AbstractThis study compared the effects of utilizing children's books incorporated into a themed literature unit with the effects of using a textbook in an elementary social studies class. Two sixth grade classes were taught a unit on Mexico for slightly over two weeks. The intact classes were randomly assigned to the treatments. One class received instruction by means of the school‐adopted textbook according to the procedures and activities in its accompanying teacher's manual. The second group was taught using children's books which addressed the topic by means of a themed literature unit. A pretest and posttest measured achievement and included a brief attitudinal survey. The results indicated that the group taught with the children's books in the themed literature unit showed a significant gain in achievement as compared to the group taught with the textbook. Also, the group which had used the children's books indicated a very positive attitude toward the experience. The researchers concluded that the usage of children's books, when implemented as they were in the study, may increase learning and may also be perceived as a positive experience by the students in an elementary social studies class. Further, these findings may have implications for use of children's books in elementary content areas in general.