A to Z United States Geography

I is for Idaho
Capital: Boise
State Bird: Mountain Bluebird
State Flower: Syringa

Story: Mailing May by Michael O. Tunnell
c. 1997 [EF Tunnell]
In 1914, because her family cannot afford a train ticket to her
grandmother's town, May gets mailed and rides the mail car on the
train to see her grandmother. Based on an actual occurrence.

Video: Sante Fe's Final Mail Train

Want to read some more about Idaho?
Fiction:
The Wild Mare by Glenn Balch c. 2004 [JF Blach]
Best Friends by Loretta Krupinski c.1998 [EF Lupinski]
Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech c. 1994 [JF Creech]
Non-fiction:
Idaho by Pam Zollman c. 2006 [ER Zollman]
Idaho by Amy Miller c. 2003 [J917.96 Miller]


I is for Illinois
Capital: Springfield
State Bird: Cardinal Grosbeak
State Flower: Purple Violet

Story:Grandmother's Dreamcatcher by Becky Ray McCain
c.1998 [EF McCain]
While spending a week with her grandmother who, like her, is a
Chippawa Indian, Kimmy learns to mkae a dreamcatcher, which
allows the sleeper to have only sweet dreams.

Video: Frybread

Try making your own dream catcher or with an
adult's help you could make some fry bread recipes!

Want to read some more about Illinois?
Fiction:
On the Wings of Heroes by Richard Peck c. 2007 [JF Peck]
Oliver's Game by Matt Tavares c. 2004 [EF Tavares]
Hog Music by M. C. Helldorfer c. 2000 [EF Helldorfer]
Non-fiction:
The Great Chicago Fire by Conrad Stein c.2005 [J977.311 Stein]
Illinois Allan Fowler c. 1999 [ER Fowler]


I is for Indiana
Capital: Indianapolis
State Bird: Cardinal Grosbeak
State Flower: Peony

Story: Dadblamed Union Army Cow by Susan Fletcher
c. 2007 [EF Fletcher]
During the Civil War, a devoted cow follows her owner when he joins the Union Army and, despite all his efforts to send her home, stays with him and his regiment until the end of the war. Based on a true story.

Video: Milking a Cow

Want to read some more about Indiana?
Fiction:
Abe Lincoln and the Muddy Pig by Stephen Krensky c. 2002 [ER Krensky]
Running Out of Time by Margaret Haddix c. 1995 [J Mystery Haddix]
The Floating House by Scott Russell Sanders c. 1995 [EF Sanders]
The Year of No More Corn by Helen Ketteman c. 1993 [EF Ketteman]
Non-fiction:
Indiana by Bettina Ling c. 2003 [J917.72 Ling]


I is for Iowa
Capital: Des Moines
State Bird: American Goldfinch
State Flower: Wild Prairie Rose

Story: Hurry! by Emily Arnold McCully c. 2000 [EF McCully]
In 1916, a young boy living in Iowa named Tom Elson meets a stranger who has an unusual animal called a farivox, maybe the last of its kind, and Tom becomes determined to buy it.

Videos: Extinct and Endangered Animals

Want to read some more about Iowa?
Fiction:
Old Town in the Green Groves:Laura Ingalls Wilder's Lost Little House Years by Cynthia Rylant c. 2002 [JF Rylant]
Non-fiction:
Iowa by Dynise Balcavage c. 2002 [J 917.77 Balcavage]
Iowa Facts and Symbols by Elaine Kule c. 2001 [E917.77 Kule]
A Pioneer Farm Girl: the Diary of Sarah Gillespie by Sarah Gillespie c. 2000 [J 977.7 Gillespie]


No U.S. states begin with the letter J.