When literature in the form of picture books was introduced to the social studies curriculum in the author's classroom, she wondered what her second-grade students would learn from it. She decided to investigate and ascertain whether the children learned geographic concepts when they were taught through a literature-based approach. Given the testing climate in schools today, she also wanted to determine if her second-grade students could successfully apply knowledge from picture books to published tests. When she analyzed the data for indications of their understanding of the geographic concepts, she observed positive findings about location, place, human-environment interaction, movement, and regions. She compared the findings related to each theme by comparing anecdotes, interviews, student work, and test results. She concluded that the children learned about the five basic themes of social studies without the use of a textbook.