Top 10 Tuesday – Favorite Books for Earth Day!

Earth Day is coming up quickly! And while I believe EVERY day is Earth Day, April 22nd is an annual celebration around that world that honors Earth’s gifts and helps raise awareness of the need to protect Earths’ natural resources for future generations. To help launch your Earth Day discussions and activities in your class this week, here is a list of some of my favorite new and “go to” Earth Day books! You will notice a letter-writing “trend” in the first several books on this list – perfect to inspire letter writing to Mother Earth!

The World is Ours to Cherish: A Letter to a Child – Mary Annaise Heglar

Starting my Earth Day book list is this new release I included in the recent spring GearPicks Pack book subscription box. This book is written as a letter from Earth encouraging readers to not only notice and appreciate the wonders all around them, but also do what they can to take care of the Earth. A perfect anchor book to inspire writing letters to the Earth for Earth Day! (Random House Books for Young Readers, 2024)

Love, the Earth – Frances Stickley

Another beautiful new Earth Day book written as a rhyming letter from Earth to all who inhabit it. Beautifully illustrated with a wonderful message that, just as there is only one of you, there is also only one earth, and we need to care for it just like it cares for us. A great book for younger readers. (Candlewick Press, 2024)

Dear Earth – Isabel Otter

Young Tessa decides to write a love letter to the Earth. She first describes the wonders of the oceans, savannahs, mountains, deserts and forests, then promises to take care of all its beauties and wonders. I love that this small act of writing a letter shows that this young child is starting to think of her role as a caregiver and activist. A great book to inspire your students to write their own letters to the Earth! (Caterpillar Books, March 2020)

If You Come to Earth – Sophie Blackall

If you could write a letter about Earth to someone who lives on another planet, what would you tell them? That is the premise of Sophie Blackall’s book, which is one of my favorites to share in preparation for Earth Day. A young child named Quinn writes a letter to a perspective alien, telling all about Earth, its place in the universe, the parts of it that make it Earth, living and non-living things – but most importantly interconnectedness. (Check out my OLLI lesson I developed and shared during Covid using this book!) Moving, gorgeous and tender! Available in French. (Scholastic, 2020)

Thank You, Earth: A Love Letter to Our Planet – April Pulley Sayre

This has been my “go to” Earth Day book ever since it was released in 2018 and I have used it to inspire many students to write Thank You letters to the Earth! Gorgeous descriptive language, this book offers an ode to the many things that our earth gives us – trees, water, air, and mountains, habitats, tiny plants, beautiful birds, unique animals. The photographs are gorgeous and the end of the book gives suggestions for how children can help our planet. (Greenwillow Books, 2018)

Doug – The Story of a Tree – Cathy Hussey

This story, written by Cathy Hussey, an accomplished BC educator from Victoria, honours and celebrates the life of a local BC Douglas Fir tree named Doug. It is a hopeful story, told over centuries, from the perspective of Doug and the other creatures living in the forest. Beautiful photographic illustrations by Simon Mendez. Highly recommend this one to add to your Earth Day collection! (Miriam Laundry Publishing, 2024)

You and the Universe – Stephen Hawking

Based on Stephen Hawking’s final Earth Day message, this book encourages young readers to ask big questions about the Universe and the Earth. Hawking poses great questions to readers and answers some of those questions in the back. While Hawking’s specialty is the stars, he urges all of us to remember the earth, too, and not to get so lost in the stars that we forget where we stand. A book that incluedes deep-thinking questions for readers? Of course it’s on my list! (Random House Books for Young Readers, 2024)

Green: The Story of Plant Life on Our Earth – Nicola Davies

I love EVERYTHING Nicola Davies writes so was thrilled to see her new book released last month. This non-fiction book focuses on the natural world and, specifically, the impact different trees have on our planet. The book includes information about how the trees produce oxygen, the process of photosynthesis, and climate change. The illustrations by Emily Sutton are large and lovely. An excellent, content-rich anchor book for building knowledge about the importance of trees and their impact on our environment. LOVE this one for both Earth Day and scientific knowledge building! (Candlewick Press, 2024)

