5 Books Celebrating Nature in the Backyard

This is a list of my top 5 favorite books about backyard nature, shared between my daughter and me. These are books I don’t mind reading over and over and she equally enjoys hearing the story and seeing the pictures.

Looking through our growing collection of books, I realized most of them are nature related, discussing different animals, ways of living and various habitats. The following 5 books are specific to common backyard critters and garden environments.

The Icky Bug Alphabet Book

Jerry Pallotta brings the reader through a journey to meet 26 different animals, each corresponding to a different alphabet letter. A is for ant, B is for bumblebee, C is for cricket… it introduces many backyard bugs and insects to young readers. Each entry has short description about the animal, noting the special qualities that set it apart. This book is offered as a board book as well, making it great for little hands that like to get rough with the pages.

Bumblebee, Bumblebee, Do You Know Me? 

A garden guessing game playfully depicts ten types of flowers, written by Anne Rockwell. The book begins by asking the same rhythmic question for each flower and giving hints to the audience that point to the special nature of each flower. Young kids will love learning the “do you know me?” line, predictively shouting it out on every page.

The Reason for a Flower

This is a book I like reading over and over. These pages create a beautiful world that explains the flowers perspective and reason for being. Written and illustrated by Ruth Heller, this shows many familiar plants and animals working together to help flowers repopulate via pollen and seed. Where do seeds come from? Where do they go? Why are they made? What are they for? All these questions and more are answered in Heller’s rhyming story. The illustrations are inspiring with their bright and beautiful colors.

Are You a Bee?

This book is a favorite of ours, it is extremely informative without being too wordy. My three year old easily soaks up the new knowledge and celebrates the interesting nuances of the animals. This book is part of a larger collection of “Backyard Books” including similarly designed books about the dragonfly, spider, grasshopper, ant and others.

Up in the Garden and Down in the Dirt

Kate Messner artfully tells the whole story of gardening, walking the reader through the four seasons and changes that ensue. A grandmother and her granddaughter spend time together in their backyard garden planting seeds and harvesting vegetables. You will discover the curious things that lay beneath the soil and under the leaves as well as the wonders that pop up above ground.

Learning about the backyard environment is one of our favorite subjects. Discovering new things in books and later finding them in real life right outside out door is a wonderful experience.

Hope your family also enjoys these!

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