Sanitized pluralism or civic learning? Religion in NCSS-recommended picture books, 2000–2024

Religion is a sometimes mandated but often marginalized topic in elementary social studies. While state standards call for its inclusion, religious content in classrooms is frequently reduced to cultural holidays or treated as politically neutral. This study examines how religion is represented in picture books recommended by the National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) Notable Social Studies Trade Book List (NSSTBL) from 2000 to 2024. Using critical content analysis, we analyzed 109 books that addressed specific religious traditions, attending to patterns of authorship, representation, and framing. We draw on the framework of critical confident pluralism, extending Inazu’s civic theory to interrogate the relationship among pluralism, power, and curricular legitimacy. Findings suggest that religion is often portrayed through sanitized, symbolic, or outsider lenses, with few texts engaging the complexity of religious content or systemic context. While some texts offer promising models of civic engagement across religious difference, the list more often reflects a pluralism that is comfortable rather than critical. This study contributes to ongoing scholarship in religious literacy, children’s literature, and civic education by examining how religious diversity is both constructed and constrained within one of the field’s most influential curricular resources.