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Bank Street Library Bibliography: Constitution Day

All of these titles are available in the Bank Street Library.

Books in the Children's Collection

Burgan, Micahel. The Bill of Rights. Mineapolis, Minn: Compass Point Books, 2002
J342.73 B

Catrow, David. We the kids : the preamble to the Constitution of the United States. New York : Dial Books for Young Readers, 2002.
J 342.73 C
An illustrated preamble to the Constitution of the United States.

Evans, J. Edward. Freedom of the press. Minneapolis: Lerner Publications, 1990.
J 342.73 E
Explains what freedom of the press is, its history in colonial times, its meaning in the Constitution, and current controversial issues challenging the boundaries of this freedom.

Faber, Doris. We the people: the story of the United States Constitution since 1787. New York: Scribner, 1987.
J 342.73 F
Discusses the changes in the Constitution since the original document was signed in 1787 and how they came about.

Finkelman, Paul. The constitution. Washington, D.C. : National Geographic Society, 2004.
J 342.73 F
Find out what the U.S. Constitution says and what it means for our lives.

Hauptly, Denis J. “A convention of delegates”: the creation of the Constitution. New York: Atheneum, 1987.
J 342.73 H
Describes the events occurring before and during the Constitutional Convention, in which delegates from the 13 original states struggled to agree on a Constitution.

Jaffe, Steven H. Who were the founding fathers?: two hundred years of reinventing American history. New York: Holt, 1996.
J 973.3 J

Jenkins, Stephen. The Bill of Rights and you. St. Paul: West Pub. Co., 1990.
J 342.73 B
Explains the background of each of the first ten amendments to the Constitution and discusses the relevance of these amendments.

Lomask, Milton. The spirit of 1787: the making of our Constitution. New York: Farrarr Straus Giroux, 1980.
J 342.73 L
Discusses the aftermath of the Revolutionary War and the creating of a Constitution for the new country.

Maestro, Betsy. A more perfect union: the story of our Constitution. New York: Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Books, 1987.
J 342.73 M
Describes how the Constitution was drafted and ratified.

Meltzer, Milton. The Bill of Rights: how we got it and what it means. New York: Crowell, 1990.
J 342.73 M
Traces the history of the Bill of Rights of the United States Constitution and highlights contemporary challenges to each of the ten amendments.

Moehn, Heather. The U.S. Constitution : a primary source investigation into the fundamental law of the United States. New York, NY : Rosen Primary Source, 2003.
J 342.73 M
A historical review of the people, issues, and events that led to the drafting and ratification of the United States Constitution.

Pearl, Norman. The U.S. Constitution. Minneapolis, Minn.: Picture Window Books, 2007.
J 342.7 P
Examines all the events leading up to the signing of the Constitution.

Quiri, Patricia Ryon. The Bill of Rights. New York: Children’s Press, 1998.
J 342.73 Q
Chronicles how the Bill of Rights came to be, as well as the freedoms it guarantees, details each of the amendments, and demonstrates how some have affected contemporary life in the U.S.

Sgroi, Peter P. –this Constitution. New York: F. Watts, 1986.
J 342.73 S
Describes how the Constitution was written, revised, approved, and enacted. Includes an outline of its articles and amendments.

Stair, Nancy L. The Bill of Rights : a primary source investigation into the first ten amendments of the Constitution. New York, NY : Rosen Primary Source, 2003.
J 342.73 S
Discusses the drafting of the Bill of Rights and the men who were involved.

Stein, R. Conrad. The Bill of Rights. Chicago: Childrens Press, 1992.
J 342.7 S
Discusses the first ten amendments to the constitution and the rights which they were intended to protect.

United States. National Archives and Records Administration. Our documents: 100 milestone documents from the National Archives. New York: Oxford University Press, 2003.
J 973 O
A collection of one hundred documents that were important in the development of the United States from it's founding to 1965 (includes the Constitution).

Williams, Jean Kinney. The U.S. Constitution. Minneapolis, Minn. : Compass Point Books, 2004.
J 342.73 W
Provides an simple history of the Constitution through text, historic photographs and engravings.

Williams, Selma R. Fifty-five fathers; the story of the Constitutional Convention. New York: Dodd, Mead, 1970.
J342.73 W
Retells the story of the Philadelphia convention in 1787 drawing on the original notes of James Madison and on the diary of William Pierce.

Yero, Judith Lloyd. The Bill of Rights. Washington D.C.: National Geographic, 2004.
J342.73 Y

Learning Opportunity

Justice Learning: Civic Education in the Real World A collaboration of National Public Radio's Justice Talking, and The New York Times Learning Network, visit http://www.justicelearning.org (allow pop-ups for this site). Explore the Annenberg Classroom: Resources for America's Teachers http://www.annenbergclassroom.org (videos will be available online 9/12/07).

Selected Websites on the Constitution

University of Maryland
http://www.umuc.edu/constitution/index.html

The US Constitution Online
http://www.usconstitution.net/choose.html

A Road Map to the US Constitution
http://library.thinkquest.org/11572/

Congress for Kids
http://congressforkids.net/Constitution_index.htm

National Constitution Center
http://www.constitutioncenter.org/

James Madison Papers at the Library of Congress:
http://lcweb2.loc.gov/ammem/collections/madison_papers/

The Constitution of the United States at the National Archives:
http://www.archives.gov/national-archives-experience/charters/constitution.html

The American Civil Liberties Union, Mission Statement:
http://www.aclu.org/about/aboutmain.cfm

Teaching With Documents: Observing Constitution Day from the National Archives
http://www.archives.gov/education/lessons/constitution-day/index.html

Multimedia Items on the Constitution

Burns, K., & Barnes, P. (Producers), & Ward, G. (Writer), & Burns, K (Director). (2003). Not for ourselves alone. The story of Elizabeth Cady Stanton & Susan B. Anthony [videorecording]. United States: Florentine Films production (Available from PBS Home Video ; Burbank, CA)
DVD J 305.4 N

PJ Productions & the National Constitution Center. (Producer), & Imbriano, Robe (Writer/Producer). (2006). Key constitutional concepts [videorecording]. Philadelphia, PA: Annenberg Foundation Trust at Sunnylands.
DVD J 342.73 C

Our Constitution. (2005). [videorecording]. Philadelphia, PA: Annenberg Foundation Trust at Sunnylands.
DVD J 342.73 C

A printable pdf version of this list is available at: http://streetcat.bankstreet.edu/pdf/Constitution.pdf

compiled 09/2007