Non-fiction Books about Vermont History
The Abenaki
by Colin G. Calloway (1989)
110 pages, grades 6-12
The history of Abenaki people through the late 20th century.
Available in the VHS lending library.
Alec's Primer
by Mildred Pitts Walter (2005)
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)
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.
Ann Story, Vermont's Heroine of Independence
by Michael T. Hahn (1996)
52 pages, grades 4-8
The biography of Ann Story who settled in Vermont with her family in the 1770s.
Available in the VHS lending library.
Charlotte's Bones, The Beluga Whale in a Farmer's Field
by Erin Rounds (2018)
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)
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.
Ethan Allen: A Life of Adventure
by Michael T. Hahn (1994)
106 pages, grades 4-8
The biography of Ethan Allen, the leader of the Green Mountain Boys who helped capture Fort Ticonderoga in 1775.
Jackson and Bud's Bumpy Ride
by Elizabeth Koehler-Pentacoff (2009)
36 pages, grades K-3
In 1903, Burlington doctor Horatio Jackson and his dog Bud race to be the first to drive across the country in their car named Vermont.
A Little Girl's Diary, Life on a Farm in Rural Vermont
by Alice Bushnell, ed. by Sarah Rooker & Kim King Zea (1998)
165 pages, grades 3-8
Alice Bushnell was seven years old and living in Strafford when she wrote her diary in 1911. The book includes copies of her diary pages and a printed copy of the text.
Available in the VHS lending library.
Malian's Song
by Marge Bruchac (2005)
28 pages, grades 2-4
Based on oral history, this is the Abenaki story of the English attack on the village of St. Francis in 1759. Published by the Vermont Folklife Center.
Resources for educators from the Vermont Folklife Center.
Phineas Gage: A Gruesome but True Story About Brain Science
by John Fleischman (2002)
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.
A Raccoon at the White House
by Rachel Dougherty
32 pages, grades K-3
Learn the true story of Grace and Calvin Coolidge's pet raccoon Rebecca.
Snowflake Bentley
by Jacqueline Briggs Martin (1998)
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.
Vermont, the State with the Storybook Past
by Cora Cheney (1976, revised 1999)
256 pages, grades 4-8
A narrative history of the state of Vermont. Although full of action and adventure, educators should discuss the portrayal of Abenaki history in this book.
What Makes Vermont Special
by Greg Carpenter (2012)
94 pages
An in-depth look at the story behind Vermont's state symbols.