Are you looking for a wonderful list of children’s books set in Illinois? Here are some of our favorites! Each of these children’s books is either set in Illinois or features a person who has close ties to the state. Known as the Land of Lincoln, Illinois has a wonderful mix of rural farm areas and the huge, bustling city of Chicago. I had the privilege of going to college west of Chicago and loved every minute of exploring the area while I was there! If you’d like more information on each book, read more by clicking on the affiliate links listed below.
A Long Way from Chicago
Siblings Joey and Mary Alice spend the summer with their very eccentric grandmother in rural Illinois.
A Song for Gwendolyn Brooks
A picture book biography of Gwendolyn Brooks, the first black poet to win the Pulitzer Prize.
A Year Down Yonder
The sequel to A Long Way from Chicago where Mary Alice spends an entire year with her Grandma Dowdel.
Across Five Aprils
The coming-of-age story of Jethro Creighton, whose life changes dramatically during the five Aprils of the Civil War.
Born to Swing: Lil Hardin Armstrong’s Life in Jazz
A picture book biography of Lil Hardin Armstrong, Chicago jazz pianist and wife of the renowned Louis Armstrong.
Coming On Home Soon
A young girl is left with her Grandma when her mother must go to Chicago to work during World War...
Daddy Played the Blues
The story of an African-American family's journey from Mississippi to Chicago during the Great Migration.
Fair Weather
Teenager Rosie Beckett gets to visit Chicago's 1893 World's Fair, where the Ferris wheel was first introduced.
Finding Langston
The story of a young African-American boy who moves from Alabama to Chicago with his father during the Great Migration.
Journey to Cahokia
Little Hawk and his family make a journey to the great mound city in Cahokia to trade.