Earth Day — April 22 — marks the anniversary of what many consider the birth of the modern environmental movement that began in 1970. Today is a good reminder to celebrate Earth Day every day and pass lessons on environmental stewardship to our children. To this end, I wanted to share resources for teaching kids about the environment.
Scholastic and OPEI (Outdoor Power Equipment Institute) have partnered to create lesson plans and activities that empower students in grades K through 5 and their families to champion best practices in taking care of the green space in their communities. The program sets out to inspire an interest in backyard science, and environmental activism, and encourage spending time in the outdoors.
Resources include a teachers section, a parents section, and a free e-book – a digital storybook about the superhero TurfMutt and the Outdoor Powers.
I also have a book list of our favorite Earth Day picture books. What books am I missing? Please share!
Top 10 Earth Day Picture Books
In choosing picture books for Earth Day, I found a range of stories to impart an environmental message from non-fiction to fables to learn by example. I hope you and your kids enjoy this list … enough to read them year-round! Every day can be Earth Day! Why not?!
10. The Curious Garden by Peter Brown
In a city without any gardens or trees or greenery of any kind, lived a boy who liked to explore. In a deserted train station, he found the most curious thing: a patch of plants in need of a gardener. He struggled at first, overwatering and learning to prune and soon his little garden thrived. And it also grew curious. The plants started meandering about, spreading down tracks and exploring cracks and crevices. As plants started popping up everywhere, so did new gardeners. Pretty soon, the city blossomed thanks to the curious garden that likes to explore.
9. Compost Stew: An A to Z Recipe for the Earth by Mary McKenna Siddals and illustrated by Ashley Wolff
With wonderfully textured collage illustrations, Compost Stew uses the alphabet to teach us the ingredients that break down into rich, organic nourishment for Mother Earth. I find it inspiring to take the kitchen garbage and your own hand at home composting! Want to try? Mama Smiles has a post on urban composting that uses a blender to make nutrient-rich plant juice that can be poured directly into your garden outside! Easy peasy and fun for the kids to participate in!
Items that I did not know I could compost that I learned from this book:
- hair snippings
- laundry lint
- teabags
- coffee grinds
And make an alphabet sensory bin using Compost Stew from Growing Book by Book.
8. The EARTH Book by Todd Parr
Todd Parr inspires young kids to take care of the earth with pragmatic suggestions amid colorful vibrant illustrations:
- use both sides of the paper
- bring your own bags to the market
- turn off the faucet when you brush your teeth
- use less water in the bath
- take the school bus and ride your bike
- don’t waste food
- turn the lights off when you leave the room
- recycle
7. When the Animals Saved Earth: An Eco-Fable
retold by Alexis York Lumbard, illustrated by Demi
Based on a 1,000-year-old multi-faith fable originally written in Arabic, this eco-fable tells of when all the animals lived in peace on an island ruled by King Bersaf, a spirit king made of fire and air. All was well until humans arrived by the ark and their greed quickly changed the island. Trees were chopped down to make homes and animals were slaughtered or shackled. Only a boy named Adam was empathetic towards the beasts and together they called for King Bersaf to intervene.
The humans said, “Why, look at all the good that we do. We build. We make. Without us, there would be no order to this wild island.”
“Nonsense!” screeched the owl. “You chop down the forests, dirty the skies, and poison the waters! This is destruction, not order!”
To settle this argument that had grown violent, King Bersaf withdrew from the animals the pain that they had been carrying and scattered it among the humans. Little by little the healing began, and they learned to live together on this island we now call Earth.
6. Miss Rumphius
by Barbara Cooney
When Alice was a little girl, she had three goals: she wanted to travel to faraway places, live by the sea, and make the world more beautiful. And, as she grew up, she became a librarian and traveled to tropical islands, mountaineering, and explored the Middle East. It was time to live by the sea. But there was still one thing left to do, Alice, now called Miss Rumphius, wanted to bring more beauty into the world and it was through her favorite flower, the lupine, that she did. With five bushels of lupine seed, Miss Rumphius became The Lupine Lady, spreading this useful and beautiful plant all over. And now, when another little girl named Alice visits her great-aunt, she too must find a way to make the world more beautiful (and travel and live by the ocean too, of course!).
