From Storytime to Saving Fireflies: A Picture Book Inspiring Kids to Care for Nature

How Sustainable Farms Inspired My Book ‘Food for the Future’

The activity below is taken from Global Kids, written by Homa Savet Tavanagar and illustrated by Sophie Fatus.

Plastic waste can impact life on land, in the air and in oceans, lakes, rivers and streams.

Rwanda, known as the Land of a Thousand Hills, is serious about preventing plastic pollution. It was the first country in the world to ban all single-use plastic bags. People who break the rules there must pay a fine.

In this activity, children can talk with their families or classmates and agree on some new plastic rules, like taking reusable bags when shopping, packing lunches in reusable containers and/or refusing plastic straws when offered (if possible). Whenever someone breaks one of the plastic rules, they place a small fine in the Plastics Penalty Pot.

Empower children to care for our planet on Earth Day — and every day!

It’s never too early (or too late) to teach kids to appreciate and care for our outdoor environments. Our top ten picks for Earth Day reads can lead to simple conversations about respecting wildlife and keeping our world clean. Plus, they offer early science lessons by teaching about plant and animal life cycles, weather, habitats and more! Learning about sustainability and about how different cultures view and value our planet can plant the seed for a lifetime of stewardship. Enjoy digging into our list!

Below is a guest post by picture book author and poet, Sarah Nelson, who wrote the I Like the Weather series. Her stories and poems explore a variety of themes, but Sarah especially loves writing about nature, the little (oh, so real) dramas of childhood and inspiring, lesser-known moments in American history. When Sarah is not writing, she teaches English to adult immigrants.

Gardens provide us with so many wonderful treats!

A thriving garden is often filled with delicious foods, beautiful bright flowers, amazing animals and exciting places to explore. Whether they are small indoor containers or expansive outdoor spaces, gardens are full of mysteries waiting to be solved: Why are bees so important? How do vines climb up poles? Why do some plants need more light and heat than others?

Kids can make their own “bread pets” with these kid-friendly instructions!

Involving kids in the sourdough craze seems like a no-brainer: it’s a super cool science experiment and cooking project all in one. But anyone who’s tried to grow a sourdough starter (and then make edible bread from it) knows that it’s easier said than done.

Fortunately, when writing our picture book, The Bread Pet, our editors made sure they created the perfect sourdough starter instructions for kids.