Celebrate Earth Day with these 20 Recent Children's Books

from Drawn from Nature 

from  Drawn from Nature

Ahpornsiri, Helen.  (2018). Drawn from Nature. Somerville, MA: Candlewick Press.
Informational and visual arts text organized by season. Accurate and aesthetically stunning.

from On a Magical Do-Nothing Day

Alemagna, Beatrice. (2017). On a Magical Do-Nothing Day. New York: HarperCollins.
A child on holiday from the city in an isolated cabin with her mom accidentally drops her electronic game into a pond. She is desolate until she begins to closely look around. When she does, the boring day without electronics becomes one of seeing nature and wonder. Such a good book. Starred reviews from Kirkus Reviews, Publishers Weekly and Booklist.

Cheng, Andrea. (2018). Bees in the City. Illustrated by Sarah McMenemy. Thomaston, ME: Tilbury House Publishers.
Fictional story about a boy (Lionel) who lives in an apartment in Paris. His Aunt Celene resides at a farm outside the city and there she raises bees. when bees begin dying, Lionel wants to help, but he lives in the city. What can he do? A rooftop garden and window boxes are his solution. Illustrations complement and extend the story. Rich backmatter about urban beekeeping and rooftop gardening. (Level P) 
Green Earth Award Book 2018 Short List

Davies, Nicola. (2017). Many: The Diversity of Life on Earth. Illustrated by Emily Sutton. Somerville, MA: Candlewick Press.
What might happen if instead of having millions of species we had just one? This picture book answers that question.

from Pedal Power

Drummond, Allan. (2017). Pedal Power: How One Community Became the Bicycle Capital of the World. New York: Farrar Straus Giroux
As he did in Energy Island for Danish island of Samsø, Drummond this time tells about the use of bicycles in the city of Amsterdam where people protested unsafe streets for bike riding and in doing so helped to create a safe biking well beyond the borders of that city.
Green Earth Award Book 2018 Short List

Flynn, Sarah Wassner. (2017). This Book Stinks! Gross Garbage, Rotten Rubbish, and the Science of Trash. Washington, DC: National Geographic Kids. 128 pp. Grade 4+
Everything a kid might want to know about waste!
Green Earth Honor Book 2018 for Children's Nonfiction 

Galat, Joan Marie. (2018). Branching Out: How Trees are Part of Our World. Illustrated by Wendy Ding. Toronto, ON: OwlKids.
In this 64 page informational text, 11 different trees are explored. detailed. Great for grade 5 and higher.

Garland, Michael. (2018). A Season of Flowers. Thomaston, ME: Tilbury House Publishers.
I have long loved Michael Garland's paintings.  This books follows the order that plants arrive from early spring to winter. The illustrations are rich. (Level L)

Gerstein, Mordicai. (2017). The Boy and The Whale. New York: Roaring Brook Press.
Fictional story about a boy and his father who discover a whale tangled in their fishing net. Competing concerns  (livelihood and whale's life) creates tension in this picture book. Paintings are outstanding.
Green Earth Award Book 2018 Short List

Gladstone, James. (2017). When Planet Earth Was New. Illustrated by Katherine Diemert. Toronto, ON: OwlKids.
A visual and informational treat perfect for primary learners about how earth formed. Dioemert's paintings are lush and detailed. (540L)

Martin, Jacqueline Briggs. (2017). Creekfinding: A True Story. Illustrated by Claudia McGehee. (University of Minnesota Press)
Briggs tells the the story of the restoration of an ecosystem in northeast Iowa. Detailed text and illustrations.
Green Earth Award Book 2018 for Picture Book.

from The Bee Book

Milner, Charlotte. (2018). The Bee Book. New York: Penguin/Random House.
Informational text about bees. Attractive.

Newman, Patricia. (2017). Sea Otter Heroes: The Predators that Saves an Ecosystem. Millbrook Press. 56 pp.
Newman reports on a California inlet where seagrass grew in abundance even though there was algae. Why? Turns out the answer was sea otters. Based on Brent Hughes's research,. 56 pp.
Green Earth Award Book 2018 for Children's Nonfiction

from My Busy Green Garden

Pierce, Terry. (2017). My Busy Green Garden. Illustrated by Carol Schwartz. Thomaston, ME: Tilbury House Publishers.
What makes a garden bloom? This lyrical tribute to bees and birds and other living things that make a garden a garden.  Illustrations are detailed as one would expect from Carol Schwartz. Ever since I first saw Thinking about Ants. I have been a fan of Schwartz's art.

