While the book content on this blog tends towards my own reading life, I do also read a LOT of children’s books. I love using books to teach Jamie more about his interests. Since Jamie and I both love gardening, it’s one of our favorite book subjects! It was surprisingly hard for us to find a good roundup of books on this topic, so I wanted to share some of our favorite gardening books for kids. Whether your child is a baby, a preschooler, or school-age, there is something here for everyone! I’ve included the suggested reading ages for each book, but I’ve read all of these successfully with my two year old, and most of them will work well for older kids, too. Gardening season is right around the corner, so add these to your shopping cart or your library list and get reading!
The Best Gardening Books for Kids
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Up in the Garden and Down in the Dirt by Kate Messner (5-8)
This is a book that I will never get tired of reading. Something about the language in the book just reads beautifully, and I love how the book looks at the garden in each season. Jamie loves reading about all the animals and bugs you find in a garden, especially when we see some of them in our own backyard! There are great big illustrations and not too many words per page (although it is quite a few pages), so it holds Jamie’s attention well, but I also know it will grow with him. This is the only book on this whole list that we’ve loved enough to buy our own copy!
How Does My Garden Grow? by Gerda Muller (4-7)
This was a recent find from our local library, and it’s definitely one of my new favorites! The book does a great job at giving lots of detail while remaining engaging, and the way the book is set up allows you to skip sections as needed if attention spans are short. The book follows Sophie, a girl from the city who visits her grandparents’ garden in the countryside. It’s great for older children who are learning about where food comes from.
Lola Plants a Garden by Anna McQuinn (2-5)
We love all the Lola books, and this one is no exception! It’s great for toddlers since it’s short and sweet. While it doesn’t teach much about the gardening process or about how plants grow, it’s a fun book about growing flowers.
Tom’s Tree by Gillian Shields (3-6)
While not technically about gardening, this is such a sweet story that I had to add it to my list. It’s a story about a boy who plants a tree and is convinced that when it grows big it will be magical. Many years later, he brings his own son to visit his tree. It’s one of those stories that highlights how quickly childhood passes and may have had be a bit teary the first time I read it.
Eating the Alphabet by Lois Ehlert (0-3)
This is a classic and for a good reason! We bought this book when Jamie was in his “obsessed with the alphabet” phase. It’s a great book for children learning their letters, especially since it includes both upper- and lowercase. Jamie loved looking at all the fruits and vegetables and talking about which ones we’ve eaten and which ones we grow in the garden. This is a perfect book for tiny baby gardeners.
We Are the Gardeners by Joanna Gaines (4-8)
This is a great book not only about gardening, but also about perseverance and hard work. It does a great job of teