30 Great Books That Teach Children To be Green

Hello everyone!  I was recently contacted by Jasmine who is working with a site called OnlineClasses.org.  Together, they have recently published an article entitled "30 Great Books That Teach Children To Be Green".  As a parent who is constantly on my children about preserving paper and saving energy and the benefits of recycling, this article really intrigued me.  I have spent a lot of time over the years looking for craft books that are "green" in nature, ones that focus on using what you already have in your house in order to make/create some great things.  Now my kids are on my case about recycling and I love that!!!  With Jasmine's permission, I am reposting the article here to highlight these great books.

30 Great Books That Teach Children To Be Green

It’s never to early to teach kids to be green. From the moment they are born, kids impact the world, and the sooner they learn to be conscientious of the environment, the better. Learning about protecting the world can be fun, and these books make becoming eco-friendly a fun experience for kids.


1. 50 Simple Things Kids Can Do to Save the Earth: Check out this book that tells kids the many ways they can contribute to saving the Earth.

2. The Giving Tree: Shel Silverstein’s book teaches kids about the relationship between kids and the forest.

3. My Bag and Me!: My Bag and Me! can teach your child to be eco-friendly by using reusable bags.

4. A Drop Around the World: Kids can follow a drop of water around the world in this book.

5. The Great Kapok Tree: In The Great Kapok Tree, a man changes his mind about chopping down a large tree in the Amazon when he hears the pleas of the animals.

6. George Saves the World by Lunchtime: George saves the world with simple everyday actions in this book.

7. The Tree in the Ancient Forest: In this book, Carol Reed-Jones writes about the web of plants and animals in the world.

8. Earth-Friendly Crafts for Kids: Here you’ll find 50 awesome recycled crafts projects.

9. The Forever Forest: Kids save a tropical treasure in The Forever Forest.

10. Charlotte’s Web: Charlotte’s Web teaches animal appreciation, life cycles, and ecosystems.

11. Green Wise Kids: Jean Clausen’s book teaches kids about doing simple things to improve the environment, sharing age appropriate activities.

12. The Empty Lot: This book’s hero sells off an empty lot, but after consideration, learns about all of the natural elements that make the lot more valuable than he thought.

13. My Favorite Tree: Kids can choose their favorite North American tree in My Favorite Tree.

14. One Well: One Well tells the story of water on Earth.

15. The Lorax: The Lorax offers kids an ecological warning about the disregard for the Earth’s environment.

16. We Are Extremely Very Good Recyclers: These kids recycle their toys instead of throwing them away, and they even get their classmates involved.

17. Herb the Vegetarian Dragon: In this book, kids will read about eating vegetarian through Herb, the vegetarian dragon.

18. Oil Spill!: Kids can learn about the ecological damage of oil spills in this book.

19. Earth Book for Kids: Earth Book for Kids has activities to help heal the environment.

20. Wonderful Nature, Wonderful You: Wonderful Nature, Wonderful You tells the lessons of nature and the animal kingdom.

21. What’s It Like Living Green?: Kids teach kids how to live green in this book.

22. The Adventures of a Plastic Bottle: This plastic bottle helps kids learn about recycling from a new perspective.

23. Recycled Crafts Box: Kids can make crafts out of recycled materials using this book.

24. The City of Ember: In The City of Ember, the heroes of the book live in a world run on hydro power.

25. Giggles the Green Bean: Giggles the Green Bean learns environmentally friendly lessons and transforms his stinky town to green in this book.

26. The Curious Garden: The Curious Garden tells a story of a little boy who becomes a city gardener in an urban, factory town.

27. Dear Children of the Earth: Mother Earth writes to children to get their help in this book.

28. World Beneath Our Feet: Kids can read about the world that exists in the soil in World Beneath Our Feet.

29. The Berenstain Bears Don’t Pollute (Anymore): This family of bears learns about why we need to mend our polluting and wasteful ways.

