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SUGGESTED BOOKS TO SHARE NATURE

most of this list was compiled by author/presenter Barbara Gowan


GENERAL NATURE

ABCs Naturally: A Child’s Guide to the Alphabet through Nature by Diebel & Falscheur
An Egg is Quiet by Dianna Aston
Animal Tracks and Signs: Tack Over 400 Animals from Big Cats to Backyard Birds Jinny Johnson
A Place for Birds by Melissa Stewart
Are You a Spider? –Backyard Books (+ bee, dragonfly, grasshopper, ladybug, snail, etc.)
Arrowhawk Lola M. Schaefer & Gabi Swiatkowska
Birds by Kevin Henkes
Box Turtle at Long Pond by William T. George
Discover My World: Mountain by Ron Hirschi
Field Trip Facts Notes from Ms. Frizzle’s Kids by Scholastic
First the Egg by Laura Vaccaro Seeger
Forest Bright, Forest Night by Jennifer Ward
Gary’s Sand Journal by Griggs, Halversen & Strang
Ghost Wings by Barbara M. Joosse
Going Home, The Mystery of Animal Migration by Marianne Berkes
Hawk, I’m Your Brother by Byrd Baylor
In the Trees, Honey Bees by Lori Mortensen
In the Woods by Ermanno Cristini
Looking at Nature: What Shape is it? by Bobbie Kalman
My First Hike by Catherine Maria Woolf
My First Nature Book by Angela Wilkes
My Nature Notebook by Kevin Beals
Nocturne by Jane Yolen
Owl Moon by Jane Yolen
Panda Bear, Panda Bear, What Do You See? By Bill Martin, Jr. (illustrated by Eric Carle)
Polar Mammals by Larry Dane Brimner
River Song by Steve Van Zandt
Safe, Warm, Snug Steve Swinburne
Salmon Stream by Carol Reed-Jones
Science Outside by Susan Canizares & Betsey Chessen
Spiders by Nic Bishop
The Frog Scientist by Pamela S. Turner
The Little Island by Margaret Wise Brown
The Seashore Book Charlotte Zolotow
Walk in the Woods by Beals & Cervetti
What Are Clouds Made Of? And Other Questions About the World Around Us Geraldine Taylor
Woods Scientist by Stephen R. Swinburne


EARTH DAY/CONSERVATION

Arnosky’s Ark by Jim Arnosky
Brother Eagle, Sister Sky: A Message from Chief Seattle Paintings Susan Jeffers
Dear Children of the Earth: A Letter from Home Schim Schimmel
Down-to-Earth Guide to Global Warming by Laurie David and Cambria Gordon
Earth Day Birthday by Pattie Schnetzler
Earthdance by Joanne Ryder
Earth Heroes: Champions of the Wilderness Carol Malnor & Bruce Malnor
How We Know What We Know About Our Changing Climate by Lynne Cherry & Gary Braasch
Just a Dream by Chris Van Allsburg
Keeping our Earth Green by Nancy F. Castaldo
Michael Recycle by Ellie Bethel
Miss Rumphius by Barbara Cooney
My First Green Book by Angela Wilkes
Our Big Home: An Earth Poem by Linda Glaser
Recycle Gail Gibbons
Recycle This Book: 100 Top Children’s Authors Tell You How to Go Green edited by Dan Gutman
River Ran Wild by Lynne Cherry
S is for Save the Planet A How-to-Be Green Alphabet by Brad Herzog
The Lorax Dr. Seuss
This is My Planet: The Kid’s Guide to Global Warming Jan Thornhill
Tracking Trash: Flotasam, Jetsam and the Science of Ocean Motion Loree Griffin Burns
Tree is Nice by Janice May Udry
Tree’s Tale by Lark Carrier
Were You a Wild Duck Where Would You Go? by George Mendoza
Why Are the Ice Caps Melting? The Dangers of Global Warming Anne Rockwell
Why Should I Care About Nature? by M.J. Knight
Why Should I Save Energy? by Jen Green


