Encourage Reading

To encourage reading amongst young readers in grades K-8, Earth Day Network suggests you follow the steps identified below:

Step #1 - Advertise

Find locations in your library that are highly viable to young readers and their parents  and post fliers and announcements about the campaign.  Create your own original posters or use on of Earth Day Network’s Reading for the Earth™ posters located below:

Poster Design #1      Poster Design  #2      Poster Design #3      Poster Design #4

Step #2 - Create Display/Showcase

Build a display or showcase that has information about Reading for the Earth including posters and suggested reading lists. Gather a few books to highlight in your display and to help you find environmentally themed books, Earth Day Network has created suggested reading lists for young readers in both grades K-3 and grades 4-8. Some of the selections from the lists are highlighted below and to view a more complete reading list click the link after each section.

Grades K– 3 Reading list

Squish! A Wetland Walk; Nancy Luenn

A feast for the senses, Squish! provides young children with an introduction to the sights, sounds, and smells of a wetland as experienced by a young boy. Luenn uses simple language to explain some of the many ways wetlands are beneficial, and Himler's quiet watercolors beautifully capture the unusual, wondrous atmosphere.

The Curious Garden; Peter Brown

The Curious Garden, by Peter Brown, is an excellent book about the benefits of greening up our own small corner of the urban world, as told through the story of a young boy who begins to “guerilla garden” in a desolate corner of the city.

The Great Kapok Tree; Lynne Cherry

Author and illustrator Lynne Cherry tells the tale of a man who is sent into the Amazon rain forest one day under instructions to chop down a great kapok tree. As he sleeps, animals emerge from the jungle canopy to plead with the sleeping ax-man to spare their home, and this unique  perspective from the wildlife provides an intriguing scientific argument for preserving nature's gifts.

Complete Grades K-3 Suggested Reading List (PDF File)

Grades 4-8 Reading List

The Weirdos, Theodore Taylor

Chip Clewt, known simply as the weirdo, lives like a hermit in the Powhatan Swamp, a National Wildlife Refuge that is at the center of a heated controversy between local hunters and  environmentalists.

What  the Parrot told Alice, Dale Smith

What the Parrot Told Alice is a remarkable story, founded on fact. It is destined to awaken the conscience of young people to crucial issues of our time, such as habitat destruction and exploitation of wildlife.

My Side of the Mountain, Jean Craighead George

Jean Craighead George tells the story of a boy who really wants to get away from it all. So, he leaves home to live in the mountains, where he learns to live off the land and gains a sense of independence and adventure before he finally reunites with his family.

Complete Grades 4-8 Suggested Reading List (PDF File)

Suggested Reading List- Grades 9-12                         Suggested Reading List- Australian Authors

Step #3 - Sign-Up Young Readers

Allow young readers to pledge to read environmentally themed books  throughout  the month of April in honor of Earth Day. At the end of April, Earth Day Network will ask participating libraries to count, record, and report the number of pledges made at their libraries.  All participating libraries will receive Certificates of Participation which will be emailed to you using the email that you provide during registration.   Download and to print the official Reading  for the Earth™ pledge sheet click here.

Each pledge will count as an act of green in our A  Billion Acts of Green®  campaign,. The purpose of this campaign is to mobilize one billion acts of environmental service around the world.  The campaign calls for people of all nationalities to commit to an act that helps reduce carbon emissions and promote sustainability.  Collectively, these acts will also demonstrate the power of small every-day individual acts of green. For more information on A Billion Acts of Green® visit: http://act.earthday.org/.

Certificate to award to students who have pledged to read an environmental book