Title |
Author |
Subject |
Brief Description |
Hiawatha: Messenger of Peace |
Dennis Brindell Fradin |
Representative forms of government |
Real-life account of Hiawatha's role in bringing
together 5 warring Indian tribes which would form the Iroquois
Federation, a representative system of government that is often
credited with providing a model for American colonists three
hundred years later. |
Our Journey from Tibet: Based on
a True Story |
Laurie Dolphin |
Freedoms and government repression of those freedoms |
Story of a young girl who flees Tibet with her
siblings to escape oppressive Chinese rule. Children get split
from their parents and attend a camp for Tibetan refugee children.
Also discusses the role of the Dalai Lama. |
Poppy |
Brian Floca |
Authority, control, and government |
Owl has convinced a family of deer mice that only
he can provide them with protection from the porcupines. Heroine
of story finds out that the owl is lying and challenges his
authority to set the rules for her family. |
Star of Fear: Star of Hope* |
Jo Hoestlandt |
Government repression of religious group |
Story takes place during Nazi occupation of France
during WWII. Helen has a Jewish best friend, Lydia, who is forced
to wear the yellow star. Before Helen realizes the severity
of the situation Helen and her family faces, the Germans have
come and taken away the whole family. |
The Fall of the Berlin Wall: The Cold War Ends* |
Nigel Kelly |
Communist vs. capitalist government |
This books explains how the Cold War began, persisted,
and ended in a way that elementary students can understand. |
Vaclav Havel and the Velvet Revolution |
Jeffrey Symynkywicz |
Limits of consensual government |
Traces the revolution in Czechoslovakia and can
be used to illustrate how limited and unlimited government differ. |
We the People: The Constitution of the United States
of America |
Peter Spier |
Preamble of
Constitution |
Author provides overview of Constitutional Convention
and ratification, then uses illustrations to make each phrase
in the preamble come alive for children. |