Earth Day and Earth picture book recommendations are by Angela Ferraris, The Retired School Librarian.
(This content contains Amazon affiliate links. When you buy through these links, I may earn an affiliate commission at no additional cost to you).
Earth Day Picture Books
The Day the River Caught Fire: How the Cuyahoga River Exploded and Ignited the Earth Day Movement
by Barry Wittenstein (Author), Jessie Hartland (Illustrator). Publisher ‏ : ‎ Simon & Schuster/Paula Wiseman Books . 2023. Grades 2-5. Hardcover Narrative Nonfiction Picture Book. ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1534480834.
Brief summary: In the summer of 1969, the Cuyahoga River in Cleveland caught fire from the sparks of a train railcar falling into the water. It was not the first time the river caught on fire.
Young readers will learn about how the river became so polluted and what happened to change the pollution from continuously building.
Back pages include sections: Author’s Note, Environmental Time Line, Clean Water Act, To Learn More, and a Bibliography.
For more details or to buy, click here.
Rating: 3.5/5 đź“—đź“—đź“—1/2
Black Beach: A Community, an Oil Spill, and the Origin of Earth Day
by Shaunna & John Stith (Author), Maribel Lechuga (Illustrator). Publisher ‏ : ‎ little bee books . 2023. Grades K-4. Hardcover Picture Book. ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1499813043.
Brief summary: Sam is in class in Santa Barbara when she sees her teacher look outside the window after the principal whispers to her and wonders why. Her parents explain to her about Union Oil causing an oil spill near where they live. The family walks to their favorite beach to find that the beach and ocean are black with oil. The town tries to clean the oil from the beach and help the animals covered with it.
A national day was created from this disaster and organized to celebrate and protest the environment which still exists today called Earth Day, April 22, 1970.
There are several sections in the back of the book: Author’s Note, Selected Bibliography, Timeline, Earth Day Today, Earth Day Every Day, and How to Become an Environmental Activist.
Teachers and homeschooling parents could share this book as a supplement in addition with Earth Day activities.
For more details or to buy, click here.
Rating: 4/5 đź“—đź“—đź“—đź“—
Earth and World Picture Books
My Baba’s Garden
by Jordan Scott (Author), Sydney Smith (Illustrator). Publisher ‏ : ‎ Neal Porter Books. 2023. PreK-3. Hardcover Picture Book. ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0823450831.
Brief summary: Author, Jordan Scott, recalls visiting with his Baba at her home. His father would drop Jordan off to have breakfast with his Baba and afterwards, they would walk together to his school. If it was raining, Baba would look for worms and put them in a glass jar to take home for her garden.
His baba would retrieve him after school, and they would spend time in her garden learning about the plants. This is their usual routine until she moves in with the family when a new building is built over her home. Not able to have a full garden any longer, she keeps a little garden in her room.
Comments: Told through the first-person point of view by the boy.
Jordan Scott wrote one of the most lovely book dedications I’ve ever read.
For more details or to buy, click here.
Rating: 5/5 đź“—đź“—đź“—đź“—đź“—
Around Antarctica: Exploring the Frozen South
by Tania Medvedeva (Author), Maria Vyshinskaya (Illustrator). Publisher ‏ : ‎ Thames & Hudson. 2023. Grades 3-6. Hardcover Nonfiction Picture Book. ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0500653135.
Brief summary: Wow. Love this book! It is full of everything a young reader needs to know about Antarctica, and all done with regular text, speech bubbles, and nonfiction text features. Children will stop and examine the detailed illustrations before turning to the next page.
Comments: The several foldouts make a whole sphere, full of information and fun pictures.
The book’s format is a fourth of a sphere but can fit appropriately on a shelf.
This is a must for any school or public library and would make a superb book gift for the young reader in the family(as well as adult book lovers). Cleverly done.
For more details or to buy, click here.
Rating: 5/5 đź“—đź“—đź“—đź“—đź“—
City Beet
by Tziporah Cohen (Author), Udayana Lugo (Illustrator). Publisher ‏ : ‎ Sleeping Bear Press. 2023 PreK-2. Hardcover Picture Book. ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1534112711.
Brief summary: Mrs. Kosta and Victoria plant and nurture a beet seed until it ripens. The woman begins to harvest the gigantic beet but cannot remove it from the ground, no matter how hard she tugs. Several neighbors stop by the garden to help pull, creating a line out to the sidewalk until the vegetable is uprooted with a big “SPROING!!”
Comments: There is an Author’s Note and Raw Beet & Garlic Salad Recipe in the back.
For more details or to buy, click here.
Rating: 4/5 đź“—đź“—đź“—đź“—
Stillwater and Koo Save the World (A Stillwater and Friends Book)
by Jon J Muth (Author, Illustrator). Publisher ‏ : ‎ Scholastic Press . 2023. PreK-2. Hardcover Picture Book. ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1338812312.
