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Children’s Nature Book Recommendations

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Nature lovers, are you looking for more books to share with your children? Look no further! We have organized a great list here of wonderful nature children’s books. Check out these children’s books with a nature and environmental focus: The Nature’s Little Wonders series helps children to discover the magic and beauty of our natural world. Children will learn how nature supports us, how interconnected everything is, and how important it is to cherish and protect the world around them. This series helps young minds build a lifelong bond with the environment while celebrating the incredible magic of life all around us. By Adele Lamothe https://adelelamothe.com/ The Grande Guide series for children allows you and your children to travel through the national parks without having to leave your house! In each book, an animal ranger will journey with you through a specific national park. Along the way you’ll be introduced to defining characteristics of the park in an imaginative and playful manner. With captivating rhymes and playful illustrations, your child will be introduced to the history and magic of our magnificent national parks. Which park will be your next adventure? By Sarah Del Grande https://www.grandeguidesbooks.com/ Dive into The MerKids series with mermaid sisters, Maisie and Mila, on adventures filled with fun, fantasy, and fascinating facts. Perfect for curious minds and nature enthusiasts, this is a must-have guide for every MerKid ready to explore the natural wonders! By Laura Raffin https://www.youtube.com/@themerkids The Know It Owl series stars the wise and witty Owl who sets out to correct the misconceptions of different featured animals from around the world and enlightens them with the truth in a fun and playful way. By Terri Sabol https://www.terrisabol.com/ Meet the Wild Things series introduces young readers to endangered animals from around the globe, told from the points of view of the animals themselves. By Hayley Rocco https://www.hayleyrocco.com/ In the Lesser Known Parks Collection, comes an endearing story of a boy stranded in one of America’s wildest places, Isle Royal National Park, in The Wild Island: An Adventure at Isle Royale National Park. By Tracy Phillippi https://tracywritesoutside.com/ In the Erutuf National Park series, join siblings Reese and Dean on their adventures to the magical Erutuf National Park! Can they fulfill their missions and protect this special place? By Kathy Arnold Cherry https://www.kathycherrybooks.com Happy exploring these children’s books!

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Dewey Decimal System

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Happy Dewey Decimal System Day! Melvil Dewey was born on this day in 1851. In 1873, he invented the most widely used library classification system called the Dewey Decimal System. It was first published in the United States in 1876. It is used today in more than 140 countries and translated into more than 30 different languages. The system places the books on the shelf by subject using numbers from 000 to 999. It is called “Decimal” because it uses numbers to the right of the decimal point for more detail. Each subject has its own set of numbers. I looked up my thesis book at my university’s library and it’s number is 361.4 A756a1999. The 300’s contains the classification of social sciences. To celebrate this day, go to the library, look at the call number on your book, and know that this system was created back in 1873!

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World Kindness Day

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Happy World Kindness Day! World Kindness Day is a global day that promotes the importance of being kind to each other, to yourself, and to the world. The purpose of this day is to help everyone understand that compassion for others is what binds us all together. To celebrate this day of kindness, I recommend this children’s picture book written and illustrated by my friend, Jesse Bennett. Her book, Lift, shares the sweet message of kindness, inclusion, and lifting our words and our actions throughout the beautiful pages. This sweet and colorful book also shares a great meditation, affirmations, and journal questions at the end to help guide discussions with children. I love all her drawings and all the color used throughout this book! It’s a great book to pick up to celebrate World Kindness Day!

