Tennessee Children's Books - 15 Great Kids Books About Tennessee

The Ultimate List of Children’s Books about Tennessee

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Kids books about Tennessee - childrens books about Tennessee - books set in Tennessee

Children’s Books about Tennessee

Children’s Books about Tennessee History: Anything is Possible in Tennesseee

Step Right Up: How Doc and Jim Key Taught The World About Kindness, by Donna Janell Bowman and Daniel Minter

William “Doc” Key was enslaved on a Tennessee plantation. When the Civil War ended, he continued his work with horses, including a horse named Jim Key. A horse was born small and ill, and many would have sent it for euthenasia, but Doc decided to care deeply for the horse. He also taught it tricks: how to read and do math. The book’s message is that “Kindness pays off” and to invest in the potential of others with care, rather than discarding them and not believing them.

The Emancipation of Grandpa Sandy Wills, by Cheryl Wills and Randell Pearson

In this picture book, a Tennessee newscaster wrote a story of her family history , including her grandfather Sandy Wills and how he was emancipated and served in the Union Army.

Coat of Many Colors, by Dolly Parton, illustrated by Brooke Boynton Hughes

This book tells the story of a coat, a story about growing up in Tennessee. The author of this picture book about Tennessee is singer Dolly Parton.

Hammering for Freedom: The William Lewis Story, by Rita L. Hubbard and John Holyfield

William Lewis lived in Chattanooga, Tennessee in the early 1800s. He used his blacksmith trade to save up funds to buy his family’s freedom from enslavement. Getting entrepreneurial, he realized slaves were rented out by their owners for profit. He asked his owner to let him rent himself out (he would pay the costs), and then save the excess money. Using this strategy, he earned enough money to buy freedom for his family, while paying $350 a year to rent his freedom before that.

Picture Books about Tennessee

Changemakers: Martin Luther King Jr. and Wilma Rudolph

Memphis, Martin, and the Mountaintop: The Sanitation Strike of 1968, by Alice Faye Duncan and R. Gregory Christie.

In the movement that brought him to Memphis (where he would be assassinated), Martin Luther King was working for fair wages for workers in the 1968 Sanitation Strike. This book focuses on a young girl whose dad is a sanitation worker, and how Martin Luther King influenced events with the strikes for equal pay.

Make a Change, by Rhonda Rucker

This Tennessee children’s book is about the Nashville Woolworth counter in the years before the 1964 Civil Rights Act allowed Black patrons to be served in all restaurants. Make a Change discusses the idea of seeing injustices and deciding to do something about them.

Wilma Rudolph: Olympic Track Star, by Lee Engfer

Wilma Rudolph won 3 Olympic medals in track and field. Even more impressively, she accomplished that feat after overcoming a bout of polio as a child.

The Quickest Kid in Clarksville, by Pat Zietlow Miller and Frank Morrison

This book tells the story of Wilma Rudolph as a child, back when she was the quickest kid in Clarksville, Tennessee.

Credit: https://www.goodnight-memphis.com/

Seeing the Sights of Tennessee

John Philip Duck, by Patricia Polacco.

This Tennessee children’s book is about the ducks at the Peabody Hotel, in Memphis.

Cleveland Lee’s Beale Street Band, by A.R. Flowers.

Sleep Tight Nashville, by Dave Dietrich, illustrated by Debbie Brown

This night-time book about Tennessee shows the Nashville landmarks.

Goodnight Memphis, by Grace Hammond Skertich, illustrated by David Lynch.

Independently made book, sold at local Memphis bookstores as well as online. This is a children’s book about Memphis.

Tennessee is for Singers


Lorraine	A Band of Angels

Lorraine, by Ketcham Secor and Higgins Bond Fictional story about a family who sings, plays instruments, and makes joyful noise in Tennessee

A Band of Angels, by Deborah Hopkinson and illustrated by Raul Colon (based on a true story of Jubilee Singers, at Fisk University in 1871)

Tennessee Books for Older Children:

Scraps of Time: Abby Takes a Stand, 1960, by Patricia McKissack, illustrated by Gordon C. James

Abby lives in Tennessee and is able to ride the bus in the front of the bus, but she isn’t able to get a milkshake at the local Woolworth restaurant. The story begins with kids finding out their grandmother’s past, and then transitions into hearing about life was like for young 10-year-old Abby.

3rd to 5th grade, or 6th grade because it’s a quick and high-interest tale. Written in large font, like an American Girl story. This ‘chapter book’ is 104 pages and has illustrations every few pages to keep readers interested.

Tennessee Vocabulary to Highlight:

Fisk University

Cornelius Vanderbilt

Vanderbilt University

Sanitation Strike of 1968

Wilma Rudoloph

Dolly Parton

Tennessee Vocabulary to Highlight:

Nashville

Memphis

Children’s Books about Tennessee and all 50 states. Which state will you read about next!

(districts, territories)

Washington, D.C.

Puerto Rico

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Tennessee Children’s Books – 15 Great Kids Books About Tennessee