Root, Phyllis. (2017). Anywhere Farm. Illustrated by G. Brian Karas. Somerville, MA: Candlewick Press.
For the youngest students a picture book to inspire the growth of plants. The book opens, "You can grow your own farm anywhere."
Green Earth Award Book 2018 Short List

Schmalzer, Sigrid. (2018). Moth and Wasp, Soil and Ocean: Remembering Chinese Scientist Pu Zhelong's Work for Sustainable Farming. Illustrated by Melanie Linden Chan. Thomaston, ME: Tilbury House Publishers.
Fictionalized account of Pu Zhelong who taught peasants in Mao's China to grow food without reliance on pesticides during the 1960s and 1970s. He taught the peasants to use parasitic wasps to combat the moths that were destroying crops. An important person for children to know. The illustrations are rich and created through watercolor.

from Out of School

Slade, Suzanne. (2017). Out of School and Into Nature: The Anna Comstock Story. Illustrated by Jessica Lanan. MI: Sleeping Bear Press.
A picture book biography about nature pioneer Anna Comstock (1854-1930) who defied gender norms and studied science at Cornell.
Green Earth Honor Book 2018 for Picture Book.
2018 NSTA Outstanding Science Trade Book

from Look at Weather

from Look at Weather

Teckentruop, Britta. (2018). Look at the Weather. Toronto, ON: OwlKids.
This 150 page text is divided into four sections: Sun, Rain, Ice and Snow, and Extreme Weather. Each section is illustrated with paintings by Tchentroup. Originally printed in Germany, this is a lovely and meditative book for primary and intermediate learners. (800L) My favorite of this group.

from The Triumphant Tale of the House Sparrow.

Thornhill, Jan. (2018). The Triumphant Tale of the House Sparrow. Toronto, ON: Groundwood Books.
I can't say enough good about this narrative informational book about the house sparrow. Deeply interesting, amazing artwork, and accurate. The history of the common house sparrow will hold all learners' interest.

Tuttle, Sarah Grace. (2018). Hidden City: Poems of Urban Wildlife. Illustrated by Amy Schimler-Safford.  Eerdmans Books for Young Readers.
18 free verse poems about about plants and insects. Schimler-Safford's collages are outstanding.

A Dozen Children's Books I'm Anticipating in 2015

from  The Case for Loving: The Fight for Interracial Marriage.

Alko, Selina. (2015). The Case for Loving: The Fight for Interracial Marriage. Illustrated by Sean Qualls & Selina Alko. New York: Arthur A. Levine Books. (Picture book story about the Loving family whose legal suit was heard by the Supreme Court and overturned Virginia’s state law that prohibited interracial marriage.)

Barton, Chris. (2105). The Amazing Age of John Roy Lynch. Illustrated by Don Tate. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans Books For Young Readers.  (Picture book biography about the John Roy Lynch, the first African American Congressman. I also love Don Tate’s art work.)

Burgess, Matthew.  (2015). Enormous Smallness: A Story of E.E. Cummings. Illustrated by Kris Di Giacomo. Brooklyn, NY: Enchanted Lion Books. (Picture book biography about poet, e.e. cummings.)

Delaunois, Angèle. (2015).  Magic Little Words. Illustrated by Manon Gauthier. Toronto, ON: Owlkid Books. (Picture book featuring important words, like please, that are illustrated through collage.)

Engle, Margarita. (2015). Drum Dream Girl: How One Girl's Courage Changed Music. Illustrated by Rafael López. New York: HMH Books for Young Readers. (Inspired by the life of Millo Castro Zaldarriaga, a Chinese-African-Cuban girl who broke Cuba's traditional taboo against female drummers.)

Gourley, Robin (2015). Talkin’ Guitar: A Story of Doc Watson. New York: Clarion Books. (Picture book biography about Doc Wilson.)

from Chasing Freedom: The Life Journeys of Harriet Tubman and Susan B. Anthony, Inspired by Historical Facts.

Grimes, Nikki. (2015). Chasing Freedom: The Life Journeys of Harriet Tubman and Susan B. Anthony, Inspired by Historical Facts. Illustrated by Michele Wood. New York: Orchard Books. (Grimes’ imagined discourse between Tubman an Anthony that is informed by historical facts.  The illustrations are deep, beautiful, moving.) [Grades 3-6]

Janeczko, Paul B. (2015). The Death of the Hat: A Brief History of Poetry in 50 Objects. Illustrated by Chris Raschka. Somerville, MA: Candlewick. (An anthology of poems that are inspired by objects the poets valued, noticed.)

Thompson, Laurie Ann. (2015). Emmanuel's Dream: The True Story of Emmanuel Ofosu Yeboah. Illustrated by Sean Qualls. New York: Schwartz & Wade. (Picture book story about Emmanuel Ofosu Yeboah who disabled, cycled across Ghana to illustrate the message that being disabled dos not mean you are limited.)

from Leontyne Price: Voice of a Century. 

Weatherford, Carole Boston. (2014).  Leontyne Price: Voice of a Century. Illustrated by Raúl Colón. New York: Knopf Books for Young Readers.  (Picture book biography about African-American opera singer, Leontyne Price. Signature Raul Colon illustrations.)

Weatherford, Carole Boston. (2015). Gordon Parks: How the Photographer Captured Black and White America. Illustrated by Jamey Christoph. Park Ridge, IL: Albert Whitman & Company. (Weatherford’s picture book biography told in verse about Gordon Parks focusing on his work as a photographer documenting segregation.)

Wilson, Mary. (2015). The Singer in the Stream: A Story of American Dippers. Illustrated by Katherine Hocker. Yosemite Conservancy. (Nonfiction picture book about American dippers—small gray birds who live their lives near mountain streams.)