Summer Fun | 10 “Green”spirational books for kids !

Published 6 July 2015 ● Last Updated on 14 June 2021

Three years ago, when my son was in lower kindergarten, they had a unit on the 3Rs- reducing, recycling and reusing. What I loved about this unit was watching how the kids really took these things to heart and did their little bit for Mother Earth. So in my house – plastic use was reduced, we discussed how to reuse a lot of the stuff at home and talked about the importance of doing something small like separating wet and dry wastes and we did a small experiment to make our own compost at home. One of the things we did was read a lot of books on nature, conservation, recycling, going green and conservationists. Here are a few of my favourites:

1. Gabby and her Grandma go green – Monica Wellington

I loved this book for the warmth of a grandma-grandchild relationship, the lovely illustrations and small but practical little ideas to go green. Gabby and grandma spend a special “green” day together making reusable bags, walking instead of driving, visiting the farmer’s market etc. This is a wonderful read. The outcome of reading this was every time I went shopping, I was reminded to take the green bags

Available for borrowing at the National Library.

2. On Meadowview Street – Henry Cole

Caroline has moved to Meadowview Street – except there is no meadow and not much of a view. She sees one wild flower and begs her dad to let it be and mow around it. Then another wild flower pops up and over time she converts her yard into a teeming habitat and finally Meadowview Street actually has a meadow view. I loved this book – the illustrations and the simplicity of the story, how a small act can have a huge effect, and how all it takes is one person protecting a wild flower.

Available for borrowing at the National Library.

3. Toys from Trash – Arvind Gupta

Arvind Gupta is a toy maker and innovator. He took a year’s study leave from TELCO, an Indian automotive company, to work with the grassroots village science teaching programme for children in the tribal district of Hoshangabad, Madhya Pradesh, India. While there, he developed many useful low-cost teaching/science teaching aids using locally available materials. This book is a collection of DIY toys created from junk, with clear step-by-step instructions. I love watching the sense of accomplishment the kids have when they have created something. In this era of funky mechanised toys, the best ones are the ones you make yourself. You can check out all the fabulous stuff the author is doing at www.arvindguptatoys.com.

Other titles by the author available for reference via the National Library.

4. The Earth Book – Todd Parr

The Earth Book is perfect for little kids. What I loved about this book is the message author Todd Parr sends with the design of the book itself – it is printed entirely with recycled materials and nontoxic soy inks. With lovely simple illustrations that look like something kids might have done themselves, it is filled with little ways that one can contribute to protecting this planet and how one little action can have a huge effect. “I take care of the earth because I know I can do little things every day to make a BIG difference.” In the end, this is truly the simple truth.

Available for borrowing at the National Library Singapore.

5. Compost Stew – Mary McKenna Siddals

Here’s something that encouraged my city-bred kids to create their own compost.  A lovely rhyming text tells you all the things that you can add to creating your own compost. I found this book pretty engaging, fun and educational. Vibrant collage illustrations use recycled and found materials. There is a little note at the end with some extra information on composting. While this may not be an all encompassing book on composting, it’s a fabulous one to start with, especially for young kids. We used the compost we created to start our own herb garden ☺Available for borrowing at the National Library Singapore.

[Read the Secondsguru guide to Composting in your apartment].

6. The Tree – Dana Lyons

This is an incredibly beautiful story said from the point of view of an 800-years-old Douglas fir in the Pacific rainforest, speaking of all the things that it has seen during its lifetime and all the wildlife that it has seen and sheltered. Simple and yet incredibly profound, the story touches kids and adults alike. What I loved about it was that it sparked a conversation on why development vs environment between a 6 and 4-year-old who very quickly came to the conclusion that “we need to plant more trees and balance the environment.”

7. I want to go green! But what does that mean? – Jill Dunn

Perfect for kindergarten. This little book with its rhyming text explores in a silly fun fashion what it means to go green. It is a perfect book to read to kids who are complete beginners to this concept and talks of simple ways to conserve our resources and keep our earth clean. I believe it is very important to get children involved. After all they inherit this earth from us. The earlier they are involved in understanding the importance of protecting the only planet known to have life and chocolate, the better it is. ☺

8. Sofia’s dream – Land Wilson

This is an absolutely delightful picture book. Sofia is invited by her friend moon and she is determined to find out why he is so sad. A lyrical story from the moon’s point of view actually shows the amount of damage we’ve done to our planet and is a perfect book to start the topic of our responsibilities towards our planet. I loved the illustrations as much as I loved the message.

9. Not your typical book about the environment – Elin Kelsey

I found this an incredibly refreshing and educational book. In a world filled with heightened environmental awareness, this book tends to ally kid’s eco anxieties. It speaks about why everything is not all doom and gloom and how we can do so much right from where we are now. Educative and with a comic like illustration this book grabs your attention from the very beginning. Bees can help world peace, seaweed and algae make up a lot of what’s in our ice cream, and buses can be powered by poop are some of Kelsey’s examples. With simple illustrations to explain sustainable living, I absolutely loved this book.

Available for borrowing at the National Library Singapore.

10. The Everything Kids Environment Book – Sheri Amsel

This book looks at the impact our everyday actions has on the world around us. What choices we make have a long term bearing on our planet. So what can we do to create positive environment? This book is filled with information and activities that can be done on a daily basis and gives us a better understanding of our environment.

Well, I hope you enjoy this list. So Earth Day was coming up and they were discussing about it in school and I was explaining the concept to my little girl. And she piped up, “Then shouldn’t every day be Earth Day?” I think children get the concept way better than we do. So start them young and save this planet.

Note: Most titles are available at the National Library. For the rest, head to Amazon!

– Maya Jain
Maya is an obsessive reader, wistful blogger, doting mother and a soon-to-be spirited entrepreneur. You can read her musings on her blog My Awesome Everyday.

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