Books For Raising Environmentally Responsible Kids
How Do We Raise Environmentally Responsible Kids?
If you’re like me, then you are probably always looking for ways to teach your kids to be environmentally responsible: to use less, be mindful of their surroundings, and care for the earth. As always, the first place I always go to is the book shelf when I want to teach my son something.
Here are ten books I have found that help explain concepts like environmental awareness, conservation, and pollution to even the youngest audience.
10 Kids Books That Teach Kids to Be Environmentally Responsible
A Little Goes a Long Way By Ashley Mills Monaghan
Ashley is our Featured Author for July, so it makes sense that her book would make it’s way on this list. The book is all about a little boy who wants to help but has to learn when to stop pouring, spraying, and sprinkling before he makes a mess. It’s a great book for teaching kids to be mindful of how much they use. You can check out the review and an exclusive book activity from earlier this week.
What a Waste By Jess French
The older my son gets, the more I love his Discovery Kids (DK) books. This one is all about waste, pollution, and how we can better care for the environment. It’s very detailed and educational, and the pictures hold my son’s attention.
3) Not For Me Please, I Choose To Go Green by Maria Godsey
This book is an easy introduction to “Going Green” for kids. I personally found the story telling and rhymes a bit forced, but the overall message and information in the book is fantastic! There are footnotes that go more in depth about the specifics of what the rhyme says, so parents and teachers can better guide kids through the book. It’s simple enough for kids to understand, but detailed enough to teach with.
4) What if Everybody did that?
I love this book, so I couldn’t resist putting it on here. Even though it isn’t directly a book about the environment, I felt it fit this theme. The book is all about behaviors and choices. The repeated theme of the book is “What if Everybody Did That?” And what would the world be like. There are a few pages in the book that address littering and waste. Overall, this book is a great aid for teaching proper behavior and responsibility.
Why Should I save water? By Jen Green
This is a very straight forward book about water conservation. Living in a drought state (Colorado), I find this is something I am tackling every day, not just with my son, but with myself. We all need a reminder to use a little less water and watch how much we waste. There are actually three other books in this series: “Why Should I Recycle?”, “Why Should I Save Energy?”, and “Why Should I Eat Well?”.
Don’t Throw That Away! : A Lift-the-Flap Book About Recycling
Who doesn’t love a good lift -the-flap? This one is made from recycled materials and teaches your kids about recycling and reusing to reduce pollution and waste.
A Stone Sat Still
This beautiful book offers an opportunity for kids to look at things from a new perspective. A stone is just a stone, but does every creature see it that way? The bugs, the birds, and other creatures all see the stone as something more than just a stone and they all view it differently. It’s a good starting point for having greater conversations about why we should be mindful of the environment, showing children that the things we think do not matter may matter very much to the other creatures we share out planet with.
The Lonely Polar Bear
This book is a gentle way of introducing climate change to kids. It points out how climate change is changing the environment and affecting our animals and endangered species, but it does so through a gentle story and beautiful illustrations.
The Earth Book By Todd Parr
I love Todd Parr’s books. His simple illustrations appeal to kids of any background and age, and his books cover a variety of concepts. The Earth book is all about how we can help our planet and keep it beautiful. It’s simple enough for even the youngest children to understand, and offers example of how we can help the planet.
Save the Bees By Bethany Stahl
There are three other books in this series: Save The Arctic, Save the Ocean, And Save the Land. I chose to put this one on the list because there are very few books for kids specifically about what the bees do and why we need them. It even teaches a few small things that you can do to help the bees and shows you how to make a bee garden and a bee hotel! The series as a whole is a great series for teaching environmental responsibility to kids.
What do you think?
Are There Any Books Missing From This List?
DO You have a favorite book about the environment or conservation?
