Reading Material
Me ... Jane
Recommended Age: 3 - 8 years
In his characteristic heartwarming style, Patrick McDonnell tells the story of the young Jane Goodall and her special childhood toy chimpanzee named Jubilee. As the young Jane observes the natural world around her with wonder, she dreams of "a life living with and helping all animals," until one day she finds that her dream has come true.
One of the world's most inspiring women, Dr. Jane Goodall is a renowned humanitarian, conservationist, animal activist, environmentalist, and United Nations Messenger of Peace. In 1977 she founded the Jane Goodall Institute (JGI), a global nonprofit organization that empowers people to make a difference for all living things.
With anecdotes taken directly from Jane Goodall's autobiography, McDonnell makes this very true story accessible for the very young -- and young at heart.
Seeds of Change
Recommended Age: 5 - 9 years
As a young girl in Kenya, Wangari was taught to respect nature. She grew up loving the land, plants, and animals that surrounded her -from the giant mugumo trees her people, the Kikuyu, revered to the tiny tadpoles that swam in the river. Although most Kenyan girls were not educated, Wangari, curious and hardworking, was allowed to go to school. There, her mind sprouted like a seed. She excelled at science and went on to study in the United States. After returning home, Wangari blazed a trail across Kenya, using her knowledge and compassion to promote the rights of her countrywomen and to help save the land, one tree at a time.
Seeds of Change: Planting a Path to Peace brings to life the empowering story of Wangari Maathai, the first African woman and environmentalist, to win a Nobel Peace Prize. Its engaging narrative and vibrant images paint a robust portrait of this inspiring champion of the land and of women's rights.
Rachel Carson and Her Book that Changed the World
Recommended Age: 5 - 9 years
As a shy young woman, Rachel Carson found joy and purpose in studying the creatures all around her. Her articles and books about marine life made her a best-selling author, but it was her groundbreaking book Silent Spring, about the effects of the pesticide DDT on wild animals and birds, that turned her into a household name. Along the way, she would help found the modern environmental movement.
Written for the fiftieth anniversary of Silent Spring's publication, this thoughtful picture book shows how a quiet and dedicated scientist and her revolutionary book woke people up to the harmful impact humans were having on our planet.
Sea Turtle Scientist
Recommended Age: 9 years+
Dr. Kimberly Stewart, also known as the Turtle Lady of St. Kitts, is already waiting at midnight when an 800-pound leatherback sea turtle crawls out of the Caribbean surf and onto the sandy beach. The mother turtle has a vital job to do: dig a nest in which she will lay eggs that will hatch into part of the next generation of leatherbacks. With only one in a thousand of the eggs for this critically endangered species resulting in an adult sea turtle, the odds are stacked against her and her offspring.
Join the renowned author and photographer Steve Swinburne on a journey through history to learn how sea turtles came to be endangered, and what scientists like Kimberly are doing to save them.
Spring After Spring: How Rachel Carson Inspired the Environmental Movement
Recommended Age: 5 - 9 years
As a child, Rachel Carson lived by the rhythms of the natural world. Spring after spring, year after year, she observed how all living things are connected. And as an adult, Rachel watched and listened as the natural world she loved so much began to fall silent. Spring After Spring traces Rachel's journey as scientist and writer, courageously speaking truth to an often hostile world through her book, and ultimately paving the way for the modern environmental movement.
From Stephanie Roth Sisson, the creator of Star Stuff, comes a picture book biography of Rachel Carson, the iconic environmentalist who fought to keep the sounds of nature from going silent.
One Plastic Bag - Isatou Ceesay and the Recycling Women of the Gambia
Recommended Age: 5 - 9 years
Plastic bags are cheap and easy to use. But what happens when a bag breaks or is no longer needed? In Njau, Gambia, people simply dropped the bags and went on their way. One plastic bag became two. Then ten. Then a hundred.
The bags accumulated in ugly heaps alongside roads. Water pooled in them, bringing mosquitoes and disease. Some bags were burned, leaving behind a terrible smell. Some were buried, but they strangled gardens. They killed livestock that tried to eat them. Something had to change.
Isatou Ceesay was that change. She found a way to recycle the bags and transform her community. This inspirational true story shows how one person's actions really can make a difference in our world.