One way to celebrate Earth Day is to plant a garden for bees and/or butterflies. Here are 5 spring plants that could save the Monarch Butterfly. Here are plants to help honeybees.
5. Planting a Rainbow
by Lois Ehlert
Learn the colors of the rainbow and the flowers that can make your own rainbow garden in this gorgeously illustrated feast of flowers. Ehlert also introduces plants that you might consider for your flower garden by the way you’d plant them: bulbs, seeds, or seedlings. Here’s a resource for planting a butterfly garden.
Flowers in Planting a Rainbow that attracts bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds:
- Aster
- Delphinium
- (Gloriosa) Daisy
- Iris
- Marigold
- Phlox
- Poppy
- Zinnia
4. Riki’s Birdhouse
by Monica Wellington
Riki wants the beautiful bluebirds that visit his yard to stay so he decides to build them a birdhouse. To attract birds during the snowy winter, Riki makes special foods for all the birds. When the birds come back in the spring, Riki helps them build their nests by putting out scraps of fabric and yarn. His bluebirds use some of this material to build a nest in the birdhouse he built them! Riki has flowers in his yard like sunflowers for the birds and their babies to eat. Now that it’s fall again, the birds get ready to migrate. That’s ok with Riki, he will build more birdhouses and make more food for the birds to eat this winter.
Does this sound fun to you and your kids? There are instructions on how to build and install a birdhouse in the back of this book. There’s also information on Bluebirds, making birdbaths and feeders, and a special recipe for bird food cupcakes!
Doodles and Jots has a wonderful FREE bird diary that you can print out and use to track the birds that visit your yard!
iGame Mom has 10 apps for kids to identify birds!
3. Charlie and Lola: We Are Extremely Very Good Recyclers by Lauren Child
Lola wants to purge her room after visiting Charlie’s friend Marv’s brother Marty. Marty is a hoarder and his room is disgusting. Charlie teaches Lola about recycling and when their mum gives her a comic book about recycling, she learns about a recycling contest and gets her entire school involved. Marv’s little brother Morten helps them reach their goal by cleaning out Marty’s room. Uh oh. Marty’s not going to be happy about that!
2. This Tree Counts! (These Things Count!) by Alison Formento, illustrated by Sarah Snow
Count with this book and learn to speak the language of trees! What will we learn? This tree counts! Trees make shade, wash the air, and produce fruit for us to eat, and their wood is used in all kinds of ways. That’s a great reason to plant more trees!
The papercut art by illustrator Sarah Snow is another good reminder that trees contribute to stories!
1. The Lorax by Dr. Seuss
My favorite quotes from this still relevant and prescient classic from Dr. Seuss:
I am the Lorax, I speak for the trees. I speak for the trees for the trees have no tongues.
Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot,
Nothing is going to get better. It’s not.Catch! calls the Once-ler.
He lets something fall.
It’s a Truffula Seed.
It’s the last one of all!
You’re in charge of the last of the Truffula Seeds.
And Truffula Trees are what everyone needs.
Plant a new Truffula. Treat it with care.
Give it clean water. And feed it fresh air.
Grow a forest. Protect it from axes that hack.
Then the Lorax
and all of his friends
may come back.
The Jenny Evolution has a great book list for Earth Day too!
p.s. Related posts:
Celebrate Tree Picture Books for Earth Day and GIVEAWAY!