One World: 24 Hours on Planet Earth – Nicola Davies

Because I’m a such a big Nicola Davies fan, I had to include this one on my list as well! This book is written as a dream-like journey across the world as seen through the eyes of two young girls. They observe life as it happens in just one minute of time – a glimpse of biodiversity combined with an urgent message about climate change. Fascinating, beautiful, imaginative, and inspires a LOT of curiosity! (Candlewick Press, March 2023)

Black Beach: A Community, an Oil Spill, and the Origin of Earth Day – Shaunna & John Stith

A great option for a book that outlines the origin of Earth Day. I like that the book showed how everyone tried to help with the cleanup and that the children then took up environmental activism. Includes a two page 4 year timeline laying out how Earth Day started. (Little Bee Books, Feb. 2023)

Be A Good Ancestor – Leona Prince

SO much to love about this book! It is a beautiful poetic call, through the lens of Indigenous beliefs, about generations and nature. The book is a reminder to us all of the interconnectedness & circle of life we all live, as well as the the impact of the ancestors that came before us. Gorgeous illustrations! (Orca Book Publishers, May 2022)

The Earth Gives More – Sue Fliess

Rhyming text takes readers through the seasons in a neighborhood, focusing on what nature is doing during different seasons and what people can be doing to take care of the Earth. It’s a simple celebration of all the Earth gives us and a gentle plea to do “help the Earth thrive and grow.” (Albert Whitman Company, 2019)

Kate, Who Tamed the Wind – Liz Garton Scanlon

Published in 2018, I only just discovered this little gem a few months ago but had to include it! It is a delightful, rhythmic read-aloud about a girl who solves a windy problem (wind is reaking havoc on her neighbour’s house) with an environmental solution: planting trees. This is a lovely story but it also illustrates an important scientific concept very well. A great anchor book for Earth Day but also for primary students learning about ecosystems. (Anne Shwartz Books, 2018)

Only One – Deborah Hopkinson

A young girl takes readers on a space tour – from the beginning of the universe through a vast number of stars and planets, eventually focusing on our galaxy, solar system, and the importance of caring for our planet. Lovely illustrations! An excellent anchor book for both Earth Day and building knowledge about the solar system! (Anne Schwartz Books, 2022)

My Friend Earth – Patricia MacLachlan

Such a beautiful, engaging book with unique dye-cut, “peek-through” illustations. The narrator personifies Mother Earth and describes her different acts through the seasons. Gorgeous illustrations and a great message about the importance of our friend Mother Earth. (Chronicle Books, 2020)

Thank you for stopping by! I hope you found one or two new titles you are excited to share!

Happy Earth Day, everyone!

Top 10 Tuesday – Celebrate Poetry Month with

Poetry Month is HERE! So rather than squishing poetry into the last two weeks of June, NOW is the time to spread a little poetry joy in your classroom! In fact, there is no better time than to start sharing the joy poetry with your students than Poetry Month! Remember – it’s difficult for students to write poetry until they EXPERIENCE poetry – so use this month to fill them up with the rhyme, rhythm and repetition from some great children’s poets!

Here are 10 of my new favorite poetry books to help celebrate poetry month with your students:

Welcome to the Wonder House – Rebecca Kai Dotlich & Georgia Heard

From one of my all-time favourite poets for both learners and educators, Georgia Heard, this book is visually stunning and overflowing with wonder! The book is a collection of children’s poems written in the format of an allegorical house. Each room is filled with poems covering a wide variety of STEAM topics, including geology, paleontology, physics, astronomy, creative writing, and drawing. There is magic, wonder and curiosity in every poem – and a perfect book to promote “Powerful Thinking”! Such a lot you could do with this book in a classroom!

Love, the Earth – Frances Stickley

This moving poem is told from the perspective of the Earth. The book celebrates Earth and all the things it can do for us, but also focuses on how we can take care of it. This would be a great book for Earth day and for young students who are exploring ways to appreciate what the world gives us. Beautiful, vibrant illustrations.

