Earth Day is a time to celebrate our wonderful planet with our planet, and these Earth Day books for kids present the perfect opportunity to nurture our children’s love for nature and environmental awareness.

If you’re unsure where to begin, I’ve put together some of my favorite children’s books about eco-consciousness, nature, and climate change. These titles will take your kids on exciting adventures, introduce them to amazing animals, and teach them how to be responsible stewards of our precious Earth.

As a mom of two little bookworms, a veteran preschool teacher, and a picture book lover, I’m excited to share my favorite titles with you that I’ve enjoyed reading with my own kids and students. These books cover topics such as pollution, littering, water insecurity, and climate change in age-appropriate ways while offering valuable insights into how we can all be more eco-conscious and mindful of things that impact the environment. – Adina Oberman

Above: From The Mess That We Made by Michelle Lord and Julia Blattman

The Best Earth Day Books for Kids by Age

From playful picture books to inspiring stories, these Earth Day books for kids are sure to captivate young readers and spark a lifelong connection with the natural world. So, find a cozy spot, cuddle up with your little ones, and embark on a journey of discovery.

This post contains affiliate links and some purchases may help support our team at no additional cost to you. You can also purchase these books at a local indie bookstore, or check them out at the library.

Earth Day Books for Kids: Ages 0-2

These sturdy and engaging boardbooks are perfect for little fingers, introducing babies and toddlers to the sights and sounds of our world. Reading with babies and toddlers is a natural, and fun way to encourage language development and socialization. At this stage, babies are discovering everything around them, and what better way to build this foundation than with books?

My First Pop-Up Endangered Animals by Owen Davey
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Kids discover 15 wonderful animals in danger of disappearing from our world, making for a perfect introduction to the important topic of conservation.

I Love Earth: Touch and Feel Board Book by Little Hippo Book
Amazon

A charming, colorful touch-and-feel board book to help the youngest children learn that planting trees, recycling trash, and shutting off their light are all ways to care for the earth and its important resources.

My Big Book of Nature Sounds by Lucie Brunelliere
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This interactive sound book lets children push a button and hear the sounds of different environments — a chirping bird, crunching leaves, crashing waves. 100 sounds and words in this engaging Earth Day book help kids become aware of the sounds of nature around them every day.

Earth Day Books for Kids: Ages 3-5

Touch The Earth by Julian Lennon, Bart Davis, Smiljana Coh
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Hop in the White Feather Flier for a journey around the world as you bring clean water to people in need! This stunning, interactive New York Times best-seller (also available as a board book) teaches readers about water insecurity and eco-consciousness in such a clever, engaging way. Kids get to be part of the story by moving the book up, down, and around to make the airplane fly. I love how Earth Day books for kids like this one can offer young readers a window into the experiences of others, and provide a foundation for thinking globally.

It’s Only One by Tracey Corderoy and Tony Neal
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If you love doing dramatic readings with your kids or classroom, this is for you! Narrate with your best silly voice, and dive into this book that challenges young readers to think of the impact of our choices on the environment, and how “just one” action actually does make a difference.

Earth Day Books for Kids: Ages 5-8

The Girl Who Spoke to the Moon: A Story About Friendship and Loving Our Earth
by Land Wilson and Sue Cornelison
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If the moon could speak, what would it say? Follow Sofia as she takes a trip to the moon and learns about what the Earth looks like from space. The book is written in rhyme, with elements of adventure, messages about caring for our planet, and such inviting illustrations, that my kids ask to read again and again.

What Does It Mean To Be Green by Rana DiOrio and Addy Rivera Sonda
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Subtitled A Picture Book about Making Eco-Friendly Choices and Saving the Planet!, the newly remastered edition of this book has everything you need to help kick your family’s green game up a notch! Does being “green” mean eating your veggies or being good with plants? No! it means caring for our Earth by turning off lights and conserving water, eating locally-produced food, and reusing and recycling whenever possible. I always recommend this as a great Earth Day book for kids because it approaches eco-consciousness with a blend of engaging prose and practical strategies and solutions that help empower kids.

