The books that appear in the slides above were evaluated and selected by a Book Review Committee appointed by the National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) and assembled in cooperation with the Children's Book Council (CBC). They were written for children in grades K-12, published in 2013, and meet the following criteria:
- emphasize human relations
- represent a diversity of groups
- sensitive to a broad range of cultural experiences
- present an original theme or a fresh slant on a traditional topic
- easily readable
- high literary quality
- pleasing format
- where appropriate, include illustrations that enrich the text