2008-2009: Picturing America. "Image courtesy of Julie Paschkis - www.juliepaschkis.com

We the People Bookshelf Themes:

• Bookshelf portal
• 2009-2010: Picturing America
• 2008-2009: Created Equal
• 2007-2008: Pursuit of Happiness
• 2006-2007: Becoming American
• 2005-2006: Freedom
• 2004-2005 Courage

We the People Bookshelf Summer Reading

What’s this?

Too much sand in your shoes? Bored with video games?  Get adventurous. Pick a book from NEH’s We the People Bookshelf or Summertime Favorites. Since 2003, the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) has provided thousands of public and school libraries across the country with a free collection of classic books through its We the People program, which supports projects that strengthen the teaching, study, and understanding of American history and culture. The Bookshelf offers libraries and local communities additional educational resources that may not otherwise be available. Each year the Bookshelf provides an opportunity for readers to examine themes important to America’s history such as freedom, equality, and the pursuit of happiness. EDSITEment supports this initiative with pages of related lesson plans and suggested websites. In addition, we are updating our Summertime Favorites, which has been guiding teachers, parents, and students since 1988. Over 300 literary classics are listed below in appropriate grade categories.

The We The People Bookshelf 2009 Picturing America

For the 2009/10 school year, libraries across the nation will each receive 17 hardcover books for young readers (K-12) related to this year’s theme, Picturing America. Spanish translations to accompany three of the selected titles are included, as well as bonus materials for readers of all ages. Each library will use its set of classic books to develop educational programming and events that engage young readers in the Picturing America theme.

“Since 2003, the We the People Bookshelf has introduced young readers at more than 13,000 school and public libraries to great literature and has helped them explore themes central to America’s history,” said NEH Acting Chairman Carole M. Watson. “Through the Bookshelf, the Endowment aims to provide additional high-quality educational resources to our nation’s libraries. This year readers at 4,000 libraries will be able to gain insights into our nation’s story through the Picturing America Bookshelf.”

Picturing America explores the premise that a nation’s literature, as well as its visual arts, can be a window into its history, aspirations, and ideals. The We the People Bookshelf on Picturing America is a literary complement to NEH’s Picturing AmericaSM program — a free education resource that provides reproductions of 40 works of great American art to schools and public libraries to help educators teach American history and culture through our nation’s art (PicturingAmerica.neh.gov).

EDSITEment is supporting this initiative with pages of related lesson plans and suggested websites. Each month EDSITEment provides new lessons or features which offer innovative ways of incorporating these images into history, literature, social studies and arts classrooms.

The “Picturing America” Bookshelf features the following books:

• Kindergarten to Grade 3: Walt Whitman: Words for America by Barbara Kerley; Harvesting Hope: The Story of Cesar Chavez by Kathleen Krull; Cosechando esperanza: La historia de César Chávez by Kathleen Krull (translated by Alma Flor Ada and F. Isabel Campoy); The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow; Sweet Music in Harlem by Debbie Taylor.
• Grades 4 to 6: The Birchbark House by Louise Erdrich; American Tall Tales by Mary Pope Osborne; On the Wings of Heroes by Richard Peck; Forty Acres and Maybe a Mule by Harriette Gillem Robinet; The Captain’s Dog: My Journey with the Lewis and Clark Tribe by Roland Smith.
• Grades 7 to 8: The Life and Death of Crazy Horse by Russell Freedman; The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving; La leyenda de Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving (translated by Manuel Broncano); Across America on an Emigrant Train by Jim Murphy; The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain.
• Grades 9 to 12: Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation by Joseph J. Ellis; Restless Spirit: The Life and Work of Dorothea Lange by Elizabeth Partridge; Travels with Charley in Search of America by John Steinbeck; Viajes con Charley - en busca de América by John Steinbeck (translated by José Manuel Alvarez Flórez); Democracy in America by Alexis de Tocqueville.
• Bonus: Our White House: Looking In, Looking Out by The National Children’s Book and Literacy Alliance; 1776: The Illustrated Edition by David McCullough.

In addition, each library receiving the “Picturing America” Bookshelf will receive supplementary programming materials, including bookplates, bookmarks, and posters.

The Bookshelf titles are selected by NEH in consultation with members of the American Library Association (ALA) and the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), a division of the ALA. The NEH We the People Bookshelf and programming materials are distributed through the ALA, which is working in partnership with NEH. For information about the ALA, please visit www.ala.org

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