(Editor’s Note: The author is a part of the Cool Mom Picks team, and her books are just one of the reasons we love her.)

The Mess That We Made by Michelle Lord and Julia Blattman
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This beautiful book will pull at the strings of your heart and leave you wanting to do everything you can to reduce ocean pollution. Told in “the-house-that-jack-built” style, this story builds on itself to trace the impact of pollution — from humans, to sea life and back again. The powerful title reminds us of the impact of our choices and really can get kids to start to think about how to act globally. And those illustrations are just spectacular — you can really lose yourself in every page.

What if Everybody Did That by Ellen Javernick and Colleen Madden
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Another good Earth Day book for kids, this read challenges young kids to think of the impact of their choices on the environment. For example, throwing trash on the ground may not seem like a “big deal,” but as with It’s Only One, it begs the question: What if EVERYBODY did that? Use your best Oscar-worthy acting skills during storytime to get kids thinking and giggling.

One Little Bag: An Amazing Journey by Henry Cole
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How often do you use paper bags? Have you ever thought about where they come from? Follow this particular one as it’s used and re-used again and again. I love sharing wordless picture books in the classroom because they encourage both language development and creativity, especially with illustrations as expressive as Henry Cole’s. As you read, ask kids to describe what they see and ask them what they think will happen next. You may be surprised by how much they have to say.

Climate Change, The Choice is Ours: The Facts, Our Future, and Why There’s Hope!
by David Miles, Albert Pinilla
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Packed with real scientific data straight from NASA, this engaging story may look fun, but more than that, it’s a passport to feeling like a real-life scientist. Each page is packed with information in a fun infographic style, and offers readers a choice, challenging them to do nothing….or make a change. Although learning about topics such as global warming, extreme weather, and rising sea levels can seem scary, I like that the final pages offer hope through practical ways that readers can advocate for change. (Note: For every book purchased, the publisher donates a book to a child in need.)

Gardens Are For Growing by Chelsea Tornetto, Hsulynn Pang
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Sunshine is for soaking up, and seeds are meant for sowing. Raindrops give small sprouts a drink, and gardens are for growing.
This sweet, heartwarming picture book isn’t so much a lesson in climate change as it is a lesson in familial love. It depicts a father and daughter planting seeds together and nurturing the garden, creating an analogy between their blossoming relationship and the plants they’ll grow. As you can imagine, it’s not just a great Earth Day book for kids but makes a fantastic Father’s Day gift book for dads. Maybe it will even inspire him to start a garden with the kids this year — if only indoors.

Hear Them Roar: 14 Endangered Animals from Around the World by June Smalls, Becky Thorns
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Got a sensory-seeking older kid? If they’ve outgrown My Big Book of Nature Sounds, above, this book for older kids also gives them buttons to press and colorful illustrations to engage them. But don’t be deceived by the promise of animal sounds — this is a comprehensively illustrated guidebook to 14 nearly extinct animals from the Sumatran orangutang to the black-footed ferret, to the red wolf. Their calls, snorts, squeaks, and roars make endangered animals more “real,” while providing hopeful information about how conservationists are helping bring them back from the edge of extinction.

Insider tip: You can flip the book over to switch off the power to the soundboard; otherwise, be prepared to hear the howl of the red wolf at all hours of the day and night for years to come.

Adina Oberman is a former preschool teacher, a current picture book lover, and a mom of 2 young kids. She’s also the creator of Big Books for Little Hands, a site dedicated to sharing the best books to help you through the ups and downs of early childhood. She loves sharing her knowledge of early childhood education and her passion for great children’s literature. Adina holds a Master’s Degree in Early Childhood Education, with an additional certificate in Early Childhood Special Education. You can find her on Instagram @BBLHands.