February 4, 2021
This year, the theme for I Love to Read Month is “Joyful Reading in a New World.” Staying safe at home during a pandemic is the perfect time to embrace reading as a family.
For the month of February, enter a world of wonder through nature-themed children’s books. They are sure to bring joy to your lives and may even inspire you to spend more time outdoors as a family!
100 Nature-Themed Children’s Books
| TITLE | AUTHOR | AGES |
| This Is Sadie | Sara O’Leary | 3-7 |
| The Tea Party in the Woods | Akiko Miyakoshi | 3-7 |
| A Walk in the Forest | Maria Dek | 3-6 |
| Because of an Acorn | Lola M. Schaefer | 5-6 |
| Rain School | James Rumford | 4-7 |
| Flowers Are Calling | Rita Gray | 4-7 |
| Have You Heard the Nesting Bird? | Rita Gray | 4-7 |
| The Road Home | Katie Cotton | 5-7 |
| Once Upon a Northern Night | Jean E. Pendziwol | 4-7 |
| You Belong Here | M.H. Clark | 5-6 |
| The Little Gardener | Emily Hughes | 3-7 |
| Beyond the Pond | Joseph Kuefler | 4-8 |
| A River | Marc Martin | 5-8 |
| The Man Made of Stars | M.H. Clark | 4-8 |
| Dream Animals | Emily Winfield Martin | 4+ |
| Where the Wild Things Are | Maurice Sendak | 4-8 |
| The Circus Ship | Chris Van Dusen | 4-8 |
| Blueberries for Sal | Robert McCloskey | 3-7 |
| Sam and Dave Dig a Hole | Mac Barnett | 4-8 |
| Finding Wild | Megan Wagner Lloyd | 3-7 |
| The Wonder Garden | Jenny Broom | 7-10 |
| Gaia Girls Enter the Earth | Lee Welles | 9-12 |
| The Moon Book | Gail Gibbons | 4-8 |
| The Lorax | Dr. Suess | 6-9 |
| The Tiny Seed | Eric Carle | 3+ |
| Fun With Nature | Mel Boring | 7-10 |
| The Water Princess | Susan Verde | 5-8 |
| All Aboard! National Parks: A Wildlife Primer | Haily Meyers | 5-6 |
| The Hugging Tree | Jill Neimark | 5-8 |
| Good Night Mountains | Adam Gamble | 2-3 |
| Grandma Gatewood Hikes the Appalachian Trail | Jennifer Thermes | 5-7 |
| My First Book About Backyard Nature | Patricia J. Wynne | 8-11 |
| Over in a River: Flowing Out to the Sea | Marianne Berkes | 5-6 |
| The Snail and the Whale | Julia Donaldson | 3-7 |
| Our Tree Named Steve | Alan Zweibel | 5-7 |
| The Curious Garden | Peter Brown | 4-6 |
| Miss Rumphius | Barbara Cooney | 5-8 |
| The Great Kapok Tree | Lynne Cherry | 5-8 |
| The Wump World | Bill Peet | 5-7 |
| Fishing in the Air | Sharon Creech and Chris Raschka | 3-5 |
| The Dream of the Thylacine | Margaret Wild and Ron Brooks | 5-7 |
| Owl Moon | Jane Yolen | 4-7 |
| Just a Dream | Chris Van Allsburg | 5-8 |
| Butterfly Park | Elly McKay | 4-7 |
| Wolf Island | Celia Godkin | 7-12 |
| Outside Your Window: A First Book of Nature | Nicola Davies | 4-6 |
| Here We Are | Oliver Jeffers | 5-8 |
| Little Owl’s Night | Divya Srinivasan | 3-5 |
| Percy the Park Keeper | Nick Butterworth | 5-8 |
| Seeds, Bees, Butterflies, and More! | Carole Gerber and Eugene Yelchin | 4-7 |
| The Big Alfie Out of Doors Storybook | Shirley Hughes | 3-6 |
| An Egg Is Quiet | Dianna Hutts Aston | 4-8 |
| A Seed Is Sleepy | Dianna Hutts Aston | 4-8 |
| A Butterfly Is Patient | Dianna Hutts Aston | 4-8 |
| A Nest Is Noisy | Dianna Hutts Aston | 4-8 |
| A Rock Is Lively | Dianna Hutts Aston | 4-8 |
| The Big Book of Bugs | Yuval Zommer | 5-9 |