The Tree Lady: The True Story of How One Tree-Loving Woman Changed A City Forever
Recommended Age: 4 - 9 years
Katherine Olivia Sessions never thought she'd live in a place without trees. After all, Kate grew up among the towering pines and redwoods of Northern California. But after becoming the first woman to graduate from the University of California with a degree in science, she took a job as a teacher far south in the dry desert town of San Diego. Where there were almost no trees.
Kate decided that San Diego needed trees more than anything else. So this trailblazing young woman singlehandedly started a massive movement that transformed the town into the green, garden-filled oasis it is today. Now, more than 100 years after Kate first arrived in San Diego, her gorgeous gardens and parks can be found all over the city.
Part fascinating biography, part inspirational story, this moving picture book about following your dreams, using your talents, and staying strong in the face of adversity is sure to resonate with readers young and old.
The Elephant Scientist
Recommended Age: 9 years +
In the sprawling African scrub desert of Etosha National Park, they call her "the mother of all elephants." Camouflaged and peering through binoculars, Caitlin O'Connell -- the American scientist who traveled to Namibia to study African elephants in their natural habitat -- could not believe what she was seeing. As the mighty matriarch scanned the horizon, the other elephants followed suit, stopping midstride and standing as still as statues. The observation would be one of many to guide O'Connell to a groundbreaking discovery!
"Children will be interested in O'Connell's growing interest in science, how family and teachers encouraged her, and her efforts to protect these threatened animals. This amazing presentation is a must-have for all collections." -- School Library Journal
The Curious Garden
Recommended Age: 4 - 8 years
One boy's quest for a greener world... one garden at a time.
While out exploring one day, a little boy named Liam discovers a struggling garden and decides to take care of it. As time passes, the garden spreads throughout the dark, gray city, transforming it into a lush, green world.
This is an enchanting tale with environmental themes and breathtaking illustrations that become more vibrant as the garden blooms. Red-headed Liam can also be spotted on every page, adding a clever seek-and-find element to this captivating picture book.
Miss Fox's Class Goes Green
Recommended Age: 4 - 7 years
When Miss Fox shows up at school riding her bicycle, Mouse asks, "Do you have a flat tire?" "No," Miss Fox tells her students. "I am going green!" Soon everyone in the class is working to keep the earth healthy. Mouse takes shorter showers (and does her singing after!); Bunny brings a cloth bag to the supermarket; and Possum turns the lights off when he goes out. And Miss Fox's simple act has ripples even beyond her own students...soon the whole school starts riding their bikes--including the principal.
Charlie and Lola: We Are Extremely Very Good Recyclers
Recommended Age: 3 - 8 years
After Charlie convinces Lola to recycle her old toys instead of throwing them away, Lola discovers a recycling competition. If she can recycle one hundred plastic, metal, and paper items, she can get her very own real live tree to plant. But she only has two weeks, so Lola decides to ask her classmates to help. They turn out to be extremely very good recyclers indeed.
This adventure is printed on FSC-approved paper and includes recycling tips as well as a tree poster just like Lola's, so kids can keep track of their recycling projects and help to save the planet all on their own.
Mama Miti: Wangari Maathai and the Trees of Kenya
Recommended Age: 4 - 8 years
Through artful prose and beautiful illustrations, Donna Jo Napoli and Kadir Nelson tell the true story of Wangari Muta Maathai, known as "Mama Miti," who in 1977 founded the Green Belt Movement, an African grassroots organization that has empowered many people to mobilize and combat deforestation, soil erosion, and environmental degradation. Today more than 30 million trees have been planted throughout Mama Miti's native Kenya, and in 2004 she became the first African woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize. Wangari Muta Maathai has changed Kenya tree by tree -- and with each page turned, children will realize their own ability to positively impact the future.
Life in the Ocean
Recommended Age: 4 - 8 years
Sylvia Earle first lost her heart to the ocean as a young girl when she discovered the wonders of the Gulf of Mexico in her backyard. As an adult, she dives even deeper. Whether she's designing submersibles, swimming with the whales, or taking deep-water walks, Sylvia Earle has dedicated her life to learning more about what she calls "the blue heart of the planet."
With stunningly detailed pictures of the wonders of the sea, Life in the Ocean tells the story of Sylvia's growing passion and how her ocean exploration and advocacy have made her known around the world. This picture book biography also includes an informative author's note that will motivate young environmentalists.
The Promise
Recommended Age: 5 - 9 years
On a mean street in a mean, broken city, a young girl tries to snatch an old woman's bag. But the frail old woman, holding on with the strength of heroes, says the thief can't have it without giving something in return: the promise. It is the beginning of a journey that will change the thieving girl's life -- and a chance to change the world, for good.
