Vermont in the 1800s
Alec's Primer
by Mildred Pitts Walter (2005)
Non-fiction, picture book (32 pages), grades K-3
Based on the true story of Alec Turner and how he learned to read while enslaved in Virginia. Turner later moved to Vermont where his daughter Daisy told this story. Published by the Vermont Folklife Center.
Resources for educators from the Vermont Folklife Center.
Alexander Twilight, Vermont's African-American Pioneer
by Michael T. Hahn (1998)
Non-fiction, chapter book (65 pages), grades 5-8
The biography of Alexander Twilight, a minister and educator in northeastern Vermont in the 1830s and 1840s.
Available in the VHS lending library.
The Black Bonnet
by Louella Bryant (1996)
Historical fiction, chapter book (149 pages), grades 5-8
Charity and Bea have escaped slavery and are travelling through Vermont to reach freedom in Canada. Set in the 1850s.
Available in the VHS lending library.
Charlotte's Bones, The Beluga Whale in a Farmer's Field
by Erin Rounds (2018)
Non-fiction, picture book (36 pages), grades 1-5
Read the true story of a Vermont farmer who found Beluga whale bones in his field and how that skeleton became Vermont's state fossil.
Daisy and the Doll
by Michael Medearis and Angela Shelf Medearis (2000)
Non-fiction, picture book (30 pages), grades K-3
Based on the true story of Daisy Turner, an 8 year old African-American girl who lived in Grafton in 1891. Published by the Vermont Folklife Center.
Resources for educators from the Vermont Folklife Center.
The Dewey Boy
by Earline V. Marsh (2012)
Historical fiction, chapter book (84 pages), grades 3-6
Before George Dewey grew up to be an admiral in the US navy, he spent the summer of 1846 on his cousins' farm.
Jip, His Story
by Katherine Paterson (1996)
Historical fiction, chapter book (181 pages), grades 5-8
Jip lives on the town poor farm in Vermont in the 1850s after being abandoned by his family.
Available in the VHS lending library.
Justin Morgan Had a Horse
by Marguerite Henry (1946)
Historical fiction, chapter book (170 pages), grades 4-8
Justin Morgan's horse "Little Bub" is stronger and faster than other Vermont horses in the late 1700s.
Lyddie
by Katherine Paterson (1991)
Historical fiction, chapter book (182 pages), grades 5-8
Lyddie leaves Vermont to work in the mills in Lowell, Massachusetts in the 1840s to earn money to support herself and her poor family.
Available in the VHS lending library.
March Toward the Thunder
by Joseph Bruchac (2009)
Historical fiction, chapter book (320 pages), grades 6-9
Louis Nolette, a young Abenaki man, fights for the Union in the American Civil War, even though he is only 15 years old and from Canada.
Miss Bridie Chose a Shovel
by Leslie Connor (2004)
Historical fiction, picture book (32 pages), grades 1-4
Although not specifically set in Vermont, this books tells the story of Miss Bridie, an immigrant who moves first to New York City and then to a farm in the mid 1800s.
Mr. Lincoln's Drummer
by G. Clifton Wisler (1997)
Historical fiction, chapter book (131 pages), grades 5-7
Based on the story of Vermonter Willie Johnston, an 11 year old drummer boy in the Union Army during the Civil War.
Available in the VHS lending library.
Phineas Gage: A Gruesome but True Story About Brain Science
by John Fleischman (2002)
Non-fiction, chapter book (80 pages), grades 4-8
Phineas Gage was working to build the railroad through Cavendish in 1848 when a large tamping iron blasted through his head. Read about his survival and his life with a brain injury.
Preacher's Boy
by Katherine Paterson (2000)
Historical fiction, chapter book (176 pages), grades 5-7
In 1899, Robbie's father is a preacher in a small Vermont town where some people think the world is about to end.
Snowflake Bentley
by Jacqueline Briggs Martin (1998)
Non-fiction, picture book (30 pages), grades K-4
The biography of Wilson "Snowflake" Bentley, a Vermonter who figured out how to photograph snowflakes in the late 1800s and early 1900s.