. Mr. Peale's Bones (Stories of the States). New York: Silver Moon Press, July 1994.
An eleven-year-old boy living in New York State joins the expedition of nineteenth-century artist and scientist Charles Willson Peale to dig for mammoth bones on a nearby farm. (Reading level: Ages 9-12)
. The Ingenius Mr. Peale: Painter, Patriot and Man of Science. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1996.
The dynamic Charles Wilson Peale established the first important museum in the United States, but first he worked as a saddle maker, an artist, and a soldier. This biography would be accelerated reading for elementary students (listed from 5th-8th grade reading level).
Giblin, James Cross. The Mystery of the Mammoth Bones and How It Was Solved. New York: HarperCollins, April 1999.
Based on Charles Willson Peale's own journal entries, this children's book explores the challenges and adventures of his Mammoth excavation in New York. (Ages 8-12)
Gibson, Michael Francis. Symbolism (Big Art).. Verlag, Kohn: Benedikt Taschen, October 1999.
Book addresses Symbolist Art as a movement. It includes hundreds of beautiful paintings and explanations of their historical perspective and symbolism.
Hall, James. Dictionary of Subjects and Symbols in Art (Icons Edition). New York: HarperCollins Publishers, August 1979.
This book defines major subjects and symbols of western art, and provides contextual historical information, allegories, and/or myths necessary to bring to light other artwork.
Sellers, Charles Coleman. Mr. Peale's Museum. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, February 1980.
This book illuminates Charles Willson Peale's radical–at the time–idea of creating a museum that could be visited by and learned from by everyone. As the flap jacket description indicates, "We see Peale, democrat to the core, pedagogue at heart, amateur yet rigorous scientist, delightful eccentric and utter optimist…". (The painting The Artist in His Museum is the book's cover image.)
Tunnell, Michael O. The Joke's on George. Honesdale, PA: Boyds Mills Press, August 2001.
This book, appropriate for ages 4-8, recounts humorous incident in which the president George Washington mistakenly takes one of Charles Willson Peale's paintings for real life.
Ward, David C. Charles Willson Peale: Art and Selfhood in the Early Republic.. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, August 2004.
Using both Peale's autobiographical information and contextual information of the time period during which Peale lived, the American Enlightenment, Ward gives and well-balanced and thorough exploration of the multi-faceted life of Charles Willson Peale.
