Looking Back to Forge a Path Forward
For each Spotlight blog post, the CBC curates a themed selection from recent booklists, helping parents, teachers, librarians, booksellers, and children’s book enthusiasts discover standout titles from our member publishers.
History is a map of triumphs and struggles, shining moments of inspiration and dark periods of prejudice turned policy. As a species, we cannot fully know ourselves without first understanding where we’ve been. A complete history demands we hold space for all of it: the victories worth celebrating and the failures worth reckoning with. The stories we choose to pass on shape not only who we are today, but who we have the courage to become tomorrow. This curated collection of titles, pulled from our 2026 National Social Studies Trade Books Award list, exemplifies unique moments in history—familiar and forgotten, luminous and difficult, uplifting and sobering—but every one of them ours to carry.
Are We There Yet?: The First Road Trip Across the USA, by Stacy McAnulty; illustrated by Elizabeth Baddeley (Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing / Margaret K. McElderry Books) — History, Places / Travel, ages 4-6.
Are You a Friend of Dorothy?: The True Story of an Imaginary Woman and the Real People She Helped, by Kyle Lukoff; illustrated by Levi Hastings (Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing / Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers) — History, LGBTQIA+, Family / Community, ages 4-6.
At Last She Stood: How Joey Guerrero Spied, Survived, and Fought for Freedom, by Erin Entrada Kelly (HarperCollins / Greenwillow Books) — Biography / Memoir, History, ages 7-12.
Bittersweet: Based on the True Tale of the Berlin Candy Bombers, written & illustrated by Christy Mandin (Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing / Margaret K. McElderry Books) — History, Kindness / Generosity, ages 4-6.
A Dangerous Idea: The Scopes Trial, the Original Fight over Science in Schools, by Debbie Levy (Bloomsbury Children’s Books) — History, Science / Nature, Government / Politics / Law, ages 7-12, Teen.
The Daughter of Auschwitz: The Girl Who Lived to Tell Her Story, by Tova Friedman (HarperCollins / Quill Tree Books) — History, Biography / Memoir, ages 7-12, Teen.
Dig!, by Ruth Hatfield; illustrated by Sophia Watts (The Quarto Group / Wide Eyed Editions) — History, Science / Nature, ages 7-12.
Dreams to Ashes: The 1871 Los Angeles Chinatown Massacre, by Livia Blackburne; illustrated by Nicole Xu (Lerner Publishing Group / Carolrhoda Books) — History, Social Activism / Equality / Feminism, Death / Grief / Loss, ages 7-12.
Fight for the Right to Read: Samuel Wilbert Tucker and the 1939 Sit-Down Strike for Library Reading Equality, by Jeff Gottesfeld and Michelle Y. Green; illustrated by Kim Holt (Creston Books) — BIPOC Characters and Creators, History, Cultural Diversity, Government / Politics / Law, ages 4-6, 7-12.
Fighter in the Woods: The True Story of a Jewish Girl who Joined the Partisans in World War II, by Joshua M. Greene (Scholastic Inc. / Scholastic Focus) — History, Biography / Memoir, Religion / Spirituality, Social Activism / Equality / Feminism, ages 7-12, Teen.
The Friendship Train: A True Story of Helping and Healing after World War II, by Debbie Levy; illustrated by Boris Kulikov (Bloomsbury Children’s Books) — History, Construction / Transportation, Kindness / Generosity, ages 7-12.
The History of We, written & illustrated by Nikkolas Smith (Penguin Young Readers / Kokila) — BIPOC Characters and Creators, History, Cultural Diversity, ages 4-6.
How the Word Is Passed (Adapted for Young Readers): Remembering Slavery and How it Shaped America, by Clint Smith, adapted by Sonja Cherry-Paul (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers / Little, Brown) — History, Social Activism / Equality / Feminism, ages 7-12, Teen.
Never Silent: A Hiroshima Survivor’s Story, by Setsuko Thurlow and Kathy Lowinger; illustrated by Michelle Theodore (Annick Press) — Biography / Memoir, Social Activism / Equality / Feminism, History, Cultural Diversity, ages 7-12, Teen.
One Girl’s Voice: How Lucy Stone Helped Change the Law of the Land, by Vivian Kirkfield; illustrated by Rebecca Gibbon (Astra BFYR / Calkins Creek) — History, Biography / Memoir, Government / Politics / Law, Social Activism / Equality / Feminism, ages 4-6.
Oppenheimer and the Atomic Bomb: Young Readers Edition of AMERICAN PROMETHEUS: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer, by Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin, Adapted by Eric S. Singer (Penguin Young Readers / G.P. Putnam’s Sons BFYR) — Biography / Memoir, STEM / STEAM, History, Government / Politics / Law, ages 7-12, Teen.
Returning the Sword: How a Japanese Sword of War Became a Symbol of Friendship and Peace, by Caren Stelson; illustrated by Amanda Yoshida (Lerner Publishing Group / Carolrhoda Books) — Biography / Memoir, History, Cultural Diversity, Friendships, ages 7-12.
The Sandy Lake Tragedy: Following in the Footsteps of the Ojibwe, by Emily Faith Johnson (Capstone / Capstone Press) — History, BIPOC Characters and Creators, Government / Politics / Law, ages 7-12.
The Six Triple Eight: A True Story of the Black Woman Battalion of World War II, by Tonya Abari; illustrated by Lance Evans (HarperCollins) — Biography / Memoir, History, BIPOC Characters and Creators, ages 4-6.
The Spy in the Museum: How Rose Valland Saved Art from the Nazis, written & illustrated by Erin McGuire (Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing / Beach Lane Books) — Biography / Memoir, History, Art / Performing Arts, ages 7-12.
To Walk the Sky: How Iroquois Steelworkers Helped Build Towering Cities, by Patricia Morris Buckley; illustrated by E. B. Lewis (HarperCollins / Heartdrum) — BIPOC Characters and Creators, History, ages 4-6, 7-12.
Where Are the Women?: The Girl Scouts’ Campaign for the First Statue of Women in Central Park, written & illustrated by Janice Hechter (Red Chair Press / Red Chair Press Books for Young Readers) — Social Activism / Equality / Feminism, History, Government / Politics / Law, Contemporary, ages 7-12.
The World Entire: A True Story of Extraordinary World War II Rescue, by Elizabeth Brown; illustrated by Melissa Castrillón (Chronicle Books) — Biography / Memoir, History, Social Activism / Equality / Feminism, ages 4-6.
