Disclosure: I received the books in this post free for my honest review. All opinions are my own and may differ from yours. This post may contain affiliate links for which I may receive compensation if you make a purchase.

No matter how young your children are, you can teach them about taking care of the earth. Most kids love animals, so an easy way to teach them why we need to take care of the earth is to talk about animals. Animals rely on us to care for the earth, so talking about your child’s favorite animals is a great way to teach them about Earth Day.

About Earth Day

The first Earth Day was in 1970 on April 22. I had no idea it had been around for so long! I was born that year, and I sure don’t remember celebrating it in school. As more information has become available about how certain things harm or help our environment, more attention surrounds Earth Day. Schools and teachers have a lot of resources available to use for Earth Day. But if you have a child that is not yet in school, you can still talk about how to help the earth and the animals by using fun books they will love.

Up, Up, Up in the Tree by Maxime Lebrun

Join Squirrel as he climbs higher and higher up a tree in his quest for one big surprise! With flaps to lift and peek-through holes, there’s lots to spot, count, and discover along the way.

This is such a cute book that teaches children about all of the animals that live in an oak tree. By talking to your little one about the animals that live in the tree, you can talk to them about why it is important for us to plant and care for trees. Talk about how the trees not only provide homes for animals, they also provide clean air. Though your child may not understand how it all works, just talking about how trees are important is a great way to share Earth Day with him.

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Search and Find Animals by Libby Walden

Can you find a pair of birds playing badminton, a gibbon with a ribbon, and a starfish shining in the spotlight? In Search and Find: Animals, young children are prompted to search six busy foldout scenes to find the illustrations highlighted on the large flaps. Each colorful spread features 20 things to find, plus additional amusing animals on a farm, in the Arctic, under a jungle canopy, beneath the waves, across the savannah, and in the nighttime woods. As readers explore the pages and find the animals, they will encounter other creatures scampering about—so parents can help children identify and learn the names of even more animal.

This is another really cute book for you to teach your child about caring for the earth. It is an easy introduction to animals and the habitats in which they live. By talking about these habitats, you can talk to your child about how important it is to care for these habitats. Since Earth Day is focusing on the climate this year, you could talk to your little one about how different animals live in different climates. These climates can change if we don’t take care of the earth.

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On Duck Pond by Jane Yolen and Bob Marstall (Illustrations)

In On Bird Hill, Yolen and Marstall took readers on a surreal journey with a boy and his dog, as they stopped, looked, and noticed things along their path—ultimately discovering the miracle of the birth of a baby bird. On Duck Pond continues the journey of the boy and dog story, this time in a new place—a serene pond, filled with birds, frogs, turtles and other creatures going about their quiet business. Their intrusion stirs the pond into a cacophony of activity, reaching climactic chaos, before slowly settling back to it’s quiet equilibrium.

I always loved studying ponds when I was in school, and no matter how young your child is, they are bound to love ducks. Feeding the ducks was always one of my own kids’ favorite things to do when we visited The Wilderness Center. If you’ve got someplace where your child can feed the ducks (legally, please!), take him or her out on Earth Day to celebrate.

On Duck Pond is filled with such beautiful illustrations. The back of the book contains a guide of the ducks, birds, and other animals in On Duck Pond, so your child can go back through the book and find them. This book is great for Earth Day because you can talk about how change, in this case the ducks, can throw off a whole ecosystem….even though this is just a temporary change.

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How are you going to celebrate Earth Day? Be sure to check out these books and the toolkits available from Earth Day Network, and find a fun way to get involved.