Here is the story of a magical discovery that will touch the heart and imagination of every reader, young and old. In an exciting collaboration, author Nicola Davies joins forces with illustrator Laura Carlin to create a contemporary tale inspired by Jean Giono's 1953 story, L'homme qui plantait des arbres.
Out of School and Into Nature: The Anna Comstock Story
Recommended Age: 6 - 9 years
From the time she was a young girl, Anna Comstock was fascinated by the natural world. She loved exploring outdoors, examining wildlife and learning nature's secrets. From watching the teamwork of marching ants to following the constellations in the sky, Anna observed it all. And her interest only increased as she grew older and went to college at Cornell University. There she continued her studies, pushing back against those social conventions that implied science was a man's pursuit.
Eventually Anna became known as a nature expert, pioneering a movement to encourage schools to conduct science and nature classes for children outdoors, thereby increasing students' interest in nature. In following her passion, this remarkable woman blazed a trail for female scientists today.
Girls Who Looked Under Rocks
Recommended Age: 10 years +
If there is a pre-teen or adolescent in your life, especially a girl, take a look at this empowering, inspiring chapter book. It portrays the youths and careers of six remarkable women whose curiosity about nature fueled a passion to steadfastly overcome obstacles to careers in traditionally men-only occupations.
The six -- Maria Merian (b.1647), Anna Comstock (b.1854), Frances Hamerstrom (b.1907), Rachel Carson (b.1907), Miriam Rothschild (b.1908), and Jane Goodall (b.1934) -- all became renowned scientists, artists and writers.
Miss Rumphius
Recommended Age: 4 - 8 years
A beloved classic is lovelier than ever! Barbara Cooney's story of Alice Rumphius, who longed to travel the world, live in a house by the sea, and do something to make the world more beautiful, has a timeless quality that resonates with each new generation. The countless lupines that bloom along the coast of Maine are the legacy of the real Miss Rumphius, the Lupine Lady, who scattered lupine seeds everywhere she went.
Miss Rumphius received the 1983 National Book Award for Children's Books and was included in School Library Journal's list of "Top 100 Picture Books" of all time.
Miss Click Clack Moo: Cows That Type
Recommended Age: 4+
Highly recommended as the ideal introduction to the importance of standing up to authority and civil disobedience. Venture along in the fight of cold and overworked cows against Farmer Brown. Learn how they make use of an old typewriter to demand a change in their conditions or they’ll strike, cutting off the supply of milk.
Our Little Inventor
Recommended Age: 6+
The innovation of youth is showcased wonderfully in Australian author and illustrator Sher Rill Ng’s stunningly illustrated story of a young inventor whose determination to clean the air of pollution in the town near where she lives is thwarted time and time again by adults who refuse to pay attention to her brilliant new invention.
The Rhythm of the Rain
Recommended Age: 5+
Guiding children in their understanding of just how big the planet is, and that natural environments exist beyond what they have witnessed with their own eyes, can be a challenge, one made easier with the help of this exquisite new picture book. Baker-Smith introduces children to the water cycle, and the incredible connections that link all water on the planet. Opening with a young boy pouring a glass of water into his local river, we follow the water as it heads upstream, into the ocean, up among the rain clouds, returning to aid the growth of a single flower. A perfect harmony of lyrical language and landscapes of greens and blues, Baker-Smith’s book sets a tone of wonder and magic in nature.
Mallee Sky
Recommended Age: 6+
This timely release takes place in the Mallee in country Victoria, known to First Peoples of the land as Nowie, meaning Sunset Country. Harricks, an award-winning painter, invites the reader on a journey across wide-bellied landscapes of the Australian outback with her crafted use of oil paints. The gorgeous full-page illustrations provide a superb backdrop for Toering’s considered and poetic text.
The Last Dance
Recommended Age: 4+
The Last Dance might have been published almost 10 years ago, but its message is more important than ever before. Still one of the gentlest and kindest reminders in print to care for our native wildlife, Morgan, who is of the Palyku people of the eastern Pilbara, tells a story encompassing all of Australia, from rainforests to beaches to desert, bringing attention to wildlife affected by human beings, including Gilbert’s potoroo and the flatback turtle.
