Waiting for Wings


Lois Ehlert - 2001
    But where do butterflies come from? How are they born? What do they eat--and how? With a simple, rhyming text and glorious color-drenched collage, Lois Ehlert provides clear answers to these and other questions as she follows the life cycle of four common butterflies, from their beginnings as tiny hidden eggs and hungry caterpillars to their transformation into full-grown butterflies. Complete with butterfly and flower facts and identification tips, as well as a guide to planting a butterfly garden, this butterfly book is like no other.

Mama Built a Little Nest


Jennifer Ward - 2014
    There are so many different kinds of birds—and those birds build so many different kinds of nests to keep their babies cozy. With playful, bouncy rhyme, Jennifer Ward explores nests large and small, silky and cottony, muddy and twiggy—and all the birds that call them home!

Actual Size


Steve Jenkins - 2004
    Sometimes you need to see things for yourself—at their actual size.

Step Gently Out


Helen Frost - 2012
    In simple, evocative language, Helen Frost offers a hint at the many tiny creatures around us. And in astonishing close-up photographs, Rick Lieder captures the glint of a katydid's eye, the glow of a firefly, and many more living wonders just awaiting discovery. Fascinating facts about all the creatures pictured may be found at the end.

Sleepy, the Goodnight Buddy


Drew Daywalt - 2018
    Roderick's loving parents--fed up with the distractions and demands that have become his anti-bedtime ritual--decide to get him a stuffed animal to cuddle with and help him wind down. However, Sleepy quickly proves to be a bit high-maintenance. Just when we fear the night may never end, Sleepy's antics become too exhausting for Roderick to bear.

If I Was the Sunshine


Julie Fogliano - 2019
    A breathtaking picture book about the relationships we share from New York Times bestselling storytellers Julie Fogliano and Loren Long in the tradition of The Runaway Bunny and Guess How Much I Love You.if i was the sunshine and you were the day i’d call you hello! and you’d call me stay if you were the winter and i was the spring i’d call you whisper and you’d call me sing… Through clever, thought-provoking verse and warmly evocative art, New York Times bestsellers Julie Fogliano and Loren Long explore the awe-inspiring nature of relationships, love, and connection.

Up in the Garden and Down in the Dirt


Kate Messner - 2015
    . . and down in the dirt.Explore the secret world beneath the dirt that brings the world of nature to life: Up in the garden, the world is full of green—leaves and sprouts, growing vegetables, ripening fruit. But down in the dirt exists a busy world—earthworms dig, snakes hunt, skunks burrow—populated by all the animals that make a garden their home. With Up in the Garden and Down in the Dirt, you can explore the hidden world and many lives of a garden through the course of a year!• Follow a young girl and her grandmother as they journey through the year planning, planting, and harvesting their garden—and learn about what's happening in the dirt to help make it all happen• The stunning and bright illustrations feature dark earthy tones mixed with beautiful pops of color inspire a love of nature and encourage young minds to explore the world around them• Includes a glossary of animals that live in, around, and under the garden to enrich the reading experienceFans of A Seed is Sleepy, Spring is Here, and A Nest is Noisy will also love the outstanding illustrations and educational storyline in Up in the Garden and Down in the Dirt."The harmonious relationships above and below ground, and those between the two, emphasize the complexities of the garden ecosystem, as well as the joys of sustained engagement with the land." —The Horn Book Magazine• Great read-aloud book for families and classrooms• Books for kids ages 5-8• Early elementary school books• Books for kindergarten to 3rd grade

Owen and Mzee: The True Story of a Remarkable Friendship


Isabella Hatkoff - 2006
    When Owen was stranded after the Dec 2004 tsunami, villagers in Kenya worked tirelessly to rescue him. Then, to everyone's amazement, the orphan hippo and the elderly tortoise adopted each other. Now they are inseparable, swimming, eating, and playing together. Adorable photos e-mailed from friend to friend quickly made them worldwide celebrities. Here is a joyous reminder that in times of trouble, friendship is stronger than the differences that too often pull us apart.

The Honeybee


Kirsten Hall - 2018
    It’s closer, it’s coming, it’s buzzing, it’s humming… A BEE! With zooming, vibrant verse by Kirsten Hall and buzzy, beautiful illustrations by Isabelle Arsenault, this celebration of the critically important honeybee is a honey-sweet treasure of a picture book.

Honeybee: The Busy Life of Apis Mellifera


Candace Fleming - 2020
    She cleans the nursery and feeds the larvae and the queen. But is she strong enough to fly? Not yet!She builds wax comb to store honey, and transfers pollen from other bees into the storage. She defends the hive from invaders. Apis accomplishes all of this before beginning her life outdoors as an adventurer, seeking nectar to bring back to her hive.Candace Fleming and Eric Rohmann describe the life cycle of the hard-working honeybee in this poetically written, thoroughly researched picture book, similar in form and concept to the Sibert and Orbis Pictus award book Giant Squid, complete with stunning gatefold and an essay on the plight of honeybees.A Junior Library Guild Selection!

Water Can Be...


Laura Purdie Salas - 2014
    Water can be a Thirst quencher Kid drencher Cloud fluffer Fire snuffer Find out about the many roles water plays in this poetic exploration of water throughout the year.

A Bear Sat on My Porch Today


Jane Yolen - 2018
    OKAY! YOU CAN STAY." But watch out! That porch is starting to sway....Jane Yolen's uproarious chant-aloud story is brought to life by Rilla Alexander's dazzling retro-hip illustrations in an exuberant collaboration sure to take its place alongside such cumulative classics as This is the House that Jack Built and There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly.

Birds


Kevin Henkes - 2009
    A board book edition of the critically acclaimed picture book from the award-winning husband-and-wife team of Kevin Henkes and Laura Dronzek. An ALA Notable Book.Birds “will resonate with the youngest children,” said School Library Journal. With a fine eye for detail, a girl observes and describes birds—their sizes, their colors, their shapes, the way they move and appear and disappear, and how they are most like her. She imagines what it would be like if clouds looked like birds, or if she could ask the birds questions. Though she can’t fly, the girl can do one thing birds do—she can sing. Vibrant and lively paintings accompany a text pitched precisely to preschoolers in this husband-and-wife collaboration. This board book edition offers a fresh perspective and a new point of view to very young children. Booklist said, “Together, the words and pictures create a book that will enchant preschool audiences again and again.”

Lifetime: The Amazing Numbers in Animal Lives


Lola M. Schaefer - 2013
    This extraordinary book collects animal information not available anywhere else—and shows all 30 roosting holes, all 200 spots, and, yes!, all 1,000 baby seahorses in eye-catching illustrations. A book about picturing numbers and considering the endlessly fascinating lives all around us, Lifetime is sure to delight young nature lovers.

Barnum's Bones: How Barnum Brown Discovered the Most Famous Dinosaur in the World


Tracey E. Fern - 2012
    Barnum, hoping that he would do something extraordinary--and he did! As a paleonotologist for the American Museum of Natural History, he discovered the first documented skeleton of the Tyrannosaurus Rex, as well as most of the other dinosaurs on display there today.An appealing and fun picture book biography, with zany and stunning illustrations by Boris Kulikov, BARNUM'S BONES captures the spirit of this remarkable man.