Poetry Comics – Grant Snider

This is the first poetry graphic novel I have ever read! Such a wonderfully creative combination of poetry and comics in a fun and imaginative book. I also appreciated how the poems deal with universal human emotions and feelings such as anxiety, ambition, creativity, fears, and joy. Drawings are delighful and whimsical! A great book for grades 4 and up.

This is a Tiny Fragile Snake – Nicholas Ruddock

A delightful collection of poetry for young animal lovers! Fifteen information poems about various animals and insects, highlighting their unique characteristics but also explores close encounters with animals … and choosing to respond tenderly.

NOTE: If you are a GearPicks Pack book subscriber, this book is included in the INTERMEDIATE Spring GearPicks Box and will be arriving at your school soon!

Climbing the Volcano: A Journey in Haiku – Curtis Manley

Through haiku poems, a young boy narrates his family’s invigorating hike to the peak of Oregon’s
South Sister volcano. Not all the poems in this book follow the 5-7-5 syllable rule but an interesting note in the back about the haiku form debunks the idea that English-language haiku must follow a 5-7-5 syllable pattern! Also included in the back notes is the history and geology of the region, hiking tips, and a visual index.

NOTE: If you are a GearPicks Pack book subscriber, this book and accompanying lesson plan, is included in the INTERMEDIATE Spring GearPicks Box and will be arriving at your school soon!

A Planet is a Poem – Amanda West Lewis

A poetic exploration of the wonders of our solar system – this book is a perfect example of how poetry can be combined with scientific information! 14 original poems filled with fascinating facts about planets, each written in a different poetic structure – sonnet, acrositic, free verse, a ballad of Earth, an ode to the sun, and a villanelle for Venus. Each double page spread features a stunning space scene, a poem and a fold-out flap that includes accessible science facts and an explanation of the poetic form used and why it was matched with that object. AMAZING book!

Animals in Pants: A Poetry Picture Book – Suzy Levinson

Your students will enjoy digging into their imagination pockets and imagining just what if animals wore pants! Such a fun book to read aloud during Poetry month! From wiener dogs in yoga pants to kangaroos wearing Elvis-inspired jumpsuits (because they’re King-aroos, lol!) every poem is sure to bring out some smiles and giggles.

Octopus Acrobatics – Sue Fliess

While not exactly considered a poetry book, this information book includes playful rhyming verse and gorgeous artwork celebrating our curiosity about octopuses. Short lines of verse are accompanied by longer sentences of prose containing more information on each page. The verse works well to summarize the illustrations for younger readers, while more detail is there for the older ones. The artwork is perfect in illustrating the octopus’s camouflage abilities and ocean habitat. Back notes includes a glossary and an anatomical diagram.

I’m From – Gary R. Gray Jr

A beautiful poetic picture book that helps answer the question — where are you from? But instead of giving a geographical answer, the boy tells all the things that make him special that set him apart, that show he is loved and cherished, and has a place in the world. This one will tug on your heartstrings! A perfect book to share when exploring identity and unique character traits and great addition to your Powerful Understanding collection for SELF!

My Head Has a Bellyache: And More Nonsense for Mischievous Kids and Immature Grown-Ups – Chris Harris

If you love Shel Silverstein – you will LOVE Chris Harris the same, if not more! Hilarious, entertaining, and heartwarming and invite LOTS of connections! You will be laughing one minute and tearing up the next! SOOOO good!

At the Poles – David Elliot

Straightforward and accessible, this poetry picture book captures the wonders of nature and animals found in the Arctic and Antarctic in 15 poems. Gorgeous paper collage illustrations. A great book to use as poetry or linked to your science unit. If you like this book, David Elliott has written other poetry books including On the Farm, In the Wild, and In the Sea.

Counting in Dog Years and Other Sassy Math Poems – Betsy Franco

This book of poems is full of trickery about math and covers lots of math topics including palindromes, geometry, fractions (when talking about summer vacation), and even multiplying mice! All in clever rhyme and includes hilarious illustrations filled with creatures and kids in full action on every page!