ENDANGERED SPECIES

A Life in the Wild: George Schaller’s Struggle to Save the Last Great Beasts by Pamela S. Turner
A Mother’s Journey Sandra Markel
Condor’s Egg by Jonathan London
Going, Going, Gone? Animals and Plants on the Brink of Extinction and How You Can Help –Think Books
Gone Wild: An Endangered Animal Alphabet by David McLimans
Gorilla Doctors: Saving Endangered Great Apes by Pamela S. Turner
Gorillas by Seymour Simon
Interupted Journey: Saving Endangered Sea Turtles Kathryn Laski
Looking for Miza Julianna, Isabella & Craig Hatkoff and Dr. Paula Kahumbu
Once a Wolf: How Wildlife Biologists Fought to Bring Back the Gray Wolf by Steve Swinburne
Penguins by Seymour Simon
The Chimpanzees I Love Jane Goodall
Song for the Whooping Crane Eileen Spinelli
When the Wolves Returned: Restoring Nature’s Balance in Yellowstone Dorothy Hinshaw Patent


HABITAT: OCEAN

Commotion in the Ocean (poetry) by Giles Andreae
Grayson by Lynne Cox
Hellow Ocean by Pam Munoz Ryan
I Can Read About the Octopus by Ellen Schultz
Ibis: A True Whale Story by John Himmelman
I’m the Biggest Thing in the Ocean by Kevin Sherry
In One Tidepool: Crabs, Snails and Salty Tails by Anthony D. Fredericks
Is This a House for Hermit Crab? by Megan McDonald
Look Who Lives in the Ocean! by Brooke Bessesen
Looking Closely: Along the Shore by Frank Serafini
Magic School Bus on the Ocean Floor by Joanna Cole
Manatee on Location by Kathy Darling
Manatee Winter, Smithsonian Oceanic Collection by Kathleen W. Zoehfeld
Nature Hide & Seek Oceans by John Norris Wood
Oceans: An Activity Guide for Ages 6-9 by Nancy F. Castaldo
Over in the Ocean: In a Coral Reef by Marianne Berkes
Out of the Ocean by Debra Frasier
Reading About the Manatee by Carol Greene
Reef and the Wrasse by Susan Steere & Kathryn M. Ring
Safe Home for Manatees by Priscilla Belz Jenkins
Seashells by the Seashore by Marianne Berkes
Shark and Other Sea Creatures Dictionary: An A to Z of Sea Life by Clint Twist
Shelley by Katherine Orr
Swim through the Sea by Kristin Joy Pratt-Serafini
They Swim the Seas: The Mystery of Animal Migration by Seymour Simon & Elsa Warnick
Totally Amazing Sea Creatures by Golden Books
Underwater Alphabet Book by Jerry Pallotta
Waiting for the Whales by Sheryl McFarlane


HABITAT: RAINFOREST

Amazon Diary: The Jungle Adventures of Alex Winters by Talbott & Greenberg
At Home in the Rain Forest by Diane Willow
Bee Tree Stephen Buchmaum and Diane Cohn
Forever Forest Kids: Save a Tropical Treasure by Kristin Joy Pratt-Serafini
Inside the Amazing Amazon by Don Lessem
Look Closer Rain Forest by Barbara Taylor
Looking Closely: Into the Rainforest by Frank Serafini
Most Beautiful Roof in the World: Exploring the Rainforest Canopy by Kathryn Lasky
Over in the Jungle: a Rainforest Rhyme by Marianne Berkes
Panther Dream: A story of the African Rainforest by Bob and Wendy Weir
Poison Dart Frogs by Jennifer Owings Dewey
Rain Forest by Helen Cowcher
Rainforests: An Activity Guide for Ages 6-9 by Nancy F. Castaldo
Rain Forests & Reefs: A Kid’s-Eye View of the Tropics by Caitlin Maynard
Rainforest Wildlife Usborne World Wildlife by Antonia Cunningham
Tales from the Amazon adapted by Marin Elbl and J.T. Winik
The Great Kapok Tree: A Tale of the Amazon Rain Forest by Lynne Cherry
The Last American Rainforest: Tongass by Shelley Gill
The Umbrella by Jan Brett
Totally Amazing Rain Forests Golden Books
Tropical Rain Forests Around the World by Elaine Landau
Tropical Rainforests by Jean Hamilton
Walk in the Rainforest by Kristin Joy Pratt-Serafini
We Both Read About the Rain Forest by Heather Johanasen & Sindy McKay
Welcome to the Green House by Jane Yolen
Where the Forest Meets the Sea by Jeannie Baker


