Happy Spring

It's been a few weeks since I've posted, but today I'm inspired by the lovely spring weather.  It's sunny and 70º, and the flowers are starting to bloom.  It's weather like this that makes teachers start thinking about summer vacation, but we have a few more months to go.  In the meantime, I thought I'd share some of my favorite books that celebrate nature, particularly warm weather nature. 

Some of my favorites are about spring. Lois Elhert's Planting a Rainbow, Eric Carle's  The Tiny Seed and Eve Bunting's Flower Garden are all easy picture books that celebrate flower gardens.  And while we're talking about Eve Bunting, I should mention Butterfly House, Sunflower House and Someday a Tree.  All three are beautiful stories about the natural world.  Two other excellent options are the rhyming book It's Spring by Samantha Berger and Mud by Mary Lyn Ray.  The latter is an ode to the rainy, melting season that turns the hard winter dirt into mud. 

If we want to extend our seasons a little, I'd recommend I'm in Charge of Celebrations by Byrd Baylor and  All the Places to Love by Patricia MacLachlan.  The books describe life in the desert and on a farm as only poets, like Baylor and MacLachlan, can. 

In non-fiction, I love the One Small Square series.  Each book focuses on a square foot of one type of ecosystem.  They don't deal specifically with a season, but they are excellent texts geared toward mid to upper elementary kids.  There's also Swirl by Swirl: Spirals in Nature by Joyce Sidman.  As the title suggests, it's a celebration of spirals found in nature, and it's beautifully illustrated.   

We've had an unusually lovely spring here in Virginia, and I hope everyone has the kind of spring that makes you want to read a good book under a tree in the back yard.  

Books About Nature

Planting a Rainbow by Lois Ehlert

Waiting for Wings by Lois Ehlert

The Tiny Seed by Eric Carle

Flower Garden by Eve Bunting

Butterfly House by Eve Bunting

Sunflower House by Eve Bunting

Someday a Tree by Eve Bunting

It's Spring by Samantha Berger

Mud by Mary Lyn Ray

One Small Square by Donald Silver

Swirl by Swirl: Spirals in Nature by Joyce Sidman

Green by Laura Vaccaro Seeger