Champion Chompers, Super Stinkers and Other Poems by Extraordinary Animals – Linda Ashman

An information poetry book introducing extreme animals through playful poems and fascinating facts. Each poem is written as a riddle to be solved from both the facts that it shares and a visual clue that is on the page. Definitely a book you could use to practice inferring (from the clues and pictures) and also one that might inspire kids to write their own riddle poems!

If you are are looking for new ways to bring poetry into your classroom, my book Powerful Poetry, is filled with practical ideas, lessons, structures, and strategies to help you get started!

Thanks for stopping by! Happy Poetry Month, everyone!

And don’t forget – April 18 is Poem in Your Pocket Day – a great day for kids to share and celebrate favorite or original poems!

Top 10 Tuesday – New Books for Celebrating Poetry Month!

Poetry Month is HERE! So instead of squishing poetry into the last two weeks of June (when report cards are done!) NOW is the time! In fact, there is no better time than to start sharing the joy poetry with your students than Poetry Month! Remember – it’s difficult for students to write poetry until they EXPERIENCE poetry. So use this time to fill them up with poetry every chance you get.

If you are are looking for new ways to bring poetry into your classroom, my book Powerful Poetry, is filled with practical ideas, lessons, structures, and strategies to help you get started!

Here are 10 of my new favorite poetry books for your reading sharing pleasure:

Welcome to the Wonder House – Rebecca Kai Dotlich & Georgia Heard

From one of my all-time favourite poets for both learners and educators, Georgia Heard, this book is visually stunning and overflowing with wonder! The book is a collection of children’s poems written in the format of an allegorical house. Each room is filled with poems covering a wide variety of STEAM topics, including geology, paleontology, physics, astronomy, creative writing, and drawing. There is magic, wonder and curiosity in every poem – and a perfect book to promote “Powerful Thinking”! Such a lot you could do with this book in a classroom!

Love, the Earth – Frances Stickley

This moving poem is told from the perspective of the Earth. The book celebrates Earth and all the things it can do for us, but also focus on how we can take care of it. This would be a great book for Earth day and for young students who are exploring ways to appreciate what the world gives us. Beautiful, vibrant illustrations.

Poetry Comics – Grant Snider

This is the first poetry graphic novel I have ever read! Such a wonderfully creative combination of poetry and comics in a fun and imaginative book. I also appreciated how the poems deal with universal human emotions and feelings such as anxiety, ambition, creativity, fears, and joy. Drawings are delighful and whimsical! A great book for grades 4 and up.

This is a Tiny Fragile Snake – Nicholas Ruddock

A delightful collection of poetry for young animal lovers! Fifteen information poems about various animals and insects, highlighting their unique characteristics but also explores close encounters with animals … and choosing to respond tenderly.

NOTE: If you are a GearPicks Pack book subscriber, this book is included in the INTERMEDIATE Spring GearPicks Box and will be arriving at your school soon!

Climbing the Volcano: A Journey in Haiku – Curtis Manley

Through haiku poems, a young boy narrates his family’s invigorating hike to the peak of Oregon’s
South Sister volcano. Not all the poems in this book follow the 5-7-5 syllable rule but an interesting note in the back about the haiku form debunks the idea that English-language haiku must follow a 5-7-5 syllable pattern! Also included in the back notes is the history and geology of the region, hiking tips, and a visual index.

NOTE: If you are a GearPicks Pack book subscriber, this book and accompanying lesson plan, is included in the INTERMEDIATE Spring GearPicks Box and will be arriving at your school soon!

A Planet is a Poem – Amanda West Lewis

A poetic exploration of the wonders of our solar system – this book is a perfect example of how poetry can be combined with scientific information! 14 original poems filled with fascinating facts about planets, each written in a different poetic structure – sonnet, acrositic, free verse, a ballad of Earth, an ode to the sun, and a villanelle for Venus. Each double page spread features a stunning space scene, a poem and a fold-out flap that includes accessible science facts and an explanation of the poetic form used and why it was matched with that object. AMAZING book!

