Each year, Earth Day is celebrated around the globe on April 22nd. It is a time for the world to hold sectors accountable for their role in our environmental crisis. As individuals, we also yield power and influence as a consumer, a voter, and as members of our communities. We can unite for change. Together, we can create a movement that is inclusive, impactful, and impossible to ignore.
When it comes to children, research shows that early childhood is essential to a child's future success. Children interact with nature and the environment differently and it's important to engage with children in unique and varying ways to reinforce the idea of civic engagement for character development and to provide a vast display of opportunities to connect with nature.
So, without further ado, here are a few books that we can recommend to get your child thinking about the environment and Earth Day 2021.
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1. One Earth by Eileen Spinelli
Released only just this month, One Earth reminds the reader of Earth's beauties listing simple ways children can help our world such as reducing waste and reusing items. "A helping-hands concept and fantastical illustrations elevate rhyming text in this earnest ecological counting book. . . . As the text conveys the preciousness of a single Earth, Coelho's illustrations portray it with soft, pencil-like texture." --Publishers Weekly
2. Biscuit's Earth Day Celebration by Alyssa Satin Capucilli
Join Biscuit, the famous small yellow puppy, as he helps take care of our green world. From planting seeds to cleaning up, Biscuit's celebration is an exciting adventure for Earth Day and for every day! A perfect Earth day book for toddlers.
3. My Friend Earth by Patricia MacLachlan
A beautiful ode to planet Earth featuring die-cut pages to encourage exploration and kid-friendly art that will engage both toddlers and young readers.
4. How to Help the Earth-by the Lorax (Dr. Seuss) by Tish Rabe
The star of The Lorax by Dr. Seuss makes his Step into Reading debut in this rhymed reader that offers kids easy suggestions for going green! The Lorax suggests realistic ways children can reduce waste and also how they can save energy around the house.
5. Why Should I Recycle? by Jen Green
Today, some of the most important questions kids ask are related to the natural environment. The enlightening and entertaining four-book Why Should I? series demonstrates the importance of protecting nature and this one is all about recycling.
6. What a Waste: Trash, Recycling, and Protecting our Planet by Jess French
An informative book on recycling for children. It covers everything from "Where does our poop go?" to electronic waste, efficient home, single-use plastic, and more. Don't be surprised if you find yourself reading some eye-opening information and want to double-down on a statistic fact-finding mission.
7. Earth Day Every Day by Lisa Bullard
Discover how to reduce, reuse, recycle, and more with Tyler and Trina in the Planet Protectors series. Ordinary kids Tyler and Trina are on a mission to save the Earth through green living in this fetching series. Taking what they learned in school, these young planet protectors lead by example, encouraging readers to reuse more, celebrate Earth Day, save energy, clean up litter, pollute less, recycle, and conserve water.
8. 
Remarkable photographs and a rich, layered text introduce concepts of science, nature, geography, biology, poetry, and community, perfect for classrooms and homeschooling. This nonfiction picture book is ideal for Earth Day and for celebrating the planet all year long and is April Pulley Sayre’s love letter to Earth.
9. Earth! My First 4.54 Billion Years by Stacy McAnulty
"Hi, I’m Earth! But you can call me Planet Awesome."
In this first person non-fiction book, we're treated to Earth's backstory. Full of interesting facts, told in a humorous way, it's the perfect read aloud for preschoolers and elementary grades.
10. Save the Ocean (Save the Earth) by Bethany Stahl
This engaging book teaches about plastic pollution and tells the story of two friends working together to discover that Agwe's favorite food, may not be what it seems! With beautiful and charming illustrations, this is a book adults will love reading over and over again with their kids. As a bonus, you'll find some extras included as well like a search and find game and a coloring page.