Garden Books That Will Encourage a Love of Nature

There are many benefits to teaching students about gardening. Gardening can help students learn about science, math, and literacy concepts. Gardening also helps students develop fine motor skills and an appreciation for nature. If you are looking for garden books to use in your classroom, look no further! Here are our favorites.

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Garden Books for the Classroom

In spring, I love to fill our classroom library with garden books. These are a few of our favorites.

Up in the Garden and Down in the Dirt

Up in the Garden and Down in the Dirt by Kate Messner is a favorite of mine. If you like the story Over and Under the Snow, you will love this spring garden version. This book provides a great overview of how things you find in a garden are related.

Lola Plants a Garden

Lola Plants a Garden by Anna McQuinn is a collection of poems about the garden.

The Curious Garden

The Curious Garden by Peter Brown is a beautiful book about a boy living in a dreary city. One day he discovers a small patch of plants and learns how to care for them. The illustrations and vocabulary in this story are wonderful. You can read more about how we use this story in the classroom here.

Tops and Bottoms

Tops and Bottoms by Janet Stevens is a fun story about a lazy bear outwitted by a hare. This story is a great book to use if you are teaching about parts of a plant.

City Green

City Green by Anne DiSalvo-Ryan is a beautiful story about a girl who takes initiative to clean up an empty lot in her neighborhood. The lot is filled with trash, but with the help of neighbors, she transforms it into a beautiful garden.

Harlem Grown

Harlem Grown by Tony Hillery is a beautiful story about an empty lot in Harlem that is transformed into a garden. This story is the same idea as City Green, but is based on a true story. The illustrations in this book are amazing!

In A Garden

In a Garden by Tim McCanna is a fun book about the different components of gardening told in a fun kid-friendly way.

Jayden’s Impossible Garden

Jayden’s Impossible Garden by Melina Mangal is another book about transforming an area in a city into a garden. I love reading these types of books with my class because we don’t live in a big city, so it gives my students a different perspective on gardens.

Planting a Rainbow

Planting a Rainbow by Lois Elhert is a story about all the colors found in the garden. If you are familiar with Elhert’s books, you know her illustrations are made from paper-cut collages. This could be an inspiration for a classroom art project.

Do you have favorite garden books you use in your classroom?

Check out our favorite garden resources from Amazon.

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