Animals in Pants: A Poetry Picture Book – Suzy Levinson

Your students will enjoy digging into their imagination pockets and imagining just what if animals wore pants! Such a fun book to read aloud during Poetry month! From wiener dogs in yoga pants to kangaroos wearing Elvis-inspired jumpsuits (because they’re King-aroos, lol!) every poem is sure to bring out some smiles and giggles.

Octopus Acrobatics – Sue Fliess

While not exactly considered a poetry book, this information book includes playful rhyming verse and gorgeous artwork celebrating our curiosity about octopuses. Short lines of verse are accompanied by longer sentences of prose containing more information on each page. The verse works well to summarize the illustrations for younger readers, while more detail is there for the older ones. The artwork is perfect in describing the octopus’s camouflage abilities and ocean habitat. Back notes includes a glossary and an anatomical diagram.

I’m From – Gary R. Gray Jr

A beautiful poetic picture book that helps answer the question — where are you from? But instead of giving a geographical answer, the boy tells all the things that make him special that set him apart and that show he is loved and cherished and has a place in the world. This one will tug on your heartstrings! A perfect book to share when exploring identity and unique character traits and great addition to your Powerful Understanding collection for SELF!

My Head Has a Bellyache: And More Nonsense for Mischievous Kids and Immature Grown-Ups – Chris Harris

If you love Shel Silverstein’s poetry – you will LOVE Chris Harris’s the same, if not more! Hilarious, entertaining, and heartwarming. You will be laughing one minute and tearing up the next! SOOOO good!

At the Poles – David Elliot

Straightforward and accessible, this poetry picture book captures the wonders of nature and animals found in the Arctic and Antarctic in 15 poems. Gorgeous paper collage illustrations. A great book to use as poetry or linked to your science unit. If you like this book, David Elliott has written other poetry books including On the Farm, In the Wild, and In the Sea.

Counting in Dog Years and Other Sassy Math Poems – Betsy Franco

This book of poems is full of trickery about math and covers lots of math topics including palindromes, geometry, fractions (when talking about summer vacation), and even multiplying mice! All in clever rhyme and includes hilarious illustrations filled with creatures and kids in full action on every page!

Champion Chompers, Super Stinkers and Other Poems by Extraordinary Animals – Linda Ashman

An information poetry book introducing extreme animals through playful poems and fascinating facts. Each poem is written as a riddle to be solved from both the facts that it shares and a visual clue that is on the page. Definitely a book you could use to practice inferring (from the clues and pictures) and also one that might inspire kids to write their own riddle poems!

Thanks for stopping by! Happy Poetry Month, everyone!

And don’t forget – April 18 is Poem in Your Pocket Day – a great day for kids to share and celebrate favorite or original poems!

Top Ten Tuesday – Favorite New Halloween Books 2023

With only one more week before Halloween, I thought I would share some of the new releases perfect for reading aloud as your students count down to the big day! Looking for more titles? Check out my 2022 Halloween blog HERE. For less spook and more pumpkin – check out my pumpkin post HERE.

I Will Read to You – Gideon Sterer

Starting out with my unexpected new favorite book of the Halloween season – and the perfect combination … books and Halloween!  Adorable little boy loves reading to monsters and he goes out to find them and reads to them under the moon. Delightfully spooky and surprisingly tender, this lovely story is a celebration of monsters, stories, and the way a good book can bring us together. (Don’t forget to look for the little orange monster hidden on almost every page!)

No Such Thing – Ella Bailey

Very sweet rhyming story about a little girl who is rather skeptical about ghosts. When she looks for explanations of the strange things happening around the house, she sees the everyday explanations (ie. the dog is sneaking food, a crow stole the laundry off the line) rather than the spooky ones (that ghosts are doing it!) Love the seek-and-find ghosts hiding in all the illustrations!

The Skull – Jon Klassen

Although not officially a Halloween book, Jon Klassen’s new book is definitely one to share at this time of year. Despite the spook, it’s actually a sweet funny retelling of a Tyrolean folktale filled with skeletons, a talking skull, and a delightful little girl. Klassen’s illustrations are perfection! Possibly suited for slightly older students.

