It’s officially April, which means Earth Day is right around the corner! In addition to our usual Earth Day activities, I love to fill our week with picture books. This blog post is packed full of the very best Earth Day books for kids!
These Earth Day books are the perfect way to integrate social studies throughout your day. You don’t even have to plan an entire lesson! Just pull out one of these picture books for a quick, meaningful Earth Day read aloud.
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The EARTH Book by Todd Parr
If you enjoy the simple and colorful style of other Todd Parr books, you’ll love The EARTH Book! In this book, each page featured a different way to conserve resources or protect the earth. There is only one sentence on each page, along with bright and colorful illustrations, which means it’s perfect for preschool and kindergarten. Bonus – the book itself is made from recycled materials!
Every Day Earth Day by Lisa Bullard
Every Day Earth Day is a short picture book, perfect for Kindergarten and 1st Grade. This story does a great job of explaining both how humans hurt the earth and how we can help fix it. Even though this Earth day book is simple enough for lower elementary, it has a lot of information packed into a tiny package!
This Class Can Save the Planet by Stacy Tornio
The nest thing about This Class Can Save the Planet is how the author made the words almost a part of the picture. They are funky and colorful and almost remind me of a comic book. Your kids are sure to love it! This is another one of those Earth Day books that gives kids a list of ways they can help save the earth.
The Adventures of a Plastic Bottle by Alison Inches
In The Adventures of a Plastic Bottle, students will follow the journey of a plastic bottle who is going through a recycling plant. This book is a little more wordy than the previous suggestions, but it is a great way to peek at the recycling process without actually visiting a recycling center.
We Are Water Protectors by Carole Lindstrom
We Are Water Protectors is inspired by the stories and movements of indigenous people. This is not your typical Earth day book, but it is absolutely beautiful, with poetic words and gorgeous illustrations. It’s a great reminder of why water is so important to us, as well as how we are called to protect it and conserve it. There is some imagery used in this book that may be difficult for young readers to understand (a snake represents what humans have done to harm the water), but it would be a great lesson to discuss how story tellers use symbolism.
One Plastic Bag: Isatou Ceesay and the Recycling Women of the Gambia by Miranda Paul
If you’re looking for nonfiction earth day books, add this one to your list! This is a true story about a woman named Isatou Ceesay. When she noticed that plastic bags were polluting her community, she took action. This is a great story to show how one person can make a big difference. It is a meatier read, but I think even kindergarteners would be enthralled by this story.
Why Should I Recycle? By Jen Green
Why Should I Recycle? is just one book is the Why Should I? series and they are all a great addition to your Earth Day collection! These picture books are simple enough for Kindergarten, but give great information. They don’t just go into how to help the earth, but also why it’s important. I personally love that each book in this series focuses on a different aspect of helping the earth. It allows us to go more in depth on each topic.
Compost Stew by Mary McKenna Siddals
Compost Stew is not your average Warth Day book! This alphabet book goes A-Z through items you can put in your compost bin. It doesn’t go into why you should compost or how to compost, but it is a great introduction to what you can put in your compost bin. I would read this book before starting a class compost bin as an Earth Day project!
The Pout-Pout Fish Cleans Up the Ocean by Deborah Diesen
Everybody’s favorite pouting book character is back for Earth Day in this ocean picture book. In this story, pout-pout fish and his friends notice that their ocean home has become a mess with litter and garbage. They work together to clean it up. This picture book is perfect for preschool – first grade!
Heal the Earth by Julian Lennon
Heal the Earth is entertaining and interactive for kids, but it has a simple but powerful message. In this book, kids will fly around the world to help people and the earth, from bringing medicine to people who do not have access to conserving the rainforest. The ideas and messages in this story can easily go beyond Earth Day too!
Biscuit’s Earth Day Celebration by Alyssa Satin Capucilli
Everybody’s favorite dog is back and headed to school to learn about Earth Day! This Earth Day story is perfect for preschool and kindergarten because it’s told as a shorter narrative story. There is still plenty of information about Earth Day in here, but this book is great for an entertaining earth day read aloud.
What a Waste: Trash, Recycling, and Protecting our Planet by Jess French
This nonfiction book is not a story, but it’s packed full of bite-sized information and fun facts. Pull this book out as you discuss certain topics during Earth week. For example, when you discuss pollution, you can grab this book and read the quick facts about what pollution is and the different types, from water to air pollution.
Earth Day Activities for Kids
Looking for Earth day activities that are hands on and cover a wide variety of topics to go along with these earth day books? I’ve got you covered! This Earth Day unit includes an original nonfiction book covering a variety of topics, earth day crafts, emergent readers, writing activities, picture sorts, and so much more! It has everything you need for Earth Day in K-2. Grab the Earth Day unit here.