Earth Day: No Trash Town in Japan
Happy Earth Day! Non-Fiction Books for Kids
Celebrating Earth Day with Picture Books
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My books:
Amazon / Signed or Inscribed by Me
Barbed Wire Between Us by Mia Wenjen, illustrated by Violeta Encarnación
- ⭐ Starred review from Kirkus
- ⭐ Starred review from Publishers Weekly
- ⭐ Starred review from School Library Journal
- Kirkus: The Most Anticipated Children’s Books of Spring 2026
Amazon / Signed or Inscribed by Me
- California Eureka Non-Fiction Gold Award
- Junior Library Guild Gold Selection
- Notable Social Studies Trade Books for Young People Winner (from National Council for the Social Studies and Children’s Book Council)
The Traveling Taco:
- California Eureka Non-Fiction Silver Award
- Notable Social Studies Trade Books for Young People Winner (from National Council for the Social Studies and Children’s Book Council)
- Reading Rockets’ Summer Reading Guide 2025
Amazon / Signed or Inscribed by Me
Amazon / Signed or Inscribed by Me
We Sing from the Heart: How the Slants® Took Their Fight for Free Speech to the Supreme Court
- ALSC Notable Children’s Book
- 2025 Carter G. Woodson Book Award Middle Level Honoree
- Orbis Pictus Recommended Book for Outstanding Nonfiction for Children
- 2024 Julia Ward Howe Prize for Children’s Literature Winner
- California Eureka Non-Fiction Award Honor Book
- Notable Social Studies Trade Books for Young People Winner (from National Council for the Social Studies and Children’s Book Council)
- Bank Street Best Children’s Books of the Year 2025
- Recommended Reading for the Social Justice Literature Award 2025 (International Literacy Association)
- Pennsylvania Mountain Laurel Book Award Nominee 2026-27
- Junior Library Guild Gold Selection
Amazon / Signed or Inscribed by Me
Amazon / Barefoot Books / Signed or Inscribed by Me
Food for the Future: Sustainable Farms Around the World
- ⭐ Starred review from School Library Journal!
- Junior Library Guild Gold selection
- Massachusetts Book Award Long List
- dPICTUS 100 Outstanding Picture Books of 2023
- Chicago Library’s Best of the Best
- 2023 INDIES Book of the Year Awards Finalist
- Green Earth Book Award Long List
- Nautilus Silver Winner, Nonfiction Children’s Picture Book
- Sunshine State Young Readers Award Orange Blossom List for Nonfiction
- Imagination Soup’s 35 Best Nonfiction Books of 2023 for Kids
Amazon / Signed or Inscribed by Me
Bank Street College’s The Best Children’s Books of the Year
Amazon / Signed or Inscribed by Me
Amazon / Signed or Inscribed by Me
Great books, perfect for Earth Day.
Thanks so much Alex and Happy Earth Day to you!
The Lorax is one of my favorite books. Such a poignant message!
Hi Mariana,
Me too and amazing how prescient and relevant The Lorax is today despite being written decades ago!
Lots of new-to-me books on this list. How about adding a wonderful picture book of poems to the mix? April embraces Poetry Month and Earth Day.
All the Wild Wonders: Poems of our Earth edited by Wendy Cooling and illustrated by Piet Grobler.
Hi Ramona,
Great idea! Thank you for your great suggestion!!!
I’m delighted to find my COMPOST STEW in such great green company… and with such a lovely review! I thank you so much for including it among your favorites, and welcome you and your readers to join me in celebrating Earth Day with a giveaway of the book on the COMPOST STEW Facebook page.
Meanwhile, thanks again for shining such a generous spotlight on COMPOST STEW, Mia, and Happy Earth Day!
Hi Mary,
Thanks so much for stopping by! What a treat to meet an author!!! And thanks for the heads up on your great giveaway of your lovely picture book!!
Would love to hear more from y’all!
Thanks Laura!
Great share today. Have only read one of the books you mentioned. I’m usually on top of good Earth Day books.
Hi Patricia,
There are so many wonderful books for Earth Day! I can see how you’d have a pile to read too! I had to track most of these down from the library.
I love The Curious Garden!
Hi MaryAnne,
I love anything by Peter Brown so it was a wonderful discovery for me too! I had heard about it over and over, but had not read it until this post.
Hi Mia,
This is such a wonderful article and I love Peter Brown too. 🙂
A year ago I bought an ebook online and to my surprise, the results were very impressive. My child was able to read within 12 weeks after I had gone through the book and used the simple methods which were mentioned. I hope it will help others as well as it helped me as well.
Here’s the link to get the book: childreadingsecrets.com
Here’s a tip which I would like to give: You NEED to give something to your baby in order to make them read. Remember how we all used to tame our parrots? Give it some seeds and let it sit on our finger. Similarly, you have to reward your child as soon as they hold a book. It will be difficult at start but your child will develop a habit — that is for sure.
Hi Kacy,
Thanks for the heads up about the reading book. Anything that helps to get kids reading is worth a shot in my book! 🙂