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Take time to explore the natural world and take your books outside!
Spring is upon us and it’s a good time to take a break from the indoors and modern technology and get out into nature. With Earth Day coming up on April 22, National Picnic Day on April 24th and National Parks Week April 19-27, we have many opportunities in April to celebrate the great outdoors. Take a look at the list of books below from the DC Public Library catalog for great tie-ins to celebrating our Earth for both adults and children.
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Embrace Fearlessly the Burning World by Barry Lopez
In a posthumously published collection of essays by Barry Lopez, we get to experience a master observer’s experience of far-flung nature and the challenges to our lives on this earth. I would recommend any of Lopez’s books for his thoughtful and insightful observations, but this book is a good mixture of the natural world and how we humans interact with it. Lopez not only travels to Antarctica but participates in scientific research there and writes about it. He shares painful stories of his childhood and what nature did to help heal him. Lopez is deferential to indigenous wisdom and strongly advocates being present and observant of the earth’s beauty.
The National Parks: America's best idea: an illustrated history by Dayton Duncan and Ken Burns
This book is the companion volume to the expansive Ken Burns PBS Documentary series on America's National Parks, the beautiful, comprehensive film series that inspired many of us to immediately begin planning our next National Parks trip. The book is a large format book that, in addition to stunning photographs, has stories, interviews and character portrayals that introduce us to the people responsible for starting America’s trailblazing system of preserving large swaths of natural wonders for current and future generations to enjoy.
Another fun National Parks book,(because we all need a good laugh sometimes), is Amber Share’s SubPar Parks where she takes real visitors’ lackluster reviews of National Parks found on Yelp and other sites and skewers their point-of-view by pointing out the irony and ridiculousness of the comments. (“Poorly lit and just plain” of Carlsbad Caverns!) She presents the reviews on an illustrated page of her own making and then gives some basic information about the national park or monument. It’s a great and humorous way to get acquainted with the national parks, region by region.
60 Days to a Greener Life by Heather White
This very slim, recently published (2024) volume has so much good information in its short 120-pages and would make a great kickoff to making a new commitment to take better care of our Earth. It’s set up like a 60-day reading experience so each day presents a different idea on something we can practically achieve to make ourselves better stewards of the environment. From “Green Your Holidays and Gifting” to “Reduce Your Food Waste” as well as ideas for political action, this book can have an outsized impact on taking on problems like climate change. There are QR codes throughout linking to videos, websites and petitions that elaborate and guide the reader’s suggested actions.
This children’s nonfiction picture book by Stacy McAnulty is a great depiction of the characteristics of what makes Earth livable, how it is being negatively affected by pollution and actions kids can take to help the Earth. With great cartoonish illustrations by David Litchfield, it is a very approachable book for a beginning reader or even for a younger child to have read to them.
And now for some guidance on a fun outdoor activity! I, like many others, have been bit by the birdwatching bug after a winter trip to a sandhill crane fly-in migration marsh in California, a trip to Costa Rica where I saw so many new birds previously unknown to me and just casual observation of my backyard bird feeder. A new nonfiction book by Amy Tan (2024) relates her experience of observing her backyard bird feeders with a keen, observant and inquiring eye. After a brief preface, the book is presented as journal entries of her observations over a couple of years and include colored drawings that she did herself of the birds she observed. The reader learns a lot about the habits and habitats of a large number of birds and vicariously experiences what it is like to have such a welcoming backyard for birds.
Look up! Bird-watching in your own backyard by Annette LeBlanc Cate
This children’s book for 8-12 year-olds brings a humorous approach to an introduction to bird-watching for kids. It is written mostly in a comic book style but shares loads of information in a fun way about bird’s features, characteristics and habitats. It also encourages children to sketch birds that they see and offers tips and footnotes on many of its vividly illustrated pages.