UNSERE ERDE - Stunning Children's Books In German On Nature And Climate

Earth Day on April 22nd is a great opportunity to talk about nature and how we can preserve the environment. From learning about animals and how to protect them, famous scientists who devote their life to this task as or the impact that we can have with recycling and more, here are some great recommendations.

Maria Isabel Sanchez Vangera / Beatrice Cerocchi

JANE GODALL

When Jane was little, her father gave her a toy chimpanzee named Jubilee that she loved. Her mother read her books about the jungle and she dreamed of living with the animals out in the wild. As an adult she saved all her money for a trip to Africa -it took her a while to find monkeys, but then she devoted her life to studying them, living in their natural habitat and doing research.

A delightful inspiring book, part of the series Little People, Big Dreams, with sort texts and appealing illustrations. Works great as a read aloud or beginning reader book.

4 years and up

Patricia MacLachlan / Francesca Sanna

MEINE FREUNDIN ERDE

Mother Earth provides for animals, big and small, and plants, she gives us summer showers and lets the leaves color and drop in fall... Not so much a story, then a poetic declaration of love to nature and earth, with stunningly beautiful laser cut out pages and illustrations, this book reminds us why it is important to protect it.

4 years and up

Claire A. Nivola

DAS BLAUE HERZ DES PLANETEN

DIE GESCHICHTE EINER MEERESFORSCHERIN

Even as a child Sylvia Earle felt at home in nature. When she was 12 her family moved to Florida and she started diving, exploring sea life and spending more and more time in the ocean, which eventually lead to her career as an oceanographer. Earle would spend up to twelve hours in the water and later even two weeks in a submarine, studying whales and other sea creatures. Stunning pictures show the beauty and vastness of life under water. In an afterword Nivola shows the damage we humans are doing to the oceans. An ideal read for younger children.

(Also recommended: BÄUME FÜR KENYA by the same author)

5 years and up.

Kristina Scharmacher-Schreiber / Stephanie Marian

WIE VIEL WÄRMER IST 1 GRAD?

Was beim Klimawandel passiert

If you are looking for a book to explain to your child the rather abstract concepts of climate and climate change, what humans impact is, what politicians can (our could) do to and what each one of us can do, then look no further. This book explores the topic - offering very clear graphics and lots of information on the climate zones, green house effect or how what we eat makes a difference - in an age-adequate manner (though I would say adults can learn a lot, too. Maybe because it explains the complex in simple terms.)

7 years and up

Hannah Wilson

WENIGER INS MEER

Was du tun kannst, um Plastik und Müll zu vermeiden

If you want to dive into the topic of recycling and sustainability, this fascinating book describes how plastic, glas, paper, metal, textiles and food are produced - how they re used and what happens with them, once we through them away. It has fascinating insights -and includes upcycling tipps or arts and crafts as well.

8 years and up

Melanie Laibl

SO EIN MIST.

Vom Müll, Abfall und Co

A funny and informative book on anything trash. And if I say anything, I mean literally anything. You'll get an historic overview, learn how clarification plants work, our body defecations, recycling, upcycling, downcycling, ways to preserve food (so you can keep them and eat them instead of throwing them out), different types of toilet paper.. this book is written (and illustrated) with a sense of humor, but more importantly after extensive research and was awarded the Austrian science book award in the category of Best Children's Book. Rightly so.

7 years and up

Claus Hecking, Charlotte Schönberger, Ilka Sokolowski

UNSERE ZUKUNFT IST JETZT!

KÄMPFE WIE GRETA FÜRS KLIMA

Today thousands of people world wide participated at the Fridays for Future strike The person who initiated this global movement was the Greta Thurnberg, a young, serious from Sweden. How did she do it? And why do so many people criticize her, claiming there is no climate change? It is part biography, part non-fiction book showing what Greta Thurnberg and what we all can do to live more sustainably.

6 years and up