Take a Trip to the Past with a Book

This week, I'm sharing picture books featuring stories set in the past.  Here are a few of my favorites . . .

Magnus at the Fire by Jennifer Armstrong
When the Broadway Fire House acquires a motorized fire engine, Magnus the fire horse is not ready to retire.

Iron Horses by Verla Kay
Illustrations and simple rhyming text depict the race to construct railroads across the country during the second half of the nineteenth century.

I, Crocodile by Fred Marcellino
An Egyptian crocodile, with a big ego and a big appetite, is taken to Paris in 1799 by Napoleon Bonaparte.

John Philip Duck by Patricia Polacco
During the Depression, a young Memphis boy trains his pet duck to do tricks in the fountain of a grand hotel and ends up becoming the Duck Master of the Peabody Hotel.

The Day We Danced in Underpants by Sarah Wilson
When Papa's pants--worn thin from dancing on his visit to France--split as he sits down to picnic with the king, the embarrassing moment provides both cooling and comic relief for the guests, prompting them to take off their hot clothes and dance.


More Historical Picture Books --
All Different Now: Juneteenth, The First Day of Freedom by Angela Johnson
A Book for Black-Eyed Susan by Judy Young
Brother Hugo and the Bear by Katy Beebe
Ella's Big Chance: A Jazz Age Cinderella by Shirley Hughes
Finding Lincoln by Ann Malaspina
Freedom in Congo Square by Carole Boston Weatherford
The Gardener by Sarah Stewart
The Girl Who Loved Caterpillars by Jean Merrill
Grandfather's Journey by Allen Say
John, Paul, George & Ben by Lane Smith
Kid Blink Beats the World by Don Brown
Laundry Day by Maurie J. Manning
Mama Went to Jail for the Vote by Kathleen Karr
Mumbet's Declaration of Independence by Gretchen Woelfle
One Giant Leap by Robert Burleigh
Peppe the Lamplighter by Elisa Bartone
Queen of the Diamond: The Lizzie Murphy Story by Emily Arnold McCully
Ruth and the Green Book by Calvin Alexander Ramsey
The Secret Project by Jonah Winter
Tricking the Tallyman by Jacqueline Davies
Twenty-One Elephants by Phil Bildner
Uncommon Traveller: Mary Kingsley in Africa by Don Brown
We March by Shane Evans
When I Was Young in the Mountains by Cynthia Rylant
The Whispering Town by Jill Elvgren
The Wildest Race Ever: The Story of the 1904 Olympic Marathon by Methan McCarthy

Check these and more historical picture books out at the Arnold Branch through March 15, 2019.