13 Books to Celebrate Earth Day

Celebrate Earth Day with these favorites from Free Spirit!

Jayden’s Impossible Garden

“A fantastic pick for Earth Day and beyond.”—Booklist, Starred Review

Amidst all the buildings, people, and traffic in his neighborhood, Jayden sees nature everywhere: the squirrels scrounging, the cardinals calling, and the dandelions growing. But Mama doesn’t believe there’s nature in the city. So Jayden sets out to help Mama see what he sees. With the help of his friend Mr. Curtis, Jayden plants the seeds of a community garden and brings together his neighbors—and Mama—to show them the magic of nature in the middle of the city.

Protecting the Planet

Climate change caused by global warming is a common topic in the news, and this book helps kids address their environmental anxiety. Protecting the Planet explores the causes and effects of air pollution and littering and explains what global warming is. It also shares ways that kids and the adults in their lives can look after the planet, such as recycling, reusing items instead of throwing them away, and using less fuel and electricity.

Me and You and the Universe

Come explore the ways we are all connected and everything around us is connected—from the tiniest cells to the largest solar system. Discover new ways of opening your eyes, your mind, and your heart in this beginner’s guide to life on earth.

Living on the Veg

With kid-friendly language and lots of information, longtime vegetarians Clive Gifford and Jacqueline Meldrum offer kids advice and support in this guide on going vegetarian and eating less meat. A section with simple vegetarian recipes helps kids get started. Plenty of tips—from breaking the news to parents to options for eating out—offer kids advice and support through challenges and slip-ups as they make this change.

Go Green

In this book, four friends set out to learn about how to protect the environment. After a birthday party sparks their awareness of environmental issues such as wasted food, discarded paper and plastic, and the trash that ends up in landfills, they begin seeking ways to better care for the planet. Together they take action at school, at home, and beyond to reduce, reuse, and recycle, and to educate others about the importance of going green.

Get Outdoors

It’s a beautiful day, but Jada and her brother Michael are staying indoors—until Dad invents a game to get them exploring nature: whoever notices the most interesting things is the winner. At first, they just see grass and flowers. But by slowing down, looking closely, and using all of their senses, they soon begin to notice lots more about the natural world. Through practicing mindfulness this way, Jada and Michael find that small things they might not have noticed before seem so much more interesting.

Real Kids, Real Stories, Real Change

Inspire kids and teens to personal, community, and social action with this book of 30 true stories of young people overcoming adversity to achieve great things and make a difference around the world. Compelling, funny, inspiring, and poignant, the book features kids and teens who used their heads, their hearts, their character, their courage, and sometimes their stubbornness to help others and do amazing things. You’ll find examples of kids volunteering, kids making a difference, and young people initiating community and social action to change their world.

Make a Splash!

Filled with facts about our waters, their inhabitants, and the threats they face, Make a Splash! presents inspiring stories of kids in action and service projects for kids to help them make a difference. In fun and age-appropriate language, kids are introduced to service learning ideas. Service learning groups, youth groups, science teachers, and teachers of conservation and environmentalism units will find this book to be a valuable resource. Also included are book and online resources and a glossary.

Going Blue

Written by service learning expert Cathryn Berger Kaye and ocean spokesperson Philippe Cousteau (grandson of Jacques Cousteau), Going Blue educates teens about Earth’s water crisis and gives them tools and inspiration to transform their ideas into action as they plan and do a meaningful service project that benefits our planet’s water system. The book is divided into the five stages of service learning: Investigate, Prepare, Act, Reflect, and Demonstrate.

The Kid’s Guide to Service Projects

Are you looking for ways to connect kids with inspiring, high-quality community service projects? Do you want fresh ideas and suggestions for how to get kids involved in service learning? The second edition of Barbara Lewis’s classic youth service guide contains hundreds of up-to-date service projects and ideas presented in an engaging, kid-friendly format. This guide has something for everyone who wants to make a difference.

The Teen Guide to Global Action

Here’s a book for every teen who wants to get involved in service and social change. Featuring profiles of real “Difference Makers” from around the world and practical tools readers can use to support causes they are passionate about, The Teen Guide to Global Action provides everything teens need to start making a difference at the local, national, or global level.

From suggestions for reducing hunger and poverty and protecting human rights to environmental projects and efforts to promote peace, this book provides know-how and inspiration teens can use to make the world a better place. Teens reading these stories will realize they don’t have to wait to become an adult to change the world.

Service Learning in the PreK-3 Classroom

Among early childhood education books, this one stands in a class by itself. It is the only comprehensive, research-based guide for implementing service learning across the preK and early elementary curriculum. Based on field trials with over 3,500 students and 215 educators, this pioneering resource is rich in both theory and practice, and it combines best practices in service with differentiated content-based learning to meet the academic and social needs of young children in meaningful ways. The guide’s numerous sample service learning lesson plans are based on field-tested preK and early elementary classroom projects and correlated to national standards.

The Complete Guide to Service Learning

This book is the go-to resource in the fast-growing field of service learning. It is an award-winning treasury of service activities, community service project ideas, quotes, reflections, and resources that can help teachers and youth workers engage young hearts and minds in reaching out and giving back. Author and internationally known service learning expert Cathryn Berger Kaye presents service learning—its importance, steps, essential elements, and challenges—within a curricular context and organized by theme. This second edition maintains the easy-to-use format of the original and is enhanced with updated information on service learning programs and pedagogy.

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