picture books for teaching social studies

I have used Katherine Kirkpatrick's historical fiction picture book Redcoats and Petticoats while teaching the American Revolution for the past few years. Its a wonderful book about a young boy who unwittingly becomes part of a spy ring. The questioning strategy is activated frequently while reading this book. Why is mother doing so much laundry? Why is she acting so strange? Didn't she just wash those same petticoats yesterday? I have the children use the mats I made (previous post) and stickies to make their thinking visible as I read the story to them. After reading we go back and look for all of the clues the author gave us that show what is really going on (its a patriot spy ring ). The kids love this book. Its a fifth grade favorite.Christine