A Planet Full of Plastic
Recommended Age: 7+
Did you know that we manufacture over 300 million tonnes of plastic every year? I didn’t until I read Neal Layton’s A Planet Full of Plastic. This is even more concerning when you realise eight million of those tonnes end up in our oceans. For the more factually minded child, A Planet Full of Plastic both tells the history of plastic invention, use and overuse alongside suggestions for how we can wean ourselves off it. Lively and informative text paired with Layton’s trademark mixed media collages will guarantee the message hits home.
Seagull
Recommended Age: 4+
Danny Snell’s book takes this quintessential Australian bird that many children will have chased by the ocean and uses it to highlight the very real threat that garbage on the beach poses to local wildlife. Recounting the story of Seagull, who becomes grounded when some fishing line and plastic tangles around his foot, this is an accessible tale for younger children, and the perfect segue into a chat about the dangers of littering and single-use plastic to our marine wildlife.
Somebody Swallowed Stanley
Recommended Age: 5+
Expanding on the plastic theme is Someone Swallowed Stanley, a picture book by the animal behaviourist and environmental expert Dr Sarah Roberts. Giving life and personality to a small plastic bag, Stanley, who is definitely “not like the other jellyfish”, Roberts cleverly demonstrates how marine life, including turtles, sharks and squid, might mistake Stanley for food as he slowly floats down towards the sea bed.
How to Save the Whole Stinkin’ Planet
Recommended Age: 8+
Did you know books on garbage can be laugh-out-loud funny? It can. Bear with me. How to Save the Whole Stinkin’ Planet by the TV presenter, science communicator, and Captain Planet devotee Lee Constable covers topics from compost to button mending and it’s packed with quizzes and science experiments you can do at home. This book succeeds masterfully in demonstrating to kids the many ways they can reduce their carbon footprint, while also having a good giggle.
Welcome to Country
Recommended Age: 6+
For young people to believe that they can be change-makers and caretakers of this planet, and to encourage the next generation of activists and environmental leaders, we start where all conversations should begin, with stories. It takes little encouragement for little people to make a stomping-big impact, and books are an easy introduction to make the most of their curiosity and compassion for the world around them and beneath them. As Murphy says: “You must only take from this land what you can give back.”
Secret Tales from the Himalayas
Recommended Age: 4 - 8 years
In this illustrated tale about friendship between animals and trees, a woodcutter wants to cut the ancient Deodar tree in the forests of the Himalayas. As the animals and birds hatch a plan to save their friend, the little reader learns about how the Himalayas were formed, how a small stream reach the sea and more.
Nono, The Snow Leopard
Recommended Age: 8 years +
Winter is over and the blue skies of spring dawn on rugged landscape of the Spiti Valley. Somewhere in these mountains roams an elusive phantom, and on its trail are a group of bold young men, whose search will transform forever their vision of this barren mountainscape.
The Snail and the Whale
Recommended Age: 3 - 7 years
This is the tale of a tiny snail who longs to see the world. But how can she travel? By hitching a lift on the tail of a whale of course!
A Whale of a Tale
Recommended Age: 4 - 7 years
Onboard a vessel that would make Jacques Cousteau green with envy, the Cat and Co. take to the high seas in search of whales, dolphins, and porpoises—those aquatic mammals known as cetaceans.
Swimming with Dolphins
Recommended Age: 5 - 7 years
Join a young girl on the adventure of a lifetime as she swims with dolphins. Written in the first person, in a captivatingly immediate styles, readers will feel that they are there with the young swimmer as she fulfils her dream. This ia non-fiction book with great photographs and featuring labels, captions, glossary, index and contents page.
Oceans Alive
Recommended Age: 8 - 9 years
This stunning non-fiction book presents the underwater world and why we must protect this special place. There are simple descriptions of food chains, bizarre ways in which deep creatures support each other and ecosystems. Threats to marine life as well as conservation efforts are described in detail.
Clam-I-Am
Recommended Age: 4 - 8 years
Norval the Fish is hosting a seaside talkshow for the Fish Channel–and the Cat in the Hat and Thing One and Thing Two are Cameracat and Crew! Among Norval’s special guests are his old friend Clam-I-Am (a shy gal who lives in the sand and likes to spit), along with horseshoe and hermit crabs, jellyfish, sand fleas, starfish, seagulls, and miscellaneous mollusks. Seaweed, seaglass, tides, tidal pools, dunes, driftwood, and waves make cameo appearances, too. Warning: Beginning readers are apt to be swept away!
