Climatologists have been warning us for years about climate change, environmental degradation, and the need to “act now” by changing practices that harm the environment. But equally important to this call for change is educating the kids who are inheriting these problems. They will need to innovate smarter and more sustainable ways of living. They will need to understand the impact we have and how to reduce our footprint on the earth. Many are already sensing the urgency – their actions are featured in some of the sustainability books for kids recommended below. An environmental education begins early with a simple love of nature. It makes sense that we cannot develop protective feelings for the environment if we do not first connect with it, experience it, and learn to love it. Some of the books below encourage this simple connection with nature and its joys. Other books delve more into the problems we have created for ourselves through industrialization, our wasteful consumption patterns, and harvesting and polluting resources that are not renewable. Climate change and sustainable living – these are all difficult topics to understand – and yet they are more urgently needed in the education of our children than ever before, because the future belongs to them. Here are 15 helpful books to aid in that task. For other books for kids on the environment, see 10 Inspiring Children’s Books on the Environment.
