Books for a Better Planet: Reading for World Environment Day for Kids! (June 5)

World Environment Day is the United Nations day for encouraging worldwide awareness and action to protect our environment.

Updated June 1, 2024
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This little environmentalist : a love-the-Earth primer
Holub, Joan
Paper Book
Learn all about big leaders who love and protect the Earth in this engaging and inspiring board book perfect for environmentalists-in-training! Now even the youngest readers can learn all about important people who help protect and take care of our Earth! Highlighting ten...
The day the river caught fire : how the Cuyahoga River exploded and ignited the Earth Day movement
Wittenstein, Barry
Paper Book
Discover the true story of how a 1969 fire in one of the most polluted rivers in America sparked the national Earth Day movement in this nonfiction picture book by award-winning author Barry Wittenstein and beloved illustrator Jessie Hartland. After the Industrial Revolution in...
We are water protectors
Lindstrom, Carole
Paper Book
From author Carole Lindstrom and illustrator Michaela Goade comes a New York Times bestselling and Caldecott Medal winning picture book that honors Indigenous-led movements across the world. Powerfully written and gorgeously illustrated, We Are Water Protectors,...
To change a planet
Soontornvat, Christina
Paper Book
One person. Small, quiet, insignificant. But when one person, and one person, and one person become many, they can change a...
One world : 24 hours on Planet Earth
Davies, Nicola
Paper Book
Take a magical ride around the globe to see the wonders of a single moment in a story illuminating our precious and fragile natural world. Our planet is always turning. It may be midnight in London, but in different time zones other living things are waking up, ready to hunt or...
Ducks overboard! : a true story of plastic in our oceans
Motum, Markus
Paper Book
Eco facts come to light as a plastic duck narrates this beautifully illustrated true story of thousands of bath toys that were lost at sea and swept to the four corners of the Pacific. If a shipping container filled with 28,000 plastic ducks spilled into the Pacific Ocean, where...
Plasticus maritimus : an invasive species
Pêgo, Ana (Marine biologist)
Paper Book
"Clever...beguiling....Readers age 11 and older are likely to finish this book feeling both persuaded and uplifted. Beauty has a way of doing that." --Wall Street Journal For young readers comes an imaginative guide to ocean plastics, filled with tips...
What a waste
French, Jess
Paper Book
In this informative book on recycling for children, you will find everything you need to know about our environment. The good, the bad and the incredibly innovative. From pollution and litter to renewable energy and plastic recycling. This educational book will teach young...
Earth knowledge genius! : a quiz encyclopedia to boost your brain
Gifford, Clive
Paper Book
A brilliant quiz book for clever kids - put your knowledge about planet Earth to the test and dazzle your family and friends with your brainpower! Can you find the Red Sea, Black Sea, and Yellow Sea on a map? Do you know what makes the Gobi Desert different from the Sahara? No...
Why I love the Earth
Howarth, Daniel.
Paper Book
Featuring children's own words along with heart-warming pictures, this book is a perfect celebration of all that is so wonderful about the Earth! 'I love the Earth because... ' This heartwarming book combines endearing things said by children about the Earth, with gentle...
My first Earth Day
Katz, Karen
Paper Book
I think about the forests, the water, all the animals, the fish, and the sun. I think about all the ways I can take care of our earth. Introduce young readers to Earth Day with Karen Katz's lovely storytelling and colorful collage art. There's no better way to...
We are better together
McKibben, Bill
Paper Book
From environmentalist and bestselling author Bill McKibben comes a hopeful, inspiring picture book celebrating the power of human cooperation and the beauty of life on Earth, beautifully illustrated by artist Stevie Lewis. When we work together, we humans can do incredible...
All the feelings under the sun : how to deal with climate change
Davenport, Leslie
Paper Book
KIDS' BOOK CHOICE AWARDS finalist! All the Feelings Under the Sun is a timely, thoughtful book that will help kids work through your feelings of anxiety and stress relating to climate change. Kids will get an expert understanding of the science...
Beetles for breakfast
Finlay, Madeleine
Paper Book
Chomping into a cricket sandwich? Cruising down the highway in a coffee-powered car? Learn about the bizarre but genius ways our lives could be changed by planet-saving tech! Featured on The Guardian's "Science Weekly" podcast A Junior Library Guild selection...
Water day
Engle, Margarita
Paper Book
A joyful picture book from acclaimed author Margarita Engle about a young girl and her community celebrating the arrival of the water man who visits weekly to distribute water to the village. Water days are busy days, grateful, laughing, thirsty days.
Our planet! : there's no place like Earth
McAnulty, Stacy
Paper Book
From writer Stacy McAnulty and illustrator David Litchfield, Our Planet! There's No Place Like Earth is a nonfiction picture book about the Earth, told from the perspective of Earth herself. Meet Earth. Planet Awesome! And your awesome home! Actually, Earth is home to...
My wounded island
Pasquet, Jacques
Paper Book
There's an invisible creature in the waves around Sarichef. It is altering the lives of the Iñupiat people who call the island home. A young girl and her family are forced to move to the center of the island for refuge from the rising sea level. Soon the entire village will have to relocate to the...
Here we are : notes for living on planet Earth
Jeffers, Oliver
Paper Book
#1 New York Times Bestseller and #1 TIME Best Book of the Year for 2017!The exquisite and thought-provoking book from the multi award-winning, internationally best-selling picture book creator of Lost and Found, Oliver Jeffers. Well, hello. And welcome to this Planet.

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