Eco-Reading:
Selected Books for Children and Teens
about Our Earth and the Environment

Compiled by Tessa Michaelson and Megan Schliesman
© 2008 Cooperative Childrens' Book Center

This bibliography highlights books for children and teens that enhance appreciation for nature and the earth, increase understanding of environmental challenges, and inspire action for change.

Most of the books have been chosen from various editions of CCBC Choices, the annual best-of-the-year list of the Cooperative Children's Book Center. The books have been divided into three categories:

• In My World: Loving the Earth: Books that foster deeper appreciation for the natural world, including several that imagine a brighter environmental landscape for the future.

• What Happened Here? Environmental Challenges and Change: Books that highlight past or current threats to the environment, including several science fiction and fantasy titles in which the future has paid a heavy price for transgressions of the past.

• Taking Action: Planet Pioneers: Books that showcase activists and others who have worked for specific or sweeping environmental change.

Each of the three categories is divided into fiction (fictional stories--both picture books and novels) and non-fiction (books of information and poetry).

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Click on underlined book titles to see the CCBC review of the book, and/or the cover image.

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In My World: Loving the Earth--Fiction

Allen, editor, Judy. Anthology for the Earth. U.S. edition: Candlewick Press, 1998. Ages 9 and older

Baker, Jeannie. The Hidden Forest. U.S. edition: Greenwillow, 2000. Ages 4 - 8

Ehlert, Lois. In My World. Harcourt, 2002. Ages 3 - 8

Erdrich, Louise. Grandmother's Pigeon. Illustrated by Jim LaMarche. Hyperion, 1996. 32 pages. Ages 6 - 11

Erdrich, Louise. The Birchbark House. Hyperion, 1999. Ages 8 - 12

Ernst, Lisa Campbell. Round Like a Ball!. Blue Apple, 2008. 32 pages. Ages 3-7

Fleming, Denise. In the Tall, Tall Grass. Henry Holt, 1991. 32 pages. Ages 2-5

George, Lindsay Barett. In the Snow: Who's Been Here?. Greenwillow, 1999. Ages 3 - 6

George, William T. . Christmas At Long Pond. Illustrated by Lindsay Barrett George. Greenwillow, 1992. 32 pages. Ages 4-8

George, Jean Craighead. Morning, Noon, and Night. Illustrated by Wendell Minor. HarperCollins, 1999. Ages 4 - 8

George, Jean Craighead. Arctic Son. Illustrated by Wendell Minor. Hyperion, 1997. 32 pages. Ages 5-9

Gorbachev, Valeri. Red, Red, Red. Philomel, 2007. 40 pages. Ages 3-6

Henkes, Kevin. Birds. Illustrated by Laura Dronzek. Greenwillow Books / HarperCollins, 2009. 32 pages. Ages 3-7

Orie, Sandra De Couteau. Did You Hear Wind Sing Your Name? An Oneida Song of Spring. Illustrated by Christopher Canyon. Walker, 1995. Ages 4 - 9

Rubinstein, Gillian. Foxspell. Simon & Schuster, 1996. 219 pages. Ages 11-14

Stein, David Ezra. Leaves. Putnam, 2007. 32 pages. Ages 2-5

Suzuki, David and Sarah Ellis . Salmon Forest. Illustrated by Sheena Lott. Greystone Books/Douglas & McIntyre, 2003. 40 pages. Ages 5-9

Toft, Kim Michelle. The World That We Want. Charlesbridge, 2005. 32 pages. Ages 5-10

In My World: Loving the Earth--Non-Fiction

Arnosky, Jim. Field Trips: Bug Hunting, Animal Tracking, Bird-Watching, and Shore Walking with Jim Arnosky. HarperCollins, 2002. Ages 8 - 12

Bledsoe, Lucy Jane. How To Survive in Antarctica. Holiday House, 2006. 101 pages. Ages 9-14

Esbensen, Barbara Juster. Echoes for the Eye: Poems to Celebrate Patterns in Nature. Illustrated by Helen K. Davie. HarperCollins, 1996. Ages 7 - 10

Gilchrist, Jan Spivey. My America. Illustrated by Jan Spivey Gilchrist and Ashley Bryan. HarperCollins, 2007. 32 pages. Ages 5-8

Hooper, Meredith. The Drop in My Drink. Illustrated by Chris Coady. U.S. edition: Viking, 1998. Ages 6 - 10

Lasky, Kathryn. The Most Beautiful Roof in the World: Exploring the Rainforest Canopy. Photographed by Christopher G. Knight. Gulliver Green/Harcourt Brace, 1997. Ages 7 - 11

Lin, Grace and Ranida T. McKneally . Our Seasons. Illustrated by Grace Lin. Charlesbridge, 2006. 32 pages. Ages 4-8