I Am My Best Self
Recommended Age: 8 years +
Stories from the Vedanta adapted for children and the young at heart. These short stories inspired by the Vedanta tradition enhance a sense of personal empowerment at an early age.
The Giving Tree
Recommended Age: 3 - 5 years
“Once there was a tree … and she loved a little boy.” So begins a story of unforgettable perception, beautiful written and illustrated by the gifted and versatile Shel Silverstein
Penguins Big Adventure
Recommended Age: 3 - 5 years
When Penguin decides to visit the North Pole, he discovers that new places can be scary - but sometimes all it takes to feel right at home is a friendly face.
Little Polar Bear Finds a Friend
Recommended Age: 3 - 5 years
On his travels around the world Lars, the little polar bear, has made many friends, but sadly there is no one at home for him to play with. Then one day he thinks he sees another little polar bear and a whole new adventure begins.
Oh! The Thinks You Can Think
Recommended Age: 4 - 7 years
From dreamy thoughts about colour to fantastic notions on left and right, this surreal book encourages young children to let their imaginations run riot and think up all kinds of weird and wonderful things.
Goodnight Hawaiian Moon
Recommended Age: 5 - 6 years
Children and adults will be transported to a tropical dreamland. What a perfect read-along for bedtime, with its mellow narration, gentle guitar music, and background sounds of twittering birds, shushing waves, and chirping tree frogs. Amy Hanaiali'i Gilliom sets the mood with her Hawaiian-accented voice and soothing, playful reading. It's also a great introduction for young listeners to some of the special aspects of Hawaiian culture--cute watercolor illustrations in the accompanying book show hibiscus flowers, paniolo horses, geckos, and nenes all getting ready to sleep for the night.
The Monkey King
Recommended Age: 6 - 8 years
The king of Benares and his army have arrived in the monkey kingdom in search of a mango tree. Can Kapi, the monkey king find a way to protect his subjects?
The Jungle Radio - Bird Songs of India
Recommended Age: 5 - 7 years
When curious little Gul hears some strange sounds coming from her radio, she follows the musical clues into … an Indian jungle!
The Coconut Thieves
Recommended Age: 8 years +
In the bush country of Africa there lived a fierce and selfish leopard who jealously guarded a grove of fine coconut trees. All the animals longed for a taste of the sweet ripe coconuts, but only Turtle and Dog had the courage to try to take some.
Sharing A Shell
Recommended Age: 4 - 6 years
The tiny hermit crab loves his new shell. He doesn't want to share it -- not with a blobby purple anenome and a tickly bristleworm. But life in the rock pool proves tougher than Crab thinks, and soon he finds he needs his new housemates in this rollicking story of sea, shells and friendship.
Little Beaver And The Echo
Recommended Age: 4 - 8 years
Little Beaver lives all alone by the edge of the pond. He has no family and he has no friends. He’s a very sad and lonely little beaver. But one day, when he starts to cry, he hears someone else crying too, on the other side of the pond … So begins his touching quest for a friend.
Quick Slow Mango
Recommended Age: 3 - 5 years
PolePole is a mischievous monkey in a hurry. Kidogo is a baby elephant who likes to do things leisurely. Fast and slow, these two adorable animals meet up in the luckiest way when it’s mangoes for breakfast. A charming story about taking one’s own sweet time, with stunning illustrations.
The Old Animals Forest Band
Recommended Age: 4 - 8 years
In this Indian version of the well known Grimms’ tale, four animals - a sleepy dog, an unmilkable cow, a weak-kneed donkey and a confused cockerel - are thrown out by ungrateful masters. But once they come together and move to the forest, the animals prove that they’re anything but useless …
Stuck
Recommended Age: 4 - 8 years
Delightful chaos ensues when a young boy gets his kite stuck in a tree in this laugh-out-loud new picture book from award-winning, internationally best-selling author-illustrator Oliver Jeffers!
Floyd gets his kite stuck up a tree. He throws up his shoe to shift it, but that gets stuck too. So he throws up his other shoe and that gets stuck, along with… a ladder, a pot of paint, the kitchen sink, an orang-utan and a whale, amongst other things!
Will Floyd ever get his kite back?
A hilarious book with a wonderful surprise ending.
Hawaiian Myths of Earth, Sea and Sky
Recommended Age: 8 - 12 years
When the storytellers of ancient Hawaii gathered by the light of candlenut torches, they told tales that explained the world around them. These tales described how the gods created the earth and its life, how the stars were created, and why the days are longer in summer.
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