Teaching Grades K-3 Grades 6-12 Climate Fiction For Teachers For Parents Conservation Books
Non-fiction
Brilliant! Shining a Light on Sustainable Energy
By Michelle Mulder
Link: More information at Goodreads
Summary: Did you know that cars can run on french-fry grease or that human poop can be used to provide power to classrooms? Kids in Mexico help light up their houses by playing soccer, and in the Philippines, pop-bottle skylights are improving the quality of life for thousands of families. Brilliant! is about what happens when you harness the power of imagination and innovation: the world changes for the better! Full of examples of unusual (and often peculiar) power sources, Brilliant! encourages kids to look around for new and sustainable ways to light up the world.
Gaia Warriors
By Nicola Davies
Link: More information at Goodreads
Summary: A book that takes a clear look at how and why Earth’s climate is changing and the ways we can deal with it. Its style is simple and its explanations are compelling, illuminating not only hard facts but also the opinions and potential solutions of scientists all over the world. But there are other voices too, those of people young and old — lawyers, food producers, fashion designers, scientists, rock stars, architects, conservationists, kids, campaigners, and more — who are trying to change the way they (and we) live on the planet.
Margarito’s Forest
By Andy Carter
Link: More information at Goodreads
Summary: Margarito’s Forest is a story of Maya culture and wisdom passed from one generation to the next. This beautifully illustrated bilingual book in English and Spanish, with excerpts in K’iche’, is based on María Guadalupe’s memories of her father, Don Margarito Esteban Álvarez Velázquez. As the devastating effects of climate change become clear, Don Margarito’s life and the ways of the Maya offer wisdom for a planet in peril.
One Well:The Story of Water on Earth
By Rochelle Strauss
Link: More information at Goodreads
Summary: All water is connected. Every raindrop, lake, underground river and glacier is part of a single global well. Water has the power to change everything — a single splash can sprout a seed, quench a thirst, provide a habitat, generate energy and sustain life. How we treat the water in the well will affect every species on the planet, now and for years to come. One Well shows how every one of us has the power to conserve and protect our global well.
Rising Seas: Flooding, Climate Change and Our New World
By Keltie Thomas
Link: More information at Goodreads
Summary: This book gives youth an eye-popping view of what the Earth might look like under the rising and falling water levels of climate change. Photographs juxtapose the present-day with that same area’s projected future. The shocking images will help them understand the urgency for action. Key issues in today’s news will be better understood, such as the 2015 Paris Protocol in which the world agreed to limit temperature increases to 2 degrees Celsius (ideally 1.5 degree).
What Is Climate Change?
by Gail Harmon
Link: More information at Goodreads
Summary: Which of these facts are true? Earth’s climate is getting warmer, greenhouse gases are the cause of the change in climate, our planet is experiencing record floods, droughts, and storms? All of the above facts are true. Find out more in this illustrated book.
Fiction
A Bird On Water Street
By Elizabeth Dulemba
Link: More information at Goodreads
Summary: A Bird on Water Street is a coming of age story about Jack, a boy growing up in a Southern Appalachian town environmentally devastated by a century of poor copper-mining practices and pollution. Jack is opposed to the mine where so many of his relatives have died, but how can he tell that to his Dad who wants him to follow in the family trade? Jack just wants his dad safe and the land returned to its pre-mining glory with trees, birds, frogs, and nature–like he’s learning about in school. After Jack’s uncle is killed in a mining accident and the Company implements a massive layoff, the union organizes and the miners go on strike. It seems Jack’s wish is coming true. But the cost may be the ruin of his home and everything he loves.
Josie and the Fourth Grade Bike Brigade
By Beth Handman
Link: More information at Goodreads
Summary: Nine year old Josie Garcia is a feisty and optimistic girl from Brooklyn who becomes a crusader for preventing disastrous climate change and other environmental threats. In each book, Josie takes simple, ingenious actions that bring real changes to her neighborhood and the world. As the protagonist in the series, she will inspire young readers to understand environmental issues and take action.
The Last Wild
By Piers Torday
Link: More information at Goodreads
Summary: In a world where animals are slowly fading into extinction, twelve-year-old Kester Jaynes feels as if he hardly exists either. He’s been locked away in a home for troubled children and is unable to speak a word. Then one night, a flock of talking pigeons and a bossy cockroach come to help him escape, and he discovers that he can speak—to them. And the animals need him. Only Kester, with the aid of a stubborn, curious girl named Polly, can help them survive.