Martin, Jacqueline Briggs. Snowflake Bentley. Illustrated by Mary Azarian. Houghton Mifflin, 1998. Ages 4 - 9

McLimans, David. Gone Fishing: Ocean Life by the Numbers. Walker, 2008. 32 pages. Ages 5-10

Mora, Pat. The Desert is My Mother/El desierto es mi madre. Illustrated by Daniel Lechon. Pinata Books/Arte Publico Press, 1994. Ages 4 - 7

Newsome, Effie Lee. Wonders: The Best Children's Poems of Effie Lee Newsome. Illustrated by Lois Mailou Jones. Boyds Mills Press, 1999. 40 pages. Ages 4-7

Patent, Dorothy Hinshaw. Places of Refuge: Our National Wildlife Refuge System. Photographed by William Munoz. Clarion, 1992. 80 pages. Ages 9-12

Prelutsky, selector, Jack. The Beauty of the Beast: Poems from the Animal Kingdom. Illustrated by Meilo So. Alfred A. Knopf, 1997. Ages 3 - 11

Rosen, Michael J. . The Cuckoo's Haiku and Other Birding Poems. Illustrated by Stan Fellows. Candlewick Press, 2009. 64 pages. Ages 8-14

Schmid, Eleanore. The Living Earth. North-South, 1994. 28 pages. Ages 4-8

Schwartz, David M. and Yael Schy . Where In the Wild: Camaflouged Creatures Concealed ... and Revealed. Photographed by Dwight Khun. Tricycle Press, 2007. 22 pages. Ages 7-12

Sidman, Joyce . Song of the Water Boatman and Other Pond Poems. Illustrated by Becky Prange. Houghton Mifflin, 2005. 32 pages. Ages 5-9

Singer, Marilyn. Footprints on the Roof: Poems about the Earth. Illustrated by Meilo So. Alfred A. Knopf, 2002. Ages 10 - 14

Swamp, Jake. Giving Thanks: A Native American Good Morning Message. Illustrated by Erwin Printup, Jr. Lee & Low, 1995.

Wright-Frierson, Virginia. An Island Scrapbook: Dawn to Dusk on a Barrier Island. Simon & Schuster, 1998. Ages 7 - 11

Wright-Frierson, Virginia. A North American Rain Forest Scrapbook. Walker, 1999. Ages 8 - 14

What Happened Here? Environmental Challenges and Change--Fiction

Baker, Jeannie. Window. Greenwillow, 1991. Age 9 and older

Burningham, John . Hey! Get Off Our Train!. Crown, 1990. 48 pages. Ages 3-7

Farmer, Nancy. The Ear, the Eye and the Arm. A Richard Jackson Book/Orchard, 1994. Ages 10 - 14

Gerstein, Mordicai. The Old Country. Roaring Brook Press, 2005. 130 pages. Ages 10-14

Gilmore, Kate . The Exchange Student. Houghton Mifflin, 1999. 217 pages. Ages 12-15

Halam, Ann. Siberia: A Novel. Wendy Lamb Books / Random House, 2005. 262 pages. Ages 11-15

Hartnett, Sonya. Stripes of the Sidestep Wolf. Candlewick, 2005. 208 pages. Ages 14 and older

Ihimaera, Witi. The Whale Rider. Harcourt, 2003. 152 pages. Ages 13-18

Joseph, Lynn. The Color of My Words. Joanna Cotler Books/HarperCollins, 2000. Ages 10 - 14

McNaughton, Janet. The Secret Under My Skin. U.S. edition: Eos / HarperCollins, 2005. 264 pages. Ages 12-16

Peet, Mal. Keeper. U.S. edition: Candlewick Press, 2005. 225 pages. Ages 12-16

Weeks, Sarah . Little Factory. Illustrated by animated by Byron Barton. Laura Geringer Book/HarperCollins, 1998. 36 pages. Ages 2-5

What Happened Here? Environmental Challenges and Change--Non-Fiction

Bang, Molly. Common Ground: The Water, Earth and Air We Share. Blue Sky/Scholastic, 1997. Ages 5 - 8

Burns, Loree Griffin. Tracking Trash: Flotsam, Jetsam, and the Science of Ocean Motion (Scientists in the Field). Houghton MIfflin, 2007. 56 pages. Ages 8-12

Carr, Terry . Spill!: The Story of Exxon Valdez. Franklin Watts, 1991. 64 pages. Ages 9-14

David, Laurie and Cambria Gordon . The Down-to-Earth Guide to Global Warming. Orchard / Scholstic, 2007. 112 pages. Ages 9-12

Deem, James M.. Bodies from the Ice: Melting Glaciers and the Recovery of the Past. Houghton Mifflin, 2008. 58 pages. Ages 10-15