Bruce and the Legend of Soggy Hollow – Ryan T. Higgins

Grumpy Bruce is a bear who does not like holidays, and he really doesn’t like Halloween. His family of mice and geese decides the only way to get Bruce excited about Halloween is to tell a scary story! The story is laugh-out-loud funny, and as always, the wonderfully expressive illustrations are priceless!

The Light Inside – Dan Misdea

This Halloween book is so cute! It’s tiny (six inches by six inches) and completely wordless. It follows a young, timid jack-o-lantern and his beloved stuffed animal. When his stuffy is blown away in a breeze, he’ll stop at nothing to get him back, even if it means facing a cat, skeleton, and witch. Adorable!

A Super Scary Narwhalloween  – Ben Clanton

I was delighted to see this one as I’m a huge fan of the Narwhal and Jelly books! This is the eighth book in this beginning graphic-ish novel series where readers join Narwhal and Jelly for the spookiest time of the year, complete with a great twist! The audio is also terrific with a full cast, original music and sound effects – great for visualizing!

10 Things I Love About Halloween – Samantha Sweeney

Sweet simple counting book about the fun parts of Halloween from picking a pumpkin to a neighborhood Halloween parade. A lively, lighthearted celebration of all the things that make Halloween special!

Grumpy Monkey Don’t Be Scared – Suzanne Lang and Max Lang

I love Grumpy Monkey so was so excited to see a new Halloween addition! Grumpy Monkey and his jungle friends are trick-or-treating on Halloween amid strange noises and mysterious smells. Heads up for a few flatulating jokes!

We Planted a Pumpkin – Rob Ramsden

A great rhyming text perfect for reading aloud! Two children plant a pumpkin seed together and care for it through the seasons. The plant flowers and a pumpkin forms but the children must be patient and respectful of the growing process. Finally, they get to enjoy their pumpkin at their Halloween party!

Melvina Whitmoore (More or Less a Horror Story) – Faith Capalia

A really cute book about a little old lady who is afraid of everything. When Melvina Whitmoore moves into a new house, she’s hoping that it will be a little less scary than her last one. But she hears noises in the night, and eventually finds a spooky surprise downstairs. A fun introduction to “horror” for young readers.

The Great Zombie Pumpkin Parade! – Robert Burleigh 

While I’m not a huge zombie fan, if you or your readers love a Halloween book that’s more ghoulish than cute, this one is for you! On Halloween night, a group of Halloween pumpkin heads come to life, zombie style, and march in parade to the graveyard to rest for another year. It’s lively and rhythmic and just spooky enough!

Thank you for stopping by! I hope you found one or two new titles to add to your Halloween collection!

Happy reading and Happy Halloween, everyone!

Top Ten Tuesday – Books to Celebrate Earth Day

Earth Day is April 22nd but it’s never too early to start sharing some inspiring Earth Day read-alouds in your class! My Top Ten post this week features some BRAND NEW titles (many just released last month) and a few of my older favorites for encouraging all students to be “Earth Mindful” and the to help raise awareness of the importance of protecting the environment. We can ALL make a difference!

This Is The Planet Where I Live – K.L. Going

This gorgeous new release celebrates the inter-connectedness of our planet. Written in a cumulative style that begs to be read aloud! As the text repeats, I can see younger students joining in the reading. The illustrations are bright and colorful and offers SO many possibilities for art, poetry, and science extensions. Also a great anchor book for visualizing! (Beach Lane Books, March 2023)

The Day The River Caught Fire – Barry Wittenstein

What I love about picture books is how much I learn from them! This new book will help you and your students discover how a 1969 fire in one of the most polluted rivers in America sparked the national Earth Day movement. I had never heard of the fire on the Cuyahoga River, so I thought this book did a nice job of explaining the lead up to the fire, what caused so much pollution in the river, and how people were inspired to make change. (Simon Schuster/Paula Wiseman Books – March 28, 2023)

Black Beach: A Community, an Oil Spill, and the Origin of Earth Day- Shaunna & John Stith

A second option for a new book that depicts the origin of Earth Day. I like that the book showed how everyone tried to help with the cleanup and that the children then took to environmental activism. Excellent two page timeline laying out over a period of four years how Earth Day started included. (Little Bee Books, Feb. 2023)

