13 Picture Books to Celebrate Earth Day (Plus a Bonus Book!)

Our planet Earth is as individual and special as each one of us. It's ability to sustain and nurture life is unique in our solar system--and beyond. In this book, celebrate all the wonderful, miraculous, astounding qualities of our Earth while learning how to protect her for future generations.

This nonfiction picture book offers a new and original story of climate change and how to respond to it. The lyrical narrative, gorgeous illustrations, and information-rich sidebars are built around the central concept of Earth Overshoot Day, the date each year when humanity has used all the resources the planet can regenerate in the entire year.

Mindful haiku poems to help us rediscover our natural surroundings, without traveling too far from home. Some flowers are the subject of nursery rhymes and childhood games while others help us celebrate love, remember our homelands or mark the passing seasons. These mindful haiku poems invite us to explore twenty-four flower species growing close to home, from wildflower meadows to urban window boxes.

A lyrical and loving ode to Planet Earth and the ways in which its many features are interconnected--to each other and to us--told in the cumulative style of "This Is the House that Jack Built."

Follow Pedro as he shares his love of the environment – learn about renewable energy, discover fun ways to save water and find out what else you can do to help protect our planet. Pedro spends the day at his school eco club's forest cabin where he learns about electric cars,plants some vegetable seeds and encourages his friends to think of creative ways to recycle.

As a kid, when little Vanessa heard about climate change, she thought it was something that happened on the other side of the world. As an adult, she saw how droughts in her own country led to crop failure that left families hungry. Inspired by other activists, Vanessa took a stand and began campaigning to save the Congolian rain forests.

Underneath the New Mexico sky, a Navajo boy named Cody finds that his family's barrels of water are empty. He checks the chicken coop-- nothing. He walks down the road to the horses' watering hole. Dry. Meanwhile, a few miles away, Darlene Arviso drives a school bus and picks up students for school. After dropping them off, she heads to another job: she drives her big yellow tanker truck to the water tower, fills it with three thousand gallons of water, and returns to the reservation, bringing water to Cody's family, and many, many others. Here is the incredible and inspiring true story of a Native American woman who continuously gives back to her community and celebrates her people.

Musquon must overcome her impatience while learning to distinguish sweetgrass from other salt marsh grasses, but slowly the spirit and peace of her surroundings speak to her, and she gathers sweetgrass as her ancestors have done for centuries, leaving the first blade she sees to grow for future generations.

Inspired by the many Indigenous-led movements across North America, We Are Water Protectors issues an urgent rallying cry to safeguard the Earth’s water from harm and corruption.

In simple and direct language, Harjo, a member of the Mvskoke Nation, urges readers to pay close attention to who they are, the world they were born into, and how all inhabitants on earth are connected.

Green grass is wide and fresh and clean for a family to play in, and brown dirt is perfect for digging a garden. But when gray buildings start to rise up and a whole city builds, can there be any room for green space? The neighborhood children think so, and they inspire the community to join together and build a garden for everyone to share in the middle of the city.

MaVynee loved going to the beach. But in the days of Jim Crow, she couldn't just go to any beach--most of the beaches in Jacksonville were for whites only. Knowing something must be done, her grandfather bought a beach that African American families could enjoy without being reminded they were second class citizens; he called it American Beach. Artists like Zora Neale Hurston and Ray Charles vacationed on its sunny shores. It's here that MaVynee was first inspired to sing, propelling her to later become a widely acclaimed opera singer who routinely performed on an international stage. But her first love would always be American Beach.

Zonia’s home is the Amazon rain forest, where it is always green and full of life. Every morning, the rain forest calls to Zonia, and every morning, she answers. She visits the sloth family, greets the giant anteater, and runs with the speedy jaguar. But one morning, the rain forest calls to her in a troubled voice. How will Zonia answer?

When George Washington Carver was just a young child, he had a secret: a garden of his own. Here, he rolled dirt between his fingers to check if plants needed more rain or sun. He protected roots through harsh winters, so plants could be reborn in the spring. He trimmed flowers, spread soil, studied life cycles. And it was in this very place that George's love of nature sprouted into something so much more--his future.