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Banned Books Week

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It’s hard to believe that in the year 2020, people still try to ban books in schools, libraries, and bookstores. Yet, it still happens today. The American Library Association (ALA) launched Banned Books Week in 1982 to celebrate the freedom to read and highlighting the value of free and open access to information. ALA publishes the lists to draw attention to literary censorship, but ALA officials stress that the annual report provides only a snapshot of book challenges, with ALA acknowledging that most challenges go unreported. In 2019, ALA reported a 17% increase in the number of challenges to library, school, and university materials and services—with an uptick in the number of challenged books that included or addressed LGBTQ+ content. Here is full list of the top 100 most challenged and banned books of the last decade (2010-2019): The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie Captain Underpants (series) by Dav Pilkey Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher Looking for Alaska by John Green George by Alex Gino And Tango Makes Three by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell Drama by Raina Telgemeier Fifty Shades of Grey by E. L. James Internet Girls (series) by Lauren Myracle The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins I Am Jazz by Jazz Jennings and Jessica Herthel The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee Bone (series) by Jeff Smith The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls Two Boys Kissing by David Levithan A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo by Jill Twiss Sex is a Funny Word by Cory Silverberg Alice McKinley (series) by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor It’s Perfectly Normal by Robie H. Harris Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult Scary Stories (series) by Alvin Schwartz Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson A Brave New World by Aldous Huxley Beyond Magenta: Transgender Teens Speak Out by Susan Kuklin Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic by Alison Bechdel It’s a Book by Lane Smith The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien What My Mother Doesn’t Know by Sonya Sones A Child Called “It” by Dave Pelzer Bad Kitty (series) by Nick Bruel Crank by Ellen Hopkins Nickel and Dimed by Barbara Ehrenreich Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi The Adventures of Super Diaper Baby by Dav Pilkey This Day in June by Gayle E. Pitman This One Summer by Mariko Tamaki A Bad Boy Can Be Good for a Girl by Tanya Lee Stone Beloved by Toni Morrison Goosebumps (series) by R.L. Stine In Our Mothers’ House by Patricia Polacco Lush by Natasha Friend The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger The Color Purple by Alice Walker The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon The Holy Bible This Book Is Gay by Juno Dawson Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer Gossip Girl (series) by Cecily von Ziegesar House of Night (series) by P.C. Cast My Mom’s Having a Baby by Dori Hillestad Butler Neonomicon by Alan Moore The Dirty Cowboy by Amy Timberlake The Giver by Lois Lowry Anne Frank: Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya Draw Me a Star by Eric Carle Dreaming in Cuban by Cristina Garcia Fade by Lisa McMann The Family Book by Todd Parr Feed by M.T. Anderson Go the Fuck to Sleep by Adam Mansbach Habibi by Craig Thompson House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende Jacob’s New Dress by Sarah Hoffman Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov Monster by Walter Dean Myers Nasreen’s Secret School by Jeanette Winter Saga by Brian K. Vaughan Stuck in the Middle by Ariel Schrag The Kingdom of Little Wounds by Susann Cokal 1984 by George Orwell A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess Almost Perfect by Brian Katcher Awakening by Kate Chopin Burned by Ellen Hopkins Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card Fallen Angels by Walter Dean Myers Glass by Ellen Hopkins Heather Has Two Mommies by Lesle´a Newman I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou Madeline and the Gypsies by Ludwig Bemelmans My Princess Boy by Cheryl Kilodavis Prince and Knight by Daniel Haack Revolutionary Voices: A Multicultural Queer Youth Anthology by Amy Sonnie Skippyjon Jones (series) by Judith Schachner So Far from the Bamboo Grove by Yoko Kawashima Watkins The Color of Earth (series) by Tong-hwa Kim The Librarian of Basra by Jeanette Winter The Walking Dead (series) by Robert Kirkman Tricks by Ellen Hopkins Uncle Bobby’s Wedding by Sarah S. Brannen Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks To celebrate this week, add some of these books to reading your list! As the theme of this week says, “Censorship is a dead end. Find your freedom to read!”

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Charles Dickens

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Happy birthday to Charles Dickens! This great novelist was born today in 1812. He brought us with some of the most memorable fictional characters of all times and known as one of the greatest novelist of the Victorian Era. My personal favorite Dickens classics is A Tale of Two Cities. I remember vividly reading this book in high school (many years ago) and struck by his use of the language and words. In particular, I love his opening! The images, the pace, the words just ring magic. “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of light, it was the season of darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair.” ― Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities To celebrate his birthday, pick up one his classics and enjoy it! Maybe enjoy it with a cup a tea!  

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Day For Moms

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Literature shares us with so many wonderful stories and people. In fact, we have met a number of pretty awesome mothers in fiction over the years.  Here are a few of them: Molly Weasley, Harry Potter series Margaret March, Little Women Mrs. Bennet, Pride and Prejudice Kanga, Winnie-the-Pooh Dr. Murry, A Wrinkle in Time Mrs. Quimby, Ramona Ma Ingalls, Little House on the Prairie Many other awesome moms exist out there in fiction.  What other fictional moms should we add to this list here? Cheers to all the real moms out there today! Hopefully you get some time to read a great book today! Happy Mother’s Day!

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Happy Birthday, Jane Austen!

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Jane Austen was born on December 16, 1775 in England.  She authored six books and these books continue to be revered today. Her books include Pride and Prejudice, Emma, Sense and Sensibility, Persuasion, Northanger Abbey, and Mansfield Park. Jane’s father encouraged her writing back then and even bought her expensive paper and pencils even when the family needed the extra money. She used her father’s library frequently by reading lots of books. I distinctly remember reading Pride and Prejudice many, many years ago. I loved that book! I dreamt about meeting my own Mr. Darcy some day. But, I also remember Jane’s great sense of wit and wisdom in her writing throughout her novels. Enjoy a few quotes from Jane Austen’s works: “It isn’t what we say or think that defines us, but what we do.” ― Sense and Sensibility “I declare after all there is no enjoyment like reading! How much sooner one tires of any thing than of a book! — When I have a house of my own, I shall be miserable if I have not an excellent library.” ― Pride and Prejudice “The person, be it gentleman or lady, who has not pleasure in a good novel, must be intolerably stupid.” ― Northanger Abbey  “Vanity and pride are different things, though the words are often used synonymously. A person may be proud without being vain. Pride relates more to our opinion of ourselves, vanity to what we would have others think of us.” ― Pride and Prejudice To celebrate her birthday, go out and read (or reread) one of her great books!  

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Dewey Decimal Day

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Happy Dewey Decimal System Day! Melvil Dewey was born on this day in 1851. In 1873, he invented the most widely used library classification system called the Dewey Decimal System. It is used in more than 140 countries and translated into more than 30 different languages. The system places the books on the shelf by subject using numbers from 000 to 999. It is called “Decimal” because it uses numbers to the right of the decimal point for more detail. Each subject has its own set of numbers. For fun, I looked up my thesis book at my university’s library and it’s number is 361.4 A756a1999.   😉 Next time you’re at the library, check out the call number on your book and know that this system was created back in 1873!  

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