As Earth Day is approaching, I wanted to share some of the books we’re reading to learn about and appreciate our planet. These were all new to us this spring, and we are reading them over and over these days!
You may know that we are HUGE fans of the Yasmin series written by Saadia Faruqi and illustrated by Hatem Aly. When we saw Yasmin The Recycler on the shelves at our library I knew it would be perfect for our Earth Day book stack! In this excellent early chapter book, Yasmin learns that her school is starting a recycling program, but her friends don’t follow the rules right away. Yasmin knows she can help get her friends- and her school- on board with the program! We love that it helps teach kids the power of their voice along with the importance of recycling to take care of our planet!
Recommended for ages 5-9
My youngest kid is maybe Susie Ghahremani’s biggest fan. She loves Stack the Cats, so when we found What Will Hatch, written by Jennifer Ward and illustrated by her favorite, we snagged it! It is an incredible picture book with cut outs on each page to give a hint to what’s going to hatch from each egg! It’s such a fun representation of some of the different creatures that lay eggs, some that my kids were familiar with and some that were new to them! They love guessing what will be on the next page, even though we’ve read this book at least 20 times already, and the information in the back about oviparous animals and the stages of development of a chicken egg (not pictured) was interesting to both of them!
Recommended for ages 3-7
We Are Water Protectors by Carole Lindstrom and illustrated by Michaela Goade is an incredible call to action to protect our Earth’s water from the harms of environmental pollutants, especially oil. The author/illustrator team are both Native American women, and the combination of words and images makes the message feels both urgent and personal. I love the way the repeated text highlightes the ways in which water connects people, creatures, and the land on Earth. This book made my kids and I have conversations about oil pipelines and the damage they cause, as well as ways that we can care for our planet in our own ways.
Recommended for ages 3-10.
Fly, Firefly is the sweet story of a firefly who sees glowing bioluminescence in the water and flies towards it, getting trapped in the water. A kid and their grownup see it and pull it out of the water, reminding it to stay close to its family in the trees. I love that this simple act of kindness- towards a firefly no less- is centered in this story. Author Shana Keller includes notes at the end about the inspiration for this story- an event witnessed by ecologist Rachel Carson- as well as information about bioluminesscence which fascinated my older kid!
Recommended for ages 3-8
We learned about author/illustrator Rachel Ignotofsky from her Women In Science book that we read during Women’s History Month. I was delighted to find this new book- What’s Inside a Flower, which is perfect for my older kid who loves non-fiction reading. The language is both clear and detailed, so my kids are learning and thinking about plants without feeling overwhelmed with new information. The images are stunning- accurate and beautiful in a beautiful olive green color palate. This is one we will read over and over again, sometimes reading a few pages at a time, and sometimes straight through.
Recommended for ages 4-11
Jan Brett’s Mossy is a beautiful story of Mossy, a turtle who grows a lovely spring garden on her shell. Her shell is so unique that she attracts the attention of some humans, who capture her and put her in a museum. She misses her friends and her home, and is eventually released back to her home where she sees her friends again. Brett’s beautiful illustrations of the world around Mossy are incredible, with her signature borders and vignettes creating natural pause points throughout the story. The message of appreciating the beauty of nature without disturbing it is so important- especially as kids learn how to treat other creatures kindly.
Recommended for ages 4-10.
What are you reading with the kids in your life this spring? We’d love to hear!
Of course, if you choose to purchase any of the books in this post you’ll head to my Bookshop store where I’ll make a small commission. Thanks! These books are all under the “Books about Nature” or “Books about Spring” book lists there.