Fiction:
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Follow Me Down to Nicodemus Town: Based on the History of the African American Pioneer Settlement by A. LaFaye and illustrated by Nicole Tadgell
Set in real life Nicodemus, Kansas, a town founded in the late 1870s by former slaves. After Dede sees a notice offering land to black people in Kansas, she and her parents head west to stake and secure a claim, which allows them to finally have a home to call their own.
- Publisher : Albert Whitman & Company; Illustrated edition (January 1, 2019)
- ISBN-10 : 0807525359
- ISBN-13 : 978-0807525357
- Reading age : 5 – 7 years
Grasslands by Debra Seely
A coming-of-age story that explores life in Kansas during the 1880s through the eyes of thirteen-year-old Thomas Hunter.
- Reading age : 10 – 12 years
- Publisher : Watermark Books & Cafe (November 20, 2017)
- ISBN-10 : 092282018X
- ISBN-13 : 978-0922820184
Aunt Minnie and the Twister by Mary Skillings Prigger and illustrated by Betsy Lewin
Aunt Minnie and her nine adopted children keep their Kansas farm together with spunk and humor after a tornado comes through.
- Reading age : 4 – 7 years
- Publisher : Clarion Books; 1st Edition (April 22, 2002)
- ISBN-10 : 0618111360
- ISBN-13 : 978-0618111367
Prairie Skies: Pioneer Summer by Deborah Hopkinson and Patrick Faricy
Kindle | Paperback | Library binding
When his family moves from Massachusetts to Kansas Territory, young Charlie is dismayed. He misses his grandfather and his dog, who were left behind. Work is hard and long in Kansas. Will he ever adjust?
- Reading age : 7 – 10 years
- Publisher : Aladdin (May 1, 2002)
- ISBN-10 : 0689843496
- ISBN-13 : 978-0689843495
Nonfiction:
No Small Potatoes: Junius G. Groves and His Kingdom in Kansas by Tonya Bolden and illustrated by Don Tate
A former slave from Kentucky, Junius G. Groves moved to Kansas where he started working on a potato farm. When Junius dreamed of owning his own farm, he rented the land and grew more and more potatoes. Eventually he owned 500 acres and was called the King of Potatoes.
- Reading age : 4 – 8 years
- Publisher : Knopf Books for Young Readers; Illustrated edition (October 16, 2018)
- ISBN-10 : 0385752768
- ISBN-13 : 978-0385752763
Green City: How One Community Survived a Tornado and Rebuilt for a Sustainable Future by Allan Drummond
In 2007, a tornado destroyed Greensburg, Kansas. Afterwards, the residents didn’t know if they should rebuild. What if another storm came through and wiped them out again? In the end, the townspeople decided they wouldn’t simply rebuild. Instead they would build a town that could not only survive another storm, but also be environmentally sustainable. Although full of facts and true detail, it is told via a child narrator.
Reading age : 5 – 8 years
Publisher : Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR); Illustrated edition (March 15, 2016)
ISBN-10 : 0374379998
ISBN-13 : 978-0374379995
S is for Sunflower: A Kansas Alphabet by Devin Scillian and illustrated by Doug Bowles
Learn about the people, history and geography of Kansas.
- Reading age : 6 – 9 years
- Publisher : Sleeping Bear Press; Revised ed. edition (June 23, 2004)
- ISBN-10 : 1585360619
- ISBN-13 : 978-1585360611
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