📖 Keeping a Nature Journal by Claire Walker Leslie and Charles E. Roth.​ "Reconnect with nature through sketching and writing with these simple methods for capturing the living beauty of each season. Clare Walker Leslie and co-author Charles E. Roth offer easy techniques, exercises, and prompts for all ages." Written for adults, this illustrated guide offers ideas and inspiration for nature journalers at every level. – All

📖 Botanicum by Kathy Willis and Katie Scott. This entry in the superb Welcome to the Museum series is a must-read guide to the plant kingdom. “From perennials to bulbs to tropical exotica, Botanicum is a wonderful feast of botanical knowledge complete with superb cross sections of how plants work.” This book is beautiful, well-organized, and informative; highly recommended. – All

📖 Living Sunlight: How Plants Bring the Earth to Life by Molly Bang and Penny Chisholm. This entry in the Sunlight series explains photosynthesis at a level appropriate for young children. Poetic text and vibrant illustrations make Living Sunlight an enjoyable and informative read. – Elementary

📖 Weeds Find a Way by Cindy Jenson-Elliott. This exuberant celebration of the tenacious weed will be appealing to young children. – Preschool • Elementary

📖 Planting the Wild Garden by Kathryn O. Galbraith. Here is a lyrical, nicely illustrated explanation of how wild plants disperse their seeds. For preschoolers or young elementary students. – Preschool • Elementary

📖 Plant Secrets by Emily Goodman. Follow the life cycle of a plant, from seed to plant to flower to fruit and back to seed in this lyrical, charmingly illustrated picture book. Best for preschool and young elementary. Or see Gail Gibbons' From Seed to Plant. – Preschool • Elementary

📖 The Sibley Guide to Trees by David Allen Sibley. Here is a visually appealing guide to the trees of North America from David Sibley (best known for his bird guides); if you are mostly interested in identifying the trees in your own backyard, look online for tree guides that are specific to your region or state. – All

📖 It Starts with a Seed by Laura Knowles. “Take a journey through the seasons and years as we follow the seed’s transformation from a seedling to a sapling, then a young tree, until it becomes a large tree with its branches and roots filling the page.” With simple rhyming text and appealing illustrations, It Starts with a Seed makes a terrific addition to an early elementary study of trees and the various life forms that they support. – Preschool • Elementary

📖 Why Do Leaves Change Color? by Betsy Maestro. This entry in the Let’s-Read-and-Find-Out series does a nice job of explaining why leaves are important, what gives them their green hue, and why they change color in the fall. – Elementary

📖 How Do Apples Grow? ​by Betsy Maestro. This picture book follows the progression of an apple tree from winter to fall, giving a straightforward introduction to the growth of an apple from a flower bud. –Elementary

📖 Be a Friend to Trees by Patricia Lauber. This Let’s-Read-and-Find-Out book discusses the many ways in which trees benefit people, wildlife, and broader ecosystems. The end material offers suggestions on "how to be a friend to trees." – Elementary

📖 Cactus Hotel by Brenda Z. Guiberqson. Follow the life cycle of the slow-growing Saguaro cactus while meeting the many plants and animals that make a home in the North American Sonoran desert. Barbara Bash's Desert Giant covers similar ground. – Elementary

📖 The Great Kapok Tree by Lynne Cherry. Deep in the Amazon rain forest, a man comes with plans to cut down a huge kapok tree. As he sleeps against the tree, the animals of the rain forest approach and whisper in his ear, begging him to spare their home. This simple, beautifully illustrated book gives an accessible lesson on the interdependency of living things and the importance of preserving complex ecosystems. – Elementary

📖 Redwoods by Jason Chin. "An ordinary subway trip is transformed when a young boy happens upon a book about redwood forests. As he reads the information unfolds, and with each new bit of knowledge, he travels―all the way to California to climb into the Redwood canopy. Crammed with interesting and accurate information about these great natural wonders, Jason Chin's first book is innovative nonfiction set within a strong and beautiful picture storybook." Highly recommended. – Elementary

📖 Farmer Will Allen and the Growing Table by Jacqueline Briggs Martin. ​​An inspiring true story about urban farmer Will Allen, who turned an abandoned lot in Milwaukee into a vibrant community garden. Allen founded a non-profit organization, Growing Power, which is devoted to empowering people across the world to grow their own food. – Elementary

📖 Molly's Organic Farm by Carol L. Malnor and Trina L. Hunner. ​​Meet Molly the farm cat and learn all about organic farming—from crop rotation to companion planting - in this sweet and simple picture book. – Elementary

📖 In the Garden with Dr. Carver by Susan Grisby. In this gentle story, set in Reconstruction Era Alabama, Dr. George Washington Carver visits Sally’s school to teach the children how to garden. The watercolor illustrations are lovely. – Elementary

📖 The Carrot Seed by Ruth Krauss. "When a little boy plants a carrot seed, everyone tells him it won't grow. But when you are very young, there are some things that you just know, and the little boy knows that one day a carrot will come up. So he waters his seed, and pulls the weeds, and he waits…" A classic. – Preschool

📖 The Curious Garden by Peter Brown. "While out exploring one day, a little boy named Liam discovers a struggling garden and decides to take care of it. As time passes, the garden spreads throughout the dark, gray city, transforming it into a lush, green world." Highly recommended. –Preschool • Elementary

📖 Miss Maple's Seeds by Eliza Wheeler. "Miss Maple gathers lost seeds that haven’t yet found a place to sprout. She takes them on field trips to explore places to grow. In her cozy maple tree house, she nurtures them; keeping them safe and warm until it's time for them to find roots of their own, and grow into the magnificent plants they’re destined to become." This is a beautiful, fantastical picture book. – Preschool • Elementary

📖 The Apple Pie That Papa Baked by Lauren Thompson. "These are the apples, juicy and red, that went in the pie, warm and sweet, that Papa baked …" The sing-song cumulative text—along the lines of "The House That Jack Built"—works backwards to the apple tree, the roots that feed the tree, the rain that waters the roots, and so on. – Preschool • Elementary

🖐️ Experiment with plants. The experiments in Unit I of Janice Van Cleave’s Biology for Every Kid allow kids to explore a range of fundamental concepts in botany, including diffusion, osmosis, nutrient transport, and the parts of the plant. – Elementary

🖐️ Grow a bean in a bag. What is the effect of sunlight on plant growth? Find out for yourself with the “Bean in a Bag” experiment in Crystal Chatterton’s Awesome Science Experiments for Kids. – Elementary

🖐️ Participate in Citizen Science. Search the SciStarter database to find projects appropriate for your child’s age. Typical plant-focused projects include documenting invasive weeds, tracking the growth and health of a tree throughout the year, and mapping local trees and plants. – All