CCBC booklist are compiled from books we have recommended in various editions of CCBC Choices. Most of these booklists are updated annually. You can also select books from one or more booklists to create a custom list, which can also include additional books from the CCBC-Recommended Book Search.
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Between Fact and Fiction: Selected Picture Books to Encourage Critical Reading/Thinking
Compiled by Megan Schliesman and Merri V. Lindgren
©2025, 2012 Cooperative Children's Book Center
Many books about history fall into the genre of creative non-fiction—authors and illustrators take some degree of artistic license as they interpret real events and lives for young audiences. Books like these present educators with a tremendous opportunity for teaching children to become critical readers of their sources of information, which is more important than ever in today’s web-connected, social media world where information--and misinformation--is shared so readily.
For the purpose of this bibliography, we chose books about or based on events in history, or the life of a person who actually lived. Additionally, the book had to include some note from the author (and/or illustrator) talking about their research and/or the facts they worked with, and also about the process of interpreting this information. This may range from a few sentences to a lengthy essay. (Ideally, but not always, a bibliography or list of references is included.) Sometimes the book creators were dealing with an abundance of “knowns,” but sometimes they also had to navigate things that aren’t known, or about which there is disagreement. There are lessons to be learned when writers and artists share with young readers how they navigate the spaces between fact and fiction.
Most of the books we chose are classified as “non-fiction,” but some fall solidly within the realm of the fictional story. Any one of these outstanding, engaging books offers teachers a way to talk about the differences between fact and fiction, and that sometimes with history--and even with events today--we can't always know the absolute truth. All of these books also offer opportunities for lessons in critical reading that students can take beyond books about history into all dimensions of their lives.
Fifty Cents and a Dream: Young Booker T. Washington
by Asim, Jabari
Illustrated by Bryan Collier.
Little, Brown, 2012. 40 pages. Ages 5-9
Nothing Stopped Sophie: The Story of Unshakable Mathematician Sophie Germain
by Bardoe, Cheryl
Illustrated by Barbara McClintock.
Little, Brown, 2018. 36 pages. Ages 6-9
The Hallelujah Flight
by Bildner, Phil
Illustrated by John Holyfield.
Putnam, 2010. 32 pages. Ages 6-9
A Bear Far from Home
by Fletcher, Susan
Illustrated by Rebecca Green.
Anne Schwartz Book/Random House, 2022. 32 pages. Ages 6-10
I Lay My Stitches Down: Poems of American Slavery
by Grady, Cynthia
Illustrated by Michele Wood.
Eerdmans, 2012. 32 pages. Age 9 and older
Most Loved in All the World
by Hegamin, Tonya Cherie
Illustrated by Cozbi A. Cabrera.
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2009. 32 pages. Ages 6-9
Dave the Potter: Artist, Poet, Slave
by Hill, Laban Carrick
Illustrated by Bryan Collier.
Little, Brown, 2010. 40 pages. Ages 6-10
Mary Anning's Curiosity
by Kulling, Monica
Groundwood, 2017. 115 pages. Ages 7-10
Which Side Are You On? The Story of a Song
by Lyon, George Ella
Illustrated by Christopher Cardinale.
Cinco Puntos, 2011. 40 pages. Ages 7-11
Earmuffs for Everyone! How Chester Greenwood Became Known as the Inventor of Earmuffs
by McCarthy, Meghan
Illustrated by Meghan McCarthy.
Paula Wiseman Books/Simon & Schuster, 2015. 40 pages. Ages 6-9
The Incredible Life of Balto
by McCarthy, Meghan
Illustrated by Meghan McCarthy.
Alfred A. Knopf, 2011. 32 pages. Ages 5-8
Wonder Horse
by McCully, Emily Arnold
Illustrated by Emily Arnold McCully.
Henry Holt, 2010. 32 pages. Ages 5-8
George Washington's Birthday: A Mostly True Tale
by McNamara, Margaret
Illustrated by Barry Blitt.
Schwartz & Wade, 2012. 32 pages. Ages 6-10
The Hole Story of the Doughnut
by Miller, Pat
Illustrated by Vincent X. Kirsch.
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2016. 32 pages. Ages 6-10
Georgia in Hawaii: When Georgia O'Keeffe Painted What She Pleased
by Novesky, Amy
Illustrated by Yuyi Morales.
Harcourt , 2012. 32 pages. Ages 6-10
Lady Liberty: A Biography
by Rappaport, Doreen
Illustrated by Matt Tavares.
Candlewick, 2008. 40 pages. Ages 8-12
My Heart Will Not Sit Down
by Rockliff, Mara
Illustrated by Ann Tanksley.
Alfred A. Knopf, 2012. 32 pages. Ages 4-8
Teddy: The Remarkable Tale of a President, a Cartoonist, a Toymaker and a Bear
by Sage, James
Illustrated by Lisk Feng.
Kids Can, 2019. 40 pages. Ages 6-9
Osnat and Her Dove: The True Story of the World's First Female Rabbi
by Samuel, Sigal
Illustrated by Vali Mintzi.
Levine Querido, 2021. 32 pages. Ages 7-11
The Fabulous Fannie Farmer: Kitchen Scientist and America’s Cook
by Smith, Emma Bland
Illustrated by Susan Reagan.
Astra/Calkins Creek, 2024. 40 pages. Ages 6-9
Queen of the Falls
by Van Allsburg, Chris
Illustrated by Chris Van Allsburg.
Houghton Mifflin , 2011. 40 pages. Ages 6-10
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Please send questions or comments about CCBC booklists to ccbcinfo@education.wisc.edu.