I don't remember which teacher it was that read it to me, but I know somewhere between 2nd & 4th grade I was read Sacajawea at school. And I'm not sure what version it was. A couple of years ago I read a 208 page version to my kids that included chapters from her perspective & from Lewis & Clark.
I can pretty much guarantee that the one I was read to in school wasn't the nearly thousand page version. That would be like a teacher reading Les Mis to the class. Not quite, but almost. But I remember thinking how amazing it would be to be exploring a land you knew nothing about. And then to think about a young woman with a baby being their only guide. Sometime I should read the big ol' version. But even the simple 208 pager was fun to read to my kids. I lost count of the number of canoes they built along the trip as they needed them. There's no way their trip would have been a success without her.
If you want a book that references Lewis & Clark obliquely from a much different perspective, try The Thirteenth Child by Patricia Wrede. They didn't make it home in that one.
I don't really remember much else in the "non-fiction" range of things catching my attention as a kid though. I do remember borrowing a book about Amelia Earhardt from my 4th grade teacher & never returning it... Guilt... It sat on our bookshelf at least until high school...
But I have enjoyed reading Non Fiction to my kids. 2 books we have enjoyed together are Seven Years in Tibet and And There Was Light by Jacques Lusseyran (we're reading that one for the second time right now - my oldest son's pick).
Is there a great non-fiction book you think every kid should read? One that sticks with you from your youth? I'd love to hear about it. Chances are, I'll read it to my kids.
I don't think I ever read non-fiction as a kid unless I was forced to. So I guess I'll just say my favorite non-fiction book was the set of encyclopedia we had. I really loved looking for interesting pictures in them.