| This Moose Belongs to Me | Oliver Jeffers | 4-7 |
| Stuck | Oliver Jeffers | 4-7 |
| Nature Anatomy: The Curious Parts and Pieces of the Natural World | Julia Rothman | 7-12 |
| Strange Trees | Bernadette Pourquie | 7-12 |
| Planting a Rainbow | Lois Ehlert | 4-7 |
| When the World Is Dreaming | Rita Gray | 4-7 |
| Over and Under the Pond | Kate Messner and Christopher Silas Neal | 4-7 |
| The Night Gardener | Terry Fan and Eric Fan | 4-6 |
| Dream Animals: A Bedtime Journey | Emily Winfield Martin | 3-5 |
| The Mermaid and the Shoe | K.G. Campbell | 4-6 |
| The Tree Lady | H. Joseph Hopkins and Jill McElmurry | 5-8 |
| Seeds of Change: Wangari’s Gift to the World | Jen Cullerton Johnson | 5-8 |
| Run Wild | David Covell | 5-7 |
| The Not-So Great Outdoors | Madeline Kloepper | 5-8 |
| Daniel Finds a Poem | Micha Archer | 5-7 |
| Please Take Me for a Walk | Susan Gal | 4-7 |
| You’re Missing It! | Brady Smith and Tiffany Thiessen | 5-8 |
| Backyard Fairies | Phoebe Wahl | 4-7 |
| A Wild Child’s Guide to Endangered Animals | Millie Marotta | 8+ |
| We Are Water Protectors | Carole Lindstrom | 6-9 |
| The Girl Who Rode a Shark: And Other Stories of Daring Women | Ailsa Ross | 8-12 |
| Wangari’s Trees of Peace: A True Story from Africa | Jeanette Winter | 6-10 |
| Put On Your Owl Eyes: Open Your Senses & Discover Nature’s Secrets; Mapping, Tracking & Journaling Activities | Devin Franklin | 8-13 |
| Most of the Better Natural Things in the World | Dave Eggers | 6-8 |
| A Girl’s Guide to the Wild: Be an Adventure-Seeking Outdoor Explorer | Ruby McConnell | 9-12 |
| Backpack Explorer: On the Nature Trail: What Will You Find? | Editors of Storey Publishing | 4+ |
| Where Do Mountains Come From, Momma? | Cathy M. Worley | 5-9 |
| If Sharks Disappeared | Lily Williams | 5-8 |
| The Giving Tree | Shel Silverstein | 4-8 |
| Bee & Me | Alison Jay | 3-5 |
| Rachel Carson and Her Book That Changed the World | Laurie Lawlor | 5-9 |
| Olivia’s Birds: Saving the Gulf | Olivia Bouler | 5-9 |
| If Polar Bears Disappeared | Lily Williams | 5-8 |
| The Lonely Polar Bear | Khoa Le | 5-8 |
| Life | Cynthia Rylant | 3-6 |
| Caribou Song | Tomson Highway | 5-7 |
| The Boreal Forest: A Year in the World’s Largest Land Biome | L. E. Carmichael | 8-12 |
| The Watcher: Jane Goodall’s Life with the Chimps | Jeanette Winter | 5-7 |
| Hike | Pete Oswald | 5-8 |
| Forest Baby | Laurie Elmquist | 4-6 |
| Greta and the Giants | Zoë Tucker | 5-9 |
| If You Come to Earth | Sophie Blackall | 5-9 |
| The Couch Potato | Jory John and Pete Oswald | 5-9 |
Nature has been here for us during the pandemic.
Parks became a refuge for people seeking safe spaces to escape the stress of the world. Provincial campsites were fully booked on summer weekends. Trails were so popular parking lots overflowed onto highways.
CPAWS Manitoba wants to help maintain and grow this positive connection to nature. That’s why we’re providing resources and online events that connect people to nature from the safety and comforts of home. Let Manitoba’s wild spaces be a refuge for you and your family.
This is a special Outdoor Learning Program resource to stay Safe at Home for I Love to Read Month!
