According to EarthDay.Org, the first Earth Day was celebrated on April 22, 1970. For 52 years, this organization has focused on creating awareness of caring for our planet earth. From pollution to recycling, we are planting trees, gardening, saving the bees, making mindful use of energy and water, and more. Billions of people participate in Earth Day, including children of all ages!
• Diverse Kidlit to Celebrate Earth Day •
Earth Day is about our environment and how we should care for it. Rebekah Gienapp, from Nurturing Antiracist Kids, has a fantastic selection of environment books, such as Zaina’s Forest, set in beautiful Peru, about an Asháninka girl and the challenges she faces in the forest. Also, the own voices book Where is Rodney? about a young boy exploring the national parks and We Are Water Protectors, a book about a young Ojibwe girl protecting waters. Another one of my favorites is a book about children doing their part to help save the earth, Old Enough to Save the Planet, inspired by a true story. You can find the complete list of books here.
Jody Rodriguez from Growing Book by Book has a great list of Earth book-themed books for younger readers. I really love this one from Todd Parr The Earth Book, with its colorful, eye-catching illustrations, will certainly be a favorite for your little ones.
Earth Day is also about love and respect for our planet and inclusion. Multicultural Children’s Book Day featured the book, This is the Earth, our planet, our home, and the importance of respecting it and our neighbors and family. You can read more about it here.
Need more Earth Day booklists? Find them here!:
All Done Monkey: Earth Day Books
Colour of Us: 40+ Multicultural Children’s Books for Earth Day
My Mundane and Miraculous Life: 21 Inspiring Earth Day Books for Kids
This West Coast Mommy: 50 “Green” Children’s Books for Earth Day or Any Day
Primary Playground: The Best Earth Day Read-Alouds
Social media has become an endless source of information and we found these two posts on Instagram with great book recommendations to celebrate Earth Day:
Reading books with your children on Earth Day will inspire you to take action on that day. However, here are some great ideas to love your planet that children can do with the help of a grown-up all-year-round.
Fun Earth Day Song
We’re is the Earth yay Book