Reading doesn’t need to be an indoors-only activity. In the spring kids get antsy for the great outdoors and these books make perfect companions to fresh air play. You’ll find titles here for gardeners, rock and gemstone enthusiasts, dinosaur lovers, and more.
Flowers, Plants, and Magical Gardens
Growing gardeners will love the latest Princess Truly book, I Can Grow It!, in which our heroine grows a garden and a magical tree and teaches a baby bird to fly! This Acorn book features easy-to-read text and full-color illustrations — perfect for young readers.
Gardens are magic, no matter what you plant. But even if your whole family boasts a green thumb, you can’t compete with Millie Fleur and her poison garden. Stocked with Sneezing Stickyweed, Fanged Fairymoss, and Grumpy Gilliflower, Milly’s plot seems strange to the townspeople of Garden Glen. But she’s not going to let a few naysayers slow her down.
Meanwhile, littles who love nonsense rhymes as much as they love nature will enjoy the hilarious There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Clover! Read along as the titular old lady swallows a clover, a daisy, a butterfly, and more plants and bugs.
Bees, Bugs, and Kindly Creepy Crawlies
Got a future entomologist on your hands? Bug enthusiasts will love Fly Guy Presents: Insects, in which Fly Guy and Buzz take a field trip to the outdoors. They meet and learn about other insects like Fly Guy. Full of fun insect facts and a great inspiration for getting kids outdoors.
Little ones will love Make Way for Butterfly, Ross Burach’s latest Very Impatient Caterpillar series installment. Children will learn to love who they are while picking up important facts about pollinators — and having fun along the way.
Speaking of pollinators, The Magic School Bus Inside a Beehive covers everything you’d want to know about life in the hive. Join the class and Ms. Frizzle as they learn about drones, queen bees, and how honey is made.
And no good garden works without worms. Superworm is even more heroic than most, wriggling to the rescue whenever critters or crawlies need help. But in this adventure, Superworm is the one who needs help. He’s been captured by the wicked Wizard Lizard. Can his friends save him in time?
Outdoor Adventures With Friends and Family
Any of these books on our list make a great companion for outdoor fun, but these next two books are especially inspiring.
Super Simple: Let's Go For a Walk Outside! comes with a sheet of stickers and a punch-out scavenger hunt list to guide your littles on their own walkabout. Meanwhile, The Adventure Friends #1: Treasure Map is an Acorn book for early readers that will inspire kids to make treasure maps as they explore their neighborhood.
Rocks, Minerals, and Other Treasures
Treasure awaits in your own backyard! Rocks on the Go helps kids identify the rocks they’ll discover close to home. This activity kit also includes 48 rock and mineral specimens for future geologists to examine.
Want to learn more about gems — and fossils, as well? Animated Science: Rocks & Minerals helps grade school readers explore the substances that make up the earth.
Dinosaur Pals for Little Readers
Preschoolers love dinosaurs. Scholastic Early Learners: My Busy Dinosaur Book engages them through that love of all things dino to build early academic skills with snapping sliders and felt dinosaur teeth. Or enjoy the absorbing stories in Could You Ever Dine with Dinosaurs!?, which helps kids imagine what it would be like to eat with dinos.
Ready to find your next outdoor read? Find your child’s next favorite nature book at The Scholastic Store.
