It’s November 1st and that means a new topic for Nature Book Club. This month we are learning all about trees and twigs. Since this is a broad topic I thought I would find some books for my kids as well as yours which should help them learn about trees and twigs. I am including both field guides and picture books so that children of all ages can learn about trees!
We own a few of these and will explore what books our local library has to offer for more tree books for kids. Online resources might also be utilized via Kindle, Hoopla or Overdrive. for this month’s nature book club topic.
Field Guides for Trees and Twigs
The Tree Book for Kids and Their Grown-Ups -The birds, the bees, the flowers and the…TREES! How do trees grow? Why do leaves change? What kind of tree is that? The acclaimed Brooklyn Botanic Garden’s guide answers all kids’ (and their parents’) tree-related questions in an easy-to-understand way. It features 33 different trees that grow in North America, from rural Georgia to the streets of New York City to the California suburbs. Each profile includes a beautiful botanical watercolor illustration by author Gina Ingoglia showing the tree as it appears in a particular season, as well as life-size depictions of its leaf, flower, and seed. Readers of all ages will be in awe over the wonderful world of trees.
Trees of North America: A Guide to Field Identification, Revised and Updated – Smell the bark of the aromatic Sassafras. Wonder at the Lodgepole Pine, whose heat-activated cones reseed forests destroyed by fire. Search for the Sugar Maple, whose foliage blazes red and yellow in autumn. North America’s trees rank among nature’s most awesome creations. This premier field guide features all characteristics-tree shape, bark, leaf, flower, fruit and twig-for quick identification, making it a superior choice for trail walks, creating displays, and scientific or commercial needs.
Nature Anatomy: The Curious Parts and Pieces of the Natural World – See the world in a whole new way! Acclaimed illustrator Julia Rothman combines art and science in this exciting and educational guide to the structure, function, and personality of the natural world. Explore the anatomy of a jellyfish, the inside of a volcano, monarch butterfly migration, how sunsets work, and much more. Rothman’s whimsical illustrations are paired with interactive activities that encourage curiosity and inspire you to look more closely at the world all around you.
Trees, Leaves & Bark (Take Along Guides) – An introduction to the world of insects, caterpillars, and butterflies including identification information, educational activities, and fun facts.Invites young naturalists to spot wildlife. Safety tips are provided and interesting activities are suggested. Color illustrations enhance the presentation.
Ultimate Explorer Field Guides: Trees (National Geographic Kids Ultimate Explorer Field Guide) – This fun, photo-filled, and fact-packed guide to trees will make kids stop and look up at the trees towering over them right in their own backyards. From maple to birch, pine to cherry, kids will learn how and where to spot these trees all over the United States. With tons of info and interactivity prompts, it’s the perfect companion for backyard or field trips, camping or vacation. Durable and portable, it’s just right for your pocket or backpack!
Storybooks for Trees and Twigs
Maple – When Maple is tiny, her parents plant a maple tree in her honor. She and her tree grow up together, and even though a tree doesn’t always make an ideal playmate, it doesn’t mind when Maple is in the mood to be loud—which is often. Then Maple becomes a big sister, and finds that babies have their loud days, too. Fortunately, Maple and her beloved tree know just what the baby needs.
Tree: A Peek-Through Picture Book – Through a hole in the book’s cover, an owl invites you inside to meet a majestic tree and all its forest inhabitants during the changing seasons. With clever peekaboo holes throughout, each page reveals a new set of animals playing and living in the tree—baby bears frolicking in the spring, bees buzzing around apples in the summer, squirrels storing nuts in the fall, and finally the lone owl keeping warm during the winter chill—until another year begins.
The Busy Tree – Spectacular illustrations rendered in oil paint, and a rhyming text that describes a tree’s activities from its roots to its branches, introduce young readers to the amazing activities that go on in a tree. Acorns nibbled by chipmunks, ants scurrying across a trunk, a spider spinning a web, leaves “breathing out air for all to breathe in”—everything adds up to a “busy tree” for all to “come and see.”
Tell Me, Tree: All About Trees for Kids – Featuring a special section on how children can make a tree identification book of their own, this title is a bright and colorful introduction to trees, leaves, and their inner workings in nature. Full color.
Redwoods – A 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. Chin’s approach makes Redwoods a must-have common core tool for teachers and librarians introducing scientific principals to young students.
A Tree for All Seasons – This eye-catching, large format, photographic picture book will delight beginning readers. All the vocabulary, language, and concepts in this carefully researched, 16-page book is geared to young children so that they can practice their reading skills as they discover, explore, and learn.
Who Will Plant a Trees? – A squirrel buries an acorn. A dolphin pushes a coconut into an ocean current. A camel chewing a date spits out the seed. What do they all have in common? Each one, in its own way, has helped to plant a tree. In myriad ways and diverse environments, Mother Nature is given a hand in dispersing seeds that eventually grow into trees. From the apple seeds falling off the sticky fur of a black bear to the pine seed carried by an army of ants marching to their anthill, creatures great and creatures small participate in nature’s cyclical dance in the planting of a tree.
The Tale of Three Trees – Featuring the wonderful illustrations of Tim Jonke, this best-selling children’s book tells the Easter story from a new and unusual point of view. Children will be deeply touched as they understand, perhaps for the first time, the significance of Christ’s life and his atoning sacrifice on the cross.
Celebritrees: Historic & Famous Trees of the World – Some trees have lived many lifetimes, standing as silent witnesses to history. Some are remarkable for their age and stature; others for their usefulness. A bristlecone pine tree in California has outlived man by almost 4,000 years; a baobab tree in Australia served as a prison for Aboriginal prisoners at the turn of the twentieth century; and a major oak in England was used as a hiding place for Robin Hood and his men (or so the story goes…).
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