One Earth – Eileen Spinelli

I love Eileen Spinelli and I love this Earth Day counting book – perfect for early primary students AND available in French! Readers count wonderful things in nature they see 1-10, and then count back down looking at ways they can reduce, reuse, recycle and take care of the one Earth. I appreciated the cleverness and the fact that the book goes beyond the normal “turn off a light or recycle’ to look at a wider variety of ways to reduce waste. Would make a great read for Earth Day for younger students! (WorthyKids – 2020)

If You Come to Earth – Sophie Blackall

If you could write a letter about Earth to someone who lives on another planet, what would you tell them? That is the premise of Sophie Blackall’s book, which is one of my favorites to share in preparation for Earth Day. A young child named Quinn writes a letter to a perspective alien, telling all about Earth, its place in the universe, the parts of it that make it Earth, living and non-living things – but most importantly interconnectedness. (Check out my OLLI lesson I developed and shared during Covid using this book!) Moving, gorgeous and tender! Available in French. (Scholastic, 2020)

Be A Good Ancestor – Leona Prince & Gabrielle Prince

SO much to love about this book! It is a beautiful poetic call, through the lens of Indigenous beliefs, about generations and nature. The book is a reminder to us all of the interconnectedness & circle of life we all live, as well as the the impact of the ancestors that came before us. Gorgeous illustrations! (Orca Book Publishers, May 2022)

The Earth Gives More – Sue Fliess

Rhyming text takes readers through the seasons in a neighborhood, focusing on what nature is doing during different seasons and what people can be doing to take care of the Earth. It’s a simple celebration of all the Earth gives us and a gentle plea to do “help the Earth thrive and grow.” (Albert Whitman Company, 2019)

Sea Change – Joel Harper

A beautiful wordless picture book about a little girl who discovers litter during a visit to the beach. So she collects some of the trash to take home, turns it into an art project, and shares the story with her class. As a result, her class goes to the beach for a clean up, turns what they find into an art project, and shares it with a larger audience. The movement continues to build with more people participating in beach clean ups. I love how this book shows kids how it is possible for them to promote climate change and inspire others. (Freedom Three Publishing, 2015)

The Planet We Call Home – Aimee Isaac

This new book was included in the #GearPicks Pack book subscription this spring! It’s a lyrical ode to Planet Earth – told in the cumulative style of “This Is the House that Jack Built.” An inspirational environmental message told in gently, rhythmic language and STUNNING illustrations. A perfect addition to your Earth Day collection! (Philomel Books, March 2023)

For more information about the GearPicks Pack book subscription service or get your name on the information email list, please contact Elizabeth Graves at gpp@uls.com

One World – Nicola Davies

I’m a huge fan of Nicola Davies so always excited to see a new book by her! This nonfiction book is written as a dream-like journey across the world as seen through the eyes of two young girls. They observe life as it happens in just one minute of time – a glimpse of biodiversity combined with an urgent message about climate change. The message is clear: while the world may feel like it’s ours, we share it with many other living things and our actions have impact.  Fascinating, beautiful, imaginative, and inspires lots of curiosity. (Candlewick Press, March 2023)

Dear Earth – Isabel Otter

Young Tessa decides to write a love letter to the Earth. She first describes the wonders of the oceans, savannahs, mountains, deserts and forests, then promises to take care of all its beauties and wonders. I love that this small act of writing a letter shows that this young child is starting to think of her role as a caregiver and activist. A great book to inspire your students to write their own letters to the Earth! (Caterpillar Books, March 2020)

Count On Us Climate – Activists From One To A Billon – Gabi Snyder

A wonderful beginning book for climate activists shows how one small person can make a big change! This book gives a sense of agency and urgency to the fight for our climate and includes numbers, the alphabet, and a lot of information about the environment. Includes extensive back matter and a day by day guide of how to help like “meat-free Monday” and “tidy-up Tuesday”. (Barefoot Books, Sept. 2022)

Thanks for stopping by! I hope you have found a few new titles to share with your students leading up to Earth Day!