Green Guides

Celebrate Earth Day (and every day) in your store this spring with a few of the many eco-friendly kids' books that are debuting in the coming months. Engage and inspire kids to learn more and to do what they can to help our planet by pairing these titles with science and plant kits, gardening toys and other green activity items.

50 Ways to Save the Earth is a practical guide for young people packed with easy yet meaningful ways to go green, including tips for reducing carbon usage, saving energy and recycling. Clear text by environmental engineer and conservationist Anne Jankéliowitch is accompanied by award-winning Philippe Bourseiller's gorgeous color photographs showing the earth in all its beauty. ($17.95) Abrams, New York

The Forever Forest: Kids Save a Tropical Treasure, by Kristin Joy Pratt-Serafini and Rachel Crandell, follows a boy named Peter on a hike through the Children's Eternal Rainforest in Costa Rica, where he meets howler monkeys, sloths and exotic plant life along the way. The forest, which was preserved by the inspiring efforts of kids around the world, celebrates its 20th anniversary this year. ($8.95) Dawn Publications, Nevada City, Calif.

Even the youngest kids can learn to contribute with My Bag and Me! by Karen Farmer, an ode to conserving resources in board book form that comes packaged with a reusable shopping bag. The simple, cheerful tale will have kids saying “paper and plastic no more” on their next trip to the store; preschoolers will love that even they, too, can make a difference. ($10.95) Penton Overseas, Carlsbad, Calif.

Eco Babies Wear Green, the fifth cheeky installment in Michelle Sinclair Colman and Nathalie Dion's popular “urban babies” board book series, is likely to become a new favorite of both kids and adults. Clever text and stylized illustrations show just how easy it is—from carpooling to eating locally grown foods—to reduce, reuse and recycle. ($6.95) Tricycle Press, Berkeley, Calif.