HABITATS: DESERT

Agave Blooms Just Once by Gisela Jernigan
All About Lizards by Jim Arnosky
All About Rattlesnakes by Jim Arnosky
Around One Cactus: Owls, Bats and Leaping Rats by Anthony D. Fredericks
Cactus Café A Story of the Sonoran Desert by Kathleen Weidner Zoehfeld
Cactus Names by Susan Canizares
Cactus Hotel by Brenda Guiberson
Desert Alphabet Book by Jerry Pallotta
Desert Giant The World of the Saguaro Cactus by Barbara Bash
Desert is Theirs by Byrd Baylor
Deserts: An Activity Guide for Ages 6-9 by Nancy F. Castaldo
Efrain of the Sonoran Desert A Lizard’s Life Among the Seri Indians by Amalia Astorga
Here is the Southwestern Desert by Madeleine Dunphy
Hip, Hip, Hooray, It’s Monsoon Day! by Roni Capin Rivera-Ashford
In the Desert Look Once Look Again by David M. Schwartz
Look Who Lives in the Desert! by Brooke Bessesen
Looking Closely: Across the Desert by Frank Serafini
Saguaro Moon: A Desert Journal by Kristin Joy Pratt-Serafini
Seed and the Giant Saguaro by Jennifer Ward
Singing Down the Rain by Judi Moreillon
Sonoran Seasons: A Year in the Desert by Gisela Jernigan
Dig, Wait Listen: A Desert Toad’s Tale April Pulley Sayre
Watching Desert Wildlife by Jim Arnosky
Way Out in the Desert by TJ Marsh & Jennifer Ward
Wonders of the Desert by Louis Sabin


GARDENS/POLLINATORS

Butterfly Count by Sneed B. Collard III
Carrot Seed by Ruth Krauss
Dancers in the Garden by Joanne Ryder
Everything Grows Raffi Songs to Read Photo-illustrated by Bruce Mc Millan
Face to Face with Caterpillars by Darlyne A. Murawski
Flower Alphabet Book by Jerry Pallotta
How Does Your Salad Grow? by Francie Alexander
How Groundhog’s Garden Grew by Lynne Cherry
Poppy Bear The Garden that Overslept by Ruth Saltzman
Reason for a Flower by Ruth Heller
Red Leaf, Yellow Leaf by Lois Ehlert
Seed is Sleepy by Dianna Hutts Aston
Snail’s Spell by Joanne Ryder
Where Butterflies Grow by Joanne Ryder
Wolfsnail by Sarah C. Campbell


MIDDLE GRADE/TEEN FICTION

Flush by Carl Hiassen
Hoot by Carl Hiassen
Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O'Dell
Jaguar by Roland Smith
Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George
My Side of the Mountain Jean Craighead George
Scat by Carl Hiassen
The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling
The Last Lobo by Roland Smith
The Voyage of the Beetle by Anne H. Weaver
Thunder Cave by Roland Smith


FOR TEACHERS, PARENTS and OTHER OLDER READERS:

I Love Dirt! 52 Projects to Help You and Your Kids Get Outside, Get Dirty and Enjoy Nature by Jennifer Ward
John Muir: Nature Writings edited by William Crono
Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder by R. Louv
Reason for Hope by Jane Goodall
Sense of Wonder by Rachel Carson
Sharing Nature with Children 1 & 2 by Joseph Bharat Cornell
Song for the Blue Ocean by Carl Safina
Teaching Kids to Love the Earth by Herman, Passineau, Schimpf, Treuer
The Octopus and the Orangutan: More True Tails of Animal Intrigue, Intelligence and Ingenuity by Eugene Linden