Illinois

by John Micklos Jr., Claire Price-Groff (Contributor), Elizabeth Kaplan (Contributor)

Help readers richly explore the geography, history, business and industry, cities, and people of Illinois. While best known for the hustle and bustle of Chicago, the nation's third most populous city, the Prairie State also features rolling farm fields filled with corn, soybeans, and wheat. The state has a rich history and captivating present, which this book captures using photographs, fun facts, and engaging text.

80 pages, Paperback

Published August 15, 2019

About the author

John Micklos, Jr. has written more than 60 children’s books spanning a wide range of ages and genres. His newest picture book is titled Sad, Mad, Glad: A Day Full of Feelings (Penguin Workshop, 2026).

Other popular picture book titles include One Leaf, Two Leaves, Count with Me! (Penguin/Nancy Paulsen Books, 2017) and Raindrops to Rainbow (Penguin Workshop, 2021). Both books were selected for inclusion in Dolly Parton's Imagination Library.

John’s other top-selling books include 125 True Stories of Amazing Pets (contributor), published by National Geographic Kids. He also has written dozens of biographies, history books, and social studies books for educational publishers such as Capstone and Cavendish Square. Biographies include Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Amelia Earhart, Alexander Graham Bell, Abraham Lincoln, Muhammad Ali, Sequoyah, and others. History topics include the Revolutionary War (six-book series), Civil War, Challenger tragedy, Gold Rush, Lewis and Clark Expedition, and many others.

A resident of Newark, Delaware, John enjoys visiting schools (in person or via Zoom) and conducting writing workshops with students of all ages. His presentations and workshops center on writing poetry, nonfiction, and persuasive pieces, as well as the art of research and revision, to name just a few. Learn more about John’s work at www.JohnMicklosWriter.com.