Carol Hoff
New York: The Matchlock Gun, by Walter D. Edmonds
Conneticut: Flood Friday, by Lois Lenski
Cailfornia: By the Great Horn Spoon by Paul Fleischman
Tennessee: White Bird, by Clyde Robert Bulla
Nebraska: My Antonia by Willa Cather
How about some Ecce Homo books. Their Glory of America series is so good:
Orphans Find a Home; New York
Kat Finds a Friend: Maryland
Willy Finds Victory: Virginia
Thomas Finds a Treasure: New York
Iron Spy: Pennsylvania
Jose Finds the King: Mexico
All are by Joan Stromberg except Jose Finds a King which is by Ann Ball.
And then there are few Bethlehem books I didn't see:
Kentucky: Becky Landers, Frontier Warrior by Constance Lindsay Skinner
Maine: A Penny for a Hundred by Ethel Pochacki
Massachusetts: Downright Dency by Caroline Dale Snedeker
North Carolina: They Loved to Laugh by Kathryn Worth
North Dakota: Old Sam, Dakota Trotter by Don Alonzo Taylor
Oregon: Year of the Black Pony by Walt Morey
Texas: The Wind Blows Free by Loula Grace Erdman
Being a Michigander, I have to add some Michigan books:
These are picture books, so I'm not sure if they belong:
M is for Mitten: A Michigan Alphabet by Annie Appleford
The Legend of Mackinac Island, The Legend of the Sleeping Bear, and The Legend of the Loon, all by Kathy Jo Wargin -- these are really good and the illustrations lovely.
Paddle to the Sea by Holling C. Holling
These two should be used with caution, but good . . .
Bud Not Buddy by Christopher Curtis
The Watxons go to Birmingham also by Christopher Curtis (also Alabama)
Absolutely picture books belong! I love picture books. Eventually I'd like to sort them out like the Mexico list to delineate which ones are picture books, which ones are for high school, etc.
Okay, just a few more and I'm done. For a while at least :-)
Delaware: Cornstalks and Cannonballs by Barbara Mitchell
Florida: Because of Winn Dixie by Kate DiCamillo
Idaho: Potato: A Tale From the Great Depression by Kate Lied
Illinois: Anything about Lincoln
Indiana: Anything about Johnny Appleseed
Kentucy: Just about anything on Daniel Boone
Mississippi: Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred Taylor
Missouri (my other "home": Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain.
Any books about Mark Twain or George Washington Carver.
North Carolina: Meet Add: An American Girl by Connie Porter
Wright Brothers by Russel Freedman
Oklahoma: Where the Red Fern Grows by Winston Rawls
South Dakota: A Boy Called Slow: A True Story of Sitting Bull by Joseph Bruchac
Texas: Holes by Louis Sachar
Vermont: Snowflake Bentley by Jacqueline Martin
Virginia: Bridge to Teribithia by Katherine Paterson
Wyoming: My Friend Flicka by Mary O'Hara
Legend of the Indian Paintbrush by Tomie DePoala
Yes, it would be good Alicia to code them. A P for picture book or H for High school or something like that.
I just wanted to say that as an atheist, I didn't have a problem with most of your list. It's very good with alot of good suggestions (you had said it was mostly compiled by Catholic homeschoolers and that influenced some of the choices is why I say that).
This is a great idea and thank you for posting it. I also think it's great that you suggested With of Blackbird Pond. I've known some Christian and Catholic groups who ban it just for the title alone.
Very nice job!!
Thanks to everyone for all of your great contributions!
Jo, I'm glad you liked the list too (and I really liked the book you mention!). I think there are an awful lot of worthwhile books out there that everyone can appreciate and gain perspective from. :)
I'll be printing all of these lists up to get them all organized and sorted during an upcoming road trip. Don't be afraid to keep adding suggestions here, though.
Montana: The Trumpet of the Swan by EB White
I would love to send you a copy of my book HEALING WATER (2008) which commemorates the lives of leprosy patients and celebrates Father Damien's legacy on the Kalaupapa peninsula of Molokai, HI.
There are professional reviews at Barnes and Noble's website and reader reviews on Amazon.
For more info about me follow links through my blogspot.
Post a Comment