This thesis by publication considers picture books and graphic novels that adapt or appropriate history for young readers. Each selected text tells a story in a multimodal format – it uses words and images in combination. The thesis uses the categories proposed by Keith Barton and Linda Levstik in Teaching History for the Common Good (2004) to identify the historical stance or stances that are implied by the texts in each chapter: the analytic, identification, moral response or exhibition stance/s. The thesis finds that narrative retellings of history in multimodal formats do not imply one particular historical stance; varied stances towards history are found in the texts. This thesis reframes the discussion of children’s historical reading by showing that adaptations for children do not merely convey historical information but systematically cue stance (identification, moral response, analysis, exhibition) by specific verbal-visual mechanisms. The thesis contributes to the study of children’s literature and history education by showing how multimodal adaptations and appropriations of the past invite young readers to identify with past actors, to make moral evaluations, and to analyse causes and evidence.