Earth Day is Thursday. I have been sharing books each week to use as resources for it and today the books I share work for Earth Day but two of them work with a twist. All three books are picture books recommended for preschool and early elementary (ages 3-8). We will start with the book that is perfect for Earth Day. It is Once Upon Another Time by Charles Ghigna and Matt Forrest Esenwine and illustrated by Andrés F. Landazábal.
This beautiful book takes us back to Earth before man ever stepped on it. It shows us the beautiful Earth at the beginning before there were buildings and roads. Before the pollution and smog. It invites the readers to explore the natural wonders of our planet without technology. To enjoy Earth and help Earth be the beautiful planet we know and love. Many of the activities will remind the adult reader of his or her own childhood and the many wonders of it. There are things like chasing rainbows and tasting rain, tracing the veins of a leaf, camping and seeing the stars at night.
The words are fun and the illustrations are beautiful. I love how this book shares the beauty of Earth and nature and suggests to kids to get outside and explore nature for all of its glory.
Of course the perfect activities to do after reading this book is a nature walk as well as the many suggestions in the book. Help kids connect to nature so they will want to continue to save our planet!
Our next book is about beauty and finding it everywhere. It is Finding Beauty by Talitha Shipman.
In our crazy world it is so important to see beauty in yourself and around you. This book shares just that. It has lyrical words and beautiful illustrations. It is about a girl and starts with how beautiful she was as a baby but then she explores the world and the book suggests finding beauty by looking for it.
I love how beauty is described to be so many different things. This book shares beauty in nature, the stars, numbers, and art as well as in people. This beautiful book helps remind us that we need to look for beauty (as well as good) all around us and also to do create it.
Although some of the beauty is found in manmade things there is still beauty everywhere. This book shares how beauty can be found and created. Now in the picture above the numbers and math will be way above the heads of the kids the book is intended for but as a math teacher I love that it mentions there is beauty in numbers. To go with this book would be a discussion about beauty, one of those Who Am I? sheets so the kids can find beauty in themselves, and perhaps a sheet asking them for beauty. For Earth Day it would be fun to explore math in nature as one is looking for beauty as well as the beauty in nature by taking a nature walk.
Our final book is a book about comparing size. It is called So Big and So Small by John Coy and illustrated by Steph Law.
In this book a young boy compares his size with different things. He is big compared to his baby sibling. He is small compared to the tree. The book is full of all sorts of natural things he compares himself to as well as synonyms for big and small.
I love this book because it gets at that feeling we all have. Sometimes we feel big and perhaps feel like we can do anything. Other times we feel small and perhaps like we don't matter. This book is perfect for having discussions about feeling big and small and the emotions that can come with those feelings. It is also perfect for discussing comparisons. The boy is comparing himself to trees and shells and so many other things. It is also leads into a discussion of synonyms. What other words are there for big? Or small?
To use this book with Earth Day I would suggest a nature walk again. Have the kids find things that they are bigger than and smaller than. Then have them draw a picture or write about the objects.
I hope you will check out these beautiful books. The books have such wonderful messages as well as beautiful illustrations. They can work for Earth Day but are also just wonderful books on any day. Each one gives the reader a different view of the world in its own way.