Facklam, Margery. And Then There Was One: The Mysteries of Extinction. Illustrated by Pamela Johnson. Sierra Club/Little Brown, 1990. 56 pages. Ages 8-11

Gore, Al. An Inconvenient Truth: the Crisis of Global Warming. Viking / Rodale, 2007. 191 pages. Ages 11-16

Hoose, Phillip . The Race to Save the Lord God Bird. Melanie Kroupa Books / Farrar Straus and Giroux, 2004. 196 pages. Ages 12 and older

McLimans, David. Gone Wild: An Endangered Animal Alphabet. Walker, 2006. 32 pages. Ages 4-9

Mullins, Patricia. V For Vanishing: an Alphabet of Endangered Animals. HarperCollins, 1994. 32 pages. Ages 5-10

Toft, Kim Michelle. The World That We Want. Charlesbridge, 2005. 32 pages. Ages 5-10

Taking Action: Planet Pioneers--Fiction

DeFelice, Cynthia. Lostman's River. Macmillan, 1994. 160 pages. Ages 10-13

George, Jean Craighead. Frightful's Mountain. Dutton, 1999. Ages 9 - 13

Hiaasen, Carl. Hoot. Alfred A. Knopf, 2002. Ages 11 - 15

Hiassen, Carl. Flush. Alfred A. Knopf, 2005. 263 pages. Ages 11-14

McDonald, Megan. Judy Moody Saves the World. Illustrated by Peter Reynolds. Candlewick Press, 2002. 144 pages. Ages 6 - 9

Muth, Jon J. and Based on a story by Leo Tolstoy . The Three Questions. Scholastic Press, 2002. Ages 6 - 10

Wong, Janet S.. The Dumpster Diver. Illustrated by David Roberts. Candlewick Press, 2007. 32 pages. Ages 5-8

Taking Action: Planet Pioneers--Non-Fiction

Bang, Molly. Nobody Particular. Henry Holt, 2000. Ages 8 - 14

Berne, Jennifer. Manfish: A Story of Jacques Cousteau. Illustrated by Éric Puybaret. Chronicle, 2008. 32 pages. Ages 5-8

Collard III, Sneed B. . The Praire Builders: Reconstructing America's Lost Grasslands. Photographed by Sneed B. Collard III. Houghton Mifflin , 2005. 72 pages. Ages 7-10

Ehrlich, Amy. Rachel: The Story of Rachel Carson. Illustrated by Wendell Minor. Harcourt, 2003. 32 pages.

Goodall, Jane. The Chimpanzees I Love: Saving Their World and Ours. A Byron Preiss Book/Scholastic Press, 2001. Ages 8 - 14

Javna, John and Sophie Javna, Jesse Javna . 50 Simple Things You Can Do to Save the Earth. Hyperion, 2008. 128 pages. Age 13 and older

Lewis, Barbara A.. The Kid's Guide to Social Action: How to Solve the Social Problems You Choose -- and Turn Creative Thinking into Positive Action. Free Spirit, 1998. Age 8 and older

Love, Ann and Jane Drake . Take Action: An Environmental Book for Kids. Illustrated by Pat Cupples. Tambourine, 1993. 96 pages. Ages 7-11

Nivola, Claire A.. Planting the Trees of Kenya: The Story of Wangari Maathai. Frances Foster Books / Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2008. 32 pages. Ages 8-12

Pringle, Laurence. The Environmental Movement: From Its Roots to the Challenges of the New Century. HarperCollins, 2000. Ages 11 - 16

Schnur, Steven. Henry David's House. Illustrated by Peter Fiore. Charlesbridge, 2002. 32 pages. Ages 7-10

Swinburne, Stephen R.. Once a Wolf: How Wildlife Biologists Fought to Bring Back the Gray Wolf. Photographed by Jim Brandenburg. Houghton Mifflin, 1999. Ages 7 - 14

Thoreau, Henry David. Thoreau at Walden. Illustrated by John Porcellino. Hyperion, 2008. 112 pages. Ages 10-15

Tolan, Sally . John Muir: Naturalist, Writer, and Guardian of the North American Wilderness. Gareth Stevens, 1990. 68 pages. Ages 11-14

Winter, Jeanette. Wangari’s Trees of Peace: A True Story from Africa. Harcourt, 2008. 32 pages. Ages 5-9

Zak, Monica . Save My Rainforest. Translated by Nancy Schimmel. Illustrated by Bengt-Arne Runnerstrom. Volcano Press, 1992. 31 pages. Ages 6-11

This list may be reproduced and distributed by educational and/or nonprofit organizations so long as credit is given to the Cooperative Children's Book Center, School of Education, University of Wisconsin-Madison.