30. Why Are the Ice Caps Melting?: Kids can read about the dangers of global warming in Why Are the Ice Caps Melting?

There are some really great books on this list.  As I was searching through for the links, I added quite a few to my wish list as I hadn't heard of some of them.  Some of them of course, are perennial favourites, such as Charlotte's Web, The Giving Tree, and The Lorax, all of which I have and will never part with.  Have fun taking a look and see what draws your interest.  It can be fun to be green!!!

2010 Green Books Campaign

Green Books Campaign November 10, 2010

On Wed., Nov. 10, at 1 p.m., 200 bloggers will simultaneously publish reviews of 200 books printed on environmentally-friendly paper. By turning a spotlight on books printed using greener methods, Eco-Libris aims to raise consumer awareness about considering the environment when making book purchases. This year’s participation of both bloggers and books has doubled from the event’s inception last year.

The 200 books to be reviewed are in a variety of subjects including cooking, poetry, travel, green living, and history, and come from 56 publishers from the U.S., Canada, Australia, and the U.K. that are participating in the Green Books Campaign. This diversified group of publishers includes both small and large presses who all print books on recycled and/or FSC-certified paper.

Participating publishers include among others Penguin Group, Scholastic, Barefoot Books, McClelland & Stewart, Simon and Schuster Children's Publishing, Sterling Publishing, DK Publishing, Harvard Business Press, Island Press, North Atlantic Books, McGraw-Hill, ABRAMS and Picador.

“Although there’s so much hype around e-books, books printed on paper still dominate the book market, and we want them to be as environmentally sound as possible,” explains Raz Godelnik, co-founder and CEO of Eco-Libris. “Their share is still relatively small, but you can find a growing number of books printed responsibly and we hope this initiative will bring more exposure to such books. Through this campaign we want to encourage publishers to increase their green printing options and readers to take the environment into consideration when purchasing books.”


Doug Pepper, president and publisher of 100-year-old publishing house McClelland & Stewart, says he is delighted to participate in a program that ties in with the company’s mission. “The Eco-Libris Green Books Campaign’s positive “take action” message perfectly reflects our consistent use of recycled papers and our commitment to sustainable publishing as a whole,” Pepper says.

Among the bloggers who will review the books there are many who participate in the campaign for the second time. One of them is Kim Allen-Niesen of the blog ‘Bookstore People‘. “Participating in the Green Books Campaign was such an education in green reading. I didn't have any idea how many publishers and writers are committed to creating books with as small an impact on the environment as possible. I discovered unique books because they were printed on recycled paper and I learned that books I've read for years are printed in a low impact manner. I'm looking forward to more surprises during this year's campaign, “Allen-Niesen says.

This year’s campaign is supported by Indigo Books & Music, the largest book retailer in Canada, as part of its efforts to draw attention to the need for more environmental paper in book publishing. This is a core goal of Indigo's environmental program, reinforced by Indigo's industry leading environmental paper policy.

Michelle White, Director, Sustainability at Indigo Books & Music said, “Indigo has a strong forest conservation mandate and we believe that physical books printed on environmental paper are a sustainable choice. We commend Eco- Libris for reinforcing this message and engaging and motivating readers to take this issue into consideration when purchasing books. In fact, Indigo provides information online and through in-store kiosk that allows consumers to make informed decisions about where the paper content of their book comes from”. Learn more at http://www.chapters.indigo.ca/.

Learn more about the Green Books Campaign and find a list of all participants at http://www.blogger.com/goog_828335845

# # #

Founded in 2007, Eco-Libris (http://www.ecolibris.net/) is a green company working to green up the book industry by promoting the adoption of green practices in the industry, balancing out books by planting trees, and supporting green books. To achieve these goals Eco-Libris is working with book readers, publishers, authors, bookstores, and others in the book industry worldwide. So far Eco-Libris has balanced out more than 150,000 books, resulting in more than 165,000 new trees planted with its planting partners in developing countries. To learn more visit http://www.ecolibris.net/.