Curated by Emma Kerr, Early Childhood and Elementary Librarian
Explore the wonders of our planet and learn how to make a positive impact with our carefully curated collection of books, thoughtfully selected by our Elementary Librarian. This month, our theme revolves around respecting the Earth and nurturing our environment, offering a unique opportunity for meaningful discussions about conservation and sustainability.
From a young age, children are naturally curious about the world around them and eager to play their part in preserving its beauty. Our collection not only empowers kids to take action but also inspires adults to join them in their journey toward a greener future.
Discover titles that guide readers of all ages in making small yet impactful changes that can last a lifetime. Join us in fostering a sense of responsibility and stewardship for our precious planet. All these enlightening titles are readily available in our library, waiting to spark conversations and inspire positive change.
You can check out these titles and more through the BFIS Library Request and Delivery service.
Elementary Younger Readers
Here We Are: Notes for Living on Planet Earth
By Oliver Jeffers
Oliver Jeffers offers a personal look inside his own hopes and wishes for his child–a missive about our world and those who call it home. (From Goodreads)
Don’t Let Them Disappear
By Chelsea Clinton
In this book, Chelsea Clinton introduces young readers to a selection of endangered animals, sharing what makes them special, and also what threatens them. Taking readers through the course of a day, Don’t Let Them Disappear talks about rhinos, tigers, whales, pandas and more, and provides helpful tips on what we all can do to help prevent these animals from disappearing from our world entirely. (From Goodreads)
If You Take Away the Otter
By Susannah Burhman-Deever
On the Pacific Coast of North America, sea otters play, dive, and hunt for sea urchins, crabs, abalone, and fish in the lush kelp forests beneath the waves. But there was a time when people hunted the otters almost to extinction. Without sea otters to eat them, an army of hungry sea urchins grew and destroyed entire kelp forests. Fish and other animals that depended on the kelp were lost, too. But when people protected the sea otters with new laws, their numbers began to recover, and so did the kelp forests. Susannah Buhrman-Deever offers a beautifully written account of a trophic cascade, which happens when the removal of a single element affects an entire habitat (From Goodreads)
Only a Tree Knows How to Be a Tree
By Mary Murphy
Trees have leaves that turn sunshine into food. Amazing! Birds build nests, sing songs, hatch eggs, and fly. Dogs are our friends and can move their ears to tell us how they feel, while fish live in water, flashing like jewels. As for people, every person on Earth is different, each with their own thoughts and feelings. With a simple narrative and joyful, welcoming illustrations celebrating a world full of remarkable creatures, Mary Murphy reminds little ones that we are all unique, and that we are the only ones who know how to be us. (From Goodreads)
What a Waste: Trash, Recycling, and Protecting our Planet
By Jess French
This educational book will teach young budding ecologists about how our actions affect planet Earth and the big impact we can make through the little things we do.
Did you know that every single plastic toothbrush ever made still exists? Or that there is a floating mass of trash larger than the USA drifting around the Pacific Ocean?
It is not all bad news though. While this is a knowledge book that explains where we are going wrong, What a Waste also shows what we are getting right! Discover plans to save our seas. How countries are implementing green projects worldwide, and how to turn waste into something useful. The tiniest everyday changes can make all the difference to ensure our beautiful planet stays lush and teeming with life.
It is a lively kid’s educational book with fabulous illustrations and fun facts about the world broken into easy-to-digest bite-sized bits. Each page can be looked at in short bursts or longer reads for more detail, making it a great children’s book for a range of age groups. (From Goodreads)
Elementary Older Readers
The Last Wild
By Piers Torday
In a world where animals no longer exist, twelve-year-old Kester Jaynes sometimes feels like he hardly exists either. Locked away in a home for troubled children, he’s told there’s something wrong with him. So when he meets a flock of talking pigeons and a bossy cockroach, Kester thinks he’s finally gone crazy. But the animals have something to say. And they need him. The pigeons fly Kester to a wild place where the last creatures in the land have survived. A wise stag needs Kester’s help, and together they must embark on a great journey, joined along the way by an overenthusiastic wolf cub, a military-trained cockroach, a mouse with a ritual for everything, and a stubborn girl named Polly. The animals saved Kester Jaynes. But can Kester save the animals? (From Goodreads)
Wild Wings
By Gill Lewis
The majestic Osprey is an endangered bird that hasn’t been seen in Scotland for years, so when Iona McNair locates an Osprey nest, she’s desperate to keep the bird safe from poachers. She shares her secret with her classmate Callum, and the two become friends as they work to save the Osprey they’ve named Isis. They’re able to get the bird tagged by a preservationist, but after Isis flies to Africa for the winter, her signal becomes stagnant and then lost. Spurred by a promise to Iona, who has fallen ill, Callum is determined to track and save Isis, and a leap of faith and the magic of e-mail connects him with a girl in Gambia who can help him make good—in more ways than one. (From Goodreads)
How to Change Everything: The Young Human’s Guide to Protecting the Planet and Each Other
By Naomi Klein
An empowering, engaging young readers guide to understanding and battling climate change. Full of empowering stories of young leaders all over the world, this information-packed book from award-winning journalist and one of the foremost voices for climate justice, Naomi Klein, offers young readers a comprehensive look at the state of the climate today and how we got here, while also providing the tools they need to join this fight to protect and reshape the planet they will inherit. (From Goodreads)
Diet for a Changing Climate: Food for Thought
By Christy Milahy and Sue Heavenrich
The United Nations supports a compelling solution to world eat insects! Explore the vast world of unexpected foods that may help solve the global hunger crisis. Weeds, wild plants, invasive and feral species, and bugs are all food for thought. Learn about the nutritional value of various plant and animal species; visit a cricket farm; try a recipe for dandelion pancakes, kudzu salsa, or pickled purslane; and discover more about climate change, sustainability, green agriculture, indigenous foods, farm-to-table restaurants, and how to be an eco-friendly producer, consumer, and chef. Meet average folks and experts in the field who will help you stretch your culinary imagination! (From Goodreads)
We’re Not from Here
By Geoff Rodkey
The first time I heard about Planet Choom, we’d been on Mars for almost a year. But life on the Mars station was grim, and since Earth was no longer an option (we may have blown it up), it was time to find a new home.
That’s how we ended up on Choom with the Zhuri. They’re very smart. They also look like giant mosquitos. But that’s not why it’s so hard to live here. There’s a lot that the Zhuri don’t like: singing (just ask my sister, Ila), comedy (one joke got me sent to the principal’s office), or any kind of emotion. The biggest problem, though? The Zhuri don’t like us. And if humankind is going to survive, it’s up to my family to change their minds. No pressure. (From Goodreads)
Happy Reading!
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