Earth Day Picture Books

Earth Day is April 22nd and I just received a package in the mail containing a collection of books from Peachtree Publishers related to this subject. Peachtree Publishers happens to be one of my favorite children’s book publishing companies (I am particularly partial to their historical fiction books for the young reader) and so it was fun to peruse their offerings.

About Habitats: Mountains is an excellent informative read which pictures mountain ranges around the world. There is only one sentence per page, making this book idea for younger readers (as early as age 3 or 4). However, in the back of the book there is more detailed information about each of the mountain ranges pictured within the storybook itself. In this book children are taken all over the world, from Mt. McKinley to the Himalayas. Children are introduced to the variety of animals that are frequently found in the mountains, as well as the variety of the ranges themselves. The illustrations by John Sill are quite beautiful and the book concludes well with a simple statement that mountains are important places that need to be protected.

A Place for Birds focuses more heavily on society’s impact on the natural world (and that involving birds, of course) than the Mountain book. In this book children learn about various types of birds and their nesting environments and receive tips on how they can better take care of the world around them. This particular book is definitely strong on suggestions and is less a picture book about birds themselves. The illustrations are very well done and informative in and of themselves, however, and I thought this was an interesting book to read for me personally. (It was too old for my 2 year old and I’d peg it to be in the 6-8 year range.)

A Tree for Emmy is a really cute fictional book about a young, imaginative, stubborn and wild girl named Emmy who takes a particular fancy to a mimosa tree that is located in her Gramma’s pasture. Although Emmy is a tree fan in general, she takes a particular fancy to the mimosa and requests a mimosa tree for her birthday that she can plant and enjoy in her very own yard. The illustrations by Tatjana Mai-Wyss are whimsical and paint Emmy to be almost fairy-ish. I find this most fitting as this book is about a young girl’s delight and love of trees. This is a very, very cute book and although it does have Earth Day tones to it, it’s really not specifically geared for it and can be enjoyed year round. (It’s just particularly fitting to read it around Earth Day.) I really liked this one a lot, although it was also above the current reading level for the child in our home.

How ’bout you? Do you have some titles you could suggest (or do one of these sound particularly interesting to you)? Anything for a two year old? I’d particularly love a title that focuses on trees that we could read and enjoy together if you know of something. If so, leave a comment! In the meantime, check out the above three titles and let us know what you think!

Carrie comes by her book obsession honestly, having descended from a long line of bibliophiles. She blogs about books regularly at Reading to Know.