This text offers a teacher and student-friendly collection of lessons and activities that help educators use picture books to engage younger students in meaningful social studies activities and bring this critical subject back in elementary schools.

In order for today's children to succeed as adults, they need a solid foundation of life skills inculcated at a young age. Social studies is key to building this critical knowledge, yet less attention is being paid to social studies in elementary schools as this subject becomes more essential. The authors of this text have a solution: use picture books as dual-purpose texts that fulfill more than just language arts needs, and take the time dedicated to those lessons to simultaneously teach social studies.

Each chapter of this text is organized around one of the National Council for the Social Studies' Ten Thematic Strands, covering diverse and engaging topics ranging from community and individuality to science and technology. This book serves as a vital resource for classroom teachers, methods professors, staff developers, and curriculum writers who prioritize keeping social studies a part of the elementary school curriculum.

Jeannette Balantic is the K-12 Social Studies Curriculum Coordinator in the Garden City School District, Long Island, USA. She is co-author of Every Book is a Social Studies Book: How to Meet Standards With Picture Books, K-6 (with Andrea S. Libresco and Jonie C. Kipling, Libraries Unlimited, 2011) and Notable Books, Notable Lessons: Putting Social Studies Back in the K-8 Curriculum (with Andrea S. Libresco and Mary Battenfeld, Libraries Unlimited, 2017).