Ninth Ward
By Jewell Parker Rhodes
Link: More information at Goodreads
Summary: From New York Times bestselling and award-winning author Jewell Parker Rhodes comes a heartbreaking and uplifting tale of survival in the face of Hurricane Katrina. Twelve-year-old Lanesha lives in a tight-knit community in New Orleans’ Ninth Ward. She doesn’t have a fancy house like her uptown family or lots of friends like the other kids on her street. But what she does have is Mama Ya-Ya, her fiercely loving caretaker, wise in the ways of the world and able to predict the future. So when Mama Ya-Ya’s visions show a powerful hurricane–Katrina–fast approaching, it’s up to Lanesha to call upon the hope and strength Mama Ya-Ya has given her to help them both survive the storm.
Operation Redwood
By S. Terrell French
Link: More information at Goodreads
Summary: When Julian Carter-Li intercepts an angry e-mail message meant for his high-powered uncle, it sets him on the course to stop an environmental crime! His uncle’s company plans to cut down some of the oldest and last California redwood trees, and its up to Julian, and a ragtag group of friends, to figure out a way to stop them. This action-packed debut novel shows the power of determined individuals, no matter what their age, to stand up to environmental wrongdoing.
The Tantrum that Saved the World
By Megan Herbert and Michael E Mann
Link: More information at Goodreads
Summary: The story is about a little girl who comes face to face with an enormous challenge, feels all kinds of frustration as she tries to overcome it, and then channels those strong emotions into action, rallying all those around her to do the same. Following this engaging tale, comes the explanation of the science of climate change in language that children can understand, telling the stories of the climate refugees that appear in the story, and how all their lives are interconnected. An Action Plan then outlines simple and positive steps every person can take to make a real difference and to become the heroes of their own stories.
Biography
The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind
by William Kamkwamba
Link: More information at Goodreads
Summary: When a terrible drought struck William Kamkwamba’s tiny village in Malawi, his family lost all of the season’s crops, leaving them with nothing to eat and nothing to sell. William began to explore science books in his village library, looking for a solution. There, he came up with the idea that would change his family’s life forever: he could build a windmill. Made out of scrap metal and old bicycle parts, William’s windmill brought electricity to his home and helped his family pump the water they needed to farm the land. This book directly deals with climate change and the humanitarian crises that ensues. It is also about how people can find solutions and create renewable energy.
Lesson plans for The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind
Girls Who Looked Under Rocks: The Lives of Six Pioneering Naturalists
By Jeannine Atkins
Link: More information at Goodreads
Summary: This book portrays the youths and careers of six remarkable women whose curiosity about nature fueled a passion to steadfastly overcome obstacles to careers in traditionally men-only occupations. The six–Maria Merian (b.1647), Anna Comstock (b.1854), Frances Hamerstrom (b.1907), Rachel Carson (b.1907), Miriam Rothschild (b.1908), and Jane Goodall (b.1934)–all became renowned scientists, artists and writers. A wonderful resource for young researchers and biographers, these stories can be a starting point for issues of gender, science, and the environment.
John Muir: My Life with Nature
By Joseph Cornell
Link: More information at Goodreads
Summary: This is THE BEST John Muir biography for children, says Jill Harcke, co-producer of the John Muir Tribute CD. Written mostly in the words of Muir, it brims with his spirit and adventures. The text was selected and retold by naturalist Joseph Cornell, author of Sharing Nature with Children, who is well known for his inspiring nature games. The result is a book with an aliveness, a presence of goodness, adventure, enthusiasm, and sensitive love of each animal and plant that will give young adults an experience of a true champion of nature. It is a book that expands your sense of hope, adventure, and awareness. Adults will be just as fond of this book as young readers. Cornell includes numerous explore more activities that help the reader to understand and appreciate the many wonderful qualities of Muir.
Rachel Carson and Her Book That Changed the World
by Laurie Lawlor
Link: More information at Goodreads
Summary: In celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of the publication of Silent Spring, here is a biography of the pioneering environmentalist. “Once you are aware of the wonder and beauty of earth, you will want to learn about it,” wrote Rachel Carson, the pioneering environmentalist. She wrote Silent Spring, the book that woke people up to the harmful impact humans were having on our planet.
Teaching Grades K-3 Grades 6-12 Climate Fiction For Teachers For Parents Conservation Books