Earl the Earthworm and Books for Green Kids

Back at the beginning of the year we were first introduced to Green Sugar Press and their wonderful books for green kids. I wrote about their book N is for Nature back in January and I have been really late in mentioning some of their other really awesome books.

Now that my toddler and I are alone together for a couple days a week we have been busy reading books, doing puzzles, and working on the speech issue. He is doing better with his talking but is still not where he should be. Or perhaps he just thinks those pesky words are for mere humans, whereas HE is a robot. ;)

The N is for Nature book is better for teaching him the ABCs than a new one we read recently called An Environmental Guide from A to Z by Tim Magner with illustrations by Aubri Vincent-Barwood. It is definitely more appropriate for my older kids but my toddler still loves to look at the pictures while I read it. For example.. B is for Bees which is perfectly toddler friendly but D is for Darwin, so this book is best suited for kids 5 and up I would say. But it is full of great information about the environment and the world around us. It also a great buffer for more complex studies like Darwin’s Law of Natural Selection and how that comes into play within the species we see around us. J is for Jacques Cousteau and K is for Kilimanjaro… I LOVE it! The pictures are very grand as well. I find it is an excellent introductory picture book for the younger kidlets and a very engaging book about our journey to a greener planet for the older kids.

Also during story time a new favorite is being requested quite often and that is Earl the Earthworm Digs for His Life.

My little boy LOVES worms so of course he loves this book devoted to the wiggly guys. It is an earthworm coming of age story. Earl takes us on a journey deep into his world and together we explore his surroundings and learn about his connections to nature. It has gorgeous colorful illustrations of bees and other insects, grasses and trees, flowers, and the journey of Earl the Earthworm. The message behind the message is also good too since it shows how we all have different strengths and abilities. Earl is frustrated that he’s not like a bee, the grass, ants or even a tree,  but Earl discovers the job he does, i.e. digging and eating, helps all the rest of them.

It also has footnote facts that I usually skip over my for my toddler but read for the older two. The worm is so small in many of the pictures that my son loves to “find” him… like a wormy Where’s Waldo. Any book that highlights worms and bugs is a hit in this house but this one is especially well done. It is written once again by Tim Magner. It is illustrated by Lindsay Knapp.

I would recommend adding both books to your personal library or picking them up at the library whenever possible. Happy reading!