Notable Social Studies Trade Book Awards

An annual reading list of exceptional books for use in social studies classrooms, selected by social studies educators.

The Notable Social Studies Trade Book Awards are an annual project of the National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) and the Children’s Book Council (CBC) running since 1972. This award list features K-12 annotated titles published in the previous calendar year that are exceptional books for use in social studies classrooms, selected by social studies educators. The book review committee is appointed by the NCSS.

The selection committee looks for books that emphasize human relations, represent a diversity of groups and are sensitive to a broad range of cultural experiences, present an original theme or a fresh slant on a traditional topic, are easily readable and of high literary quality, and have a pleasing format and, when appropriate, illustrations that enrich the text.

BROWSE AND SEARCH THE NOTABLE SOCIAL STUDIES LIST

2024 Notable Social Studies Trade Books on Website — searchable titles on our site with links to their publishers.
2024 Notable Social Studies Trade Books PDF — downloadable file, layout by CBC.
2024 Notable Social Studies Trade Books Spreadsheet — editable file which allows to sort or manipulate as needed.

PAST WINNING TITLES (ANNOTATED LISTS)

View more lists on NCSS’s website.

Publishers: Submissions are currently CLOSED. To learn more about submitting titles next year, check out past submission guidelines. Email cbc.info@cbcbooks.org with questions.