Brief summary: Koo wakes up and wants to save the world, and his uncle suggests cleaning his room first. Throughout the day, the uncle and nephew do small and thoughtful acts. Koo shares his feelings of wanting to save the world and learns how to make a difference in their world through acts of kindness.
For more details or to buy, click here.
Rating: 3.5/5 đź“—đź“—đź“—1/2
No World Too Big: Young People Fighting Global Climate Change
by Lindsay H. Metcalf (Author), Jeanette Bradley (Author, Illustrator), Keila V. Dawson (Author). Publisher ‏ : ‎ Charlesbridge. 2023. 2-5 grade. Hardcover Picture Book. ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1623543136.
Brief summary: Twelve poems written by children worldwide promoting global activisms. A paragraph explains what each child is doing and how the reader can help.
Back pages include sections: From Me…, To We…, Glossary, Poetry Forms, and About the Poets.
For more details or to buy, click here.
Rating: 3/5 đź“—đź“—đź“—
Cool Green: Amazing, Remarkable Trees
by Lulu Delacre (Author, Illustrator). Publisher ‏ : ‎ Candlewick. 2023. PreK -2. Hardcover Nonfiction Picture Book. ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1536220407.
Brief summary: A landscaper teaches his granddaughter why he loves trees. Each tree is described in a poem.
Back pages include sections: A Note From the Author-Illustrator, Why Trees?, Cool Facts About the Trees in This Book, For Further Exploration, and A Bibliography.
For more details or to buy, click here.
Rating: 3.5/5 đź“—đź“—đź“—1/2
The Tree and the River
by Aaron Becker (Author, Illustrator). Publisher ‏ : ‎ Candlewick. 2023. PreK-5. Hardcover Picture Book. ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1536223293.
Brief summary: This wordless picture book begins with a tree growing on the banks of a river. It observes humans throughout the many decades changing with the seasons and years that have gone by.
Aaron Becker brilliantly captures the Mother Nature vs. humankind aspect through these detailed and thought-provoking illustrations.
For more details or to buy, click here.
Rating: 5/5 đź“—đź“—đź“—đź“—đź“—
Flipflopi: How a Boat Made from Flip-Flops Is Helping to Save the Ocean
by Linda Ravin Lodding (Author), Dipesh Pabari (Author), Michael Machira Mwangi (Illustrator). Publisher ‏ : ‎ Beaming Books. 2023. K-3. Hardcover Picture Book. ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1506486406.
Brief summary: Juma walks with his grandfather to go fishing on the beach and is met with all sorts of plastic trash and thousands of flip-flops. The community comes together and gathers all of the endless plastic waste and melts it to make a dhow boat.
This is based a on a true story which is explained in the back pages along with sections: Ocean Pollution, How Can You Help?, and Glossary.
What a “make lemonade out of lemons” story!
For more details or to buy, click here.
Rating: 4/5 đź“—đź“—đź“—đź“—
Climate Warriors: Fourteen Scientists and Fourteen Ways We Can Save Our Planet
by Laura Gehl (Author). Publisher ‏ : ‎ Millbrook Press. 2023. Grades 3-8. Hardcover Nonfiction. ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1728460406.
Brief summary: There is an introduction to define climate change before each of the fourteen scientists’ chapter. There are a variety of different scientists who explains ways they are working and studying to help the Earth. Each section concludes with recommendations from the scientist and what we can do.
The book ends with ideas of how we all can be a climate warrior.
For more details or to buy, click here.
Rating: 3.5/5 đź“—đź“—đź“—1/2
The World and Everything in It
by Kevin Henkes (Author, Illustrator). Publisher ‏ : ‎ Greenwillow Books. 2023. PreK-1. Hardcover Picture Book.ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0063245648.
Brief summary: This book shares what is around us in the world: big, small, and between. The soft and calming illustrations are done with brown ink and watercolor paint, demonstrating the size differences.
For more details or to buy, click here.
Rating: 3/5 đź“—đź“—đź“—
You Are My Pride: A Love Letter from Your Motherland
by Carole Boston Weatherford (Author), E. B. Lewis (Illustrator). Publisher ‏ : ‎ Astra Young Readers. 2023. PreK-2. Hardcover Picture Book. ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1635923872.
Brief summary: This touching poem, illustrated with large two-page illustrations done in watercolors, is a lovely letter from Mother Nature telling her human children how much she has loved them since the beginning of their creation on Earth.
Back pages briefly explain the Developments in Early Human Evolution.
Educators–this would be a great supplement to use with the different viewpoints unit of study.
For more details or to buy, click here.
Rating: 4/5 đź“—đź“—đź“—đź“—
The selected children’s books are chosen by a highly qualified retired elementary school librarian, who passionately reads and recommends picture books to teachers, school librarians, parents, grandparents, and other book enthusiasts.
Most of the books Mrs. Ferraris recommends are checked out from the public library. The only exception is for the complimentary copies that she receives for an honest review, which are duly noted.
