The Great Kapok Tree


Lynne Cherry - 1990
    One day, a man exhausts himself trying to chop down a giant kapok tree. While he sleeps, the forest’s residents, including a child from the Yanomamo tribe, whisper in his ear about the importance of trees and how "all living things depend on one another" . . . and it works. Cherry’s lovingly rendered colored pencil and watercolor drawings of all the "wondrous and rare animals" evoke the lush rain forests, as well as stunning world maps bordered by tree porcupines, emerald tree boas, and dozens more fascinating creatures.Awards: IRA Teacher’s Choice (1991), ABA’s Pick of the Lists, Reading Rainbow Review Book, NSTA-CBC Outstanding Trade Book for Children

Why Do Leaves Change Color?


Betsy Maestro - 1994
    This informative concept book includes detailed pictures of leaves in different sizes, shapes, and colors and a list of activities that kids can do with leaves.This is a Stage 2 Let's-Read-and-Find-Out, which means the book explores more challenging concepts for children in the primary grades. Let's-Read-And-Find-Out is the winner of the American Association for the Advancement of Science/Subaru Science Books & Films Prize for Outstanding Science Series.Supports the Common Core Learning Standards and Next Generation Science Standards

Under the Snow


Melissa Stewart - 2009
    But at the end of the day, we go home where it is warm and safe. What about all those animals out there in the forests and fields? What do they do when snow blankets the ground? Journey from your neighborhood to the woods, where ladybugs crowd together in a gap in the stone wall and a chipmunk snoozes in his burrow. Take a side trip to the pond, where a carp rests quietly on the bottom and a green frog nestles in the mud, scarcely breathing. And then as winter passes and the sun's rays grow stronger, join all the animals as they get ready for spring. Award-winning science writer Melissa Stewart offers a lyrical tour of a variety of habitats, providing young readers with vivid glimpses of animals as they live out the winter beneath the snow and ice. Constance R. Bergum's glowing watercolors perfectly capture the wonder and magic that can happen under the snow.

The Secret Life of the Red Fox


Laurence Pringle - 2017
    Stunning, realistic illustrations celebrate the beauty of these mysterious creatures as readers learn important facts through an engaging and fascinating story. The book also includes back matter with more in-depth information, a glossary, and further resources.

Here Comes Jack Frost


Kazuno Kohara - 2009
    His animal friends are hibernating, and he has nobody to play with-even all the birds have flown south. When he meets Jack Frost, the last thing he expects is to make a new friend... or to discover how enchanting winter can be!

Snow


Sam Usher - 2014
    . . and all the dogs . . . and all the zoo animals! Only when the two finally arrive does Granddad see why Sam was in such a hurry—and they have the best time playing with everyone in the snow.

Mice Skating


Annie Silvestro - 2017
    . . even if it’s cold outside! For most field mice, winter means burrowing down and snuggling in. But not for Lucy! She loves snow crunching under her paws and wearing a fluffy wool hat. And most of all, Lucy loves to skate, and she’s just ACHING to show off her new skill with her friends. After all, a winter wonderland is twice as nice when you have friends to enjoy it with. But the other mice just don’t understand—and after a disastrous indoor snowball fight, it looks as if they never will. Can Lucy find a way to make the other mice come out and “mice skate” too?With intricately detailed illustrations as cozy as a fireplace in December (and a cup of cocoa, too), this funny punny warmhearted love song to winter—and to one brave, bold, and generous mouse—will have kids bundling up for some cold-weather fun of their own.

Snow


Uri Shulevitz - 1998
    Not the man with the hat or the lady with the umbrella. Not even the television or the radio forecasters. But one boy and his dog have faith that the snow will amount to something spectacular, and when flakes start to swirl down on the city, they are also the only ones who know how to truly enjoy it.Uri Shulevitz' playful depiction of a snowy day and the transformation of a city is perfectly captured in simple, poetic text and lively watercolor and pen-and-ink illustrations.

Snow Sounds: An Onomatopoeic Story


David A. Johnson - 2006
    . . All night long, snow falls silently, bringing forth a world blanketed in white—and a very noisy day.For at dawn’s light, machine, man, and child begin to dig out: first the big highway grader and snowplow, then the smaller town plow, a father’s snow blower, and a boy’s shovel . . . But will the streets get cleared in time?Spare poetry and elegant watercolor paintings cleverly bring to life this unique story of snow removal and the fun onomatopoeic sounds accompanying it.

The Night Before Christmas


Clement C. Moore - 1823
    Nicholas". No one claimed authorship until 13 years later. Clement Clarke Moore, a professor and poet, said that he wrote the piece for his children. Unbeknownst to him, his housekeeper had sent it to the newspaper to be published. However, the family of Henry Livingston Jr. contended that their father had been reciting “A Visit from St. Nicholas” for 15 years prior to publication. Regardless of the true author, the poem is now a Christmas classic.

Wait, Rest, Pause: Dormancy in Nature


Marcie Flinchum Atkins - 2019
    This highly curricular book teaches young readers about different kinds of dormancy and which animals do what. Featuring creatures like ladybugs, chickadees, squirrels, and even alligators, this book won't put curious kids to sleep!

Boy, Were We Wrong About Dinosaurs!


Kathleen V. Kudlinski - 2005
    Some old-time scientists thought that because they were so big, all they could do was float in water. Boy, were they wrong! Even today, once-common notions about dinosaurs are being revised as new discoveries are made. This lively book about the perennially popular subject of dinosaurs offers fascinating insight into how certain theories were formed, and then how those theories were proved or disproved. It demonstrates that scientific thought is as creative as it is logical and invites budding scientists to come up with their own ideas.

The Way Things Work


David Macaulay - 1988
    Full-color illustrations.

Blue Floats Away


Travis Jonker - 2021
    Little Blue is very close to his iceberg parents so when he suddenly breaks away from them, he promises to return and, after traveling far and undergoing big changes, he may succeed.

A Drop of Water: A Book of Science and Wonder


Walter Wick - 1997
    The camera stops the action and magnifies it so that all the amazing states of water can be observed - water as ice, rainbow, stream, frost, dew. Readers can examine a drop of water as it falls from a faucet, see a drop of water as it splashes on a hard surface, count the points of an actual snowflake, and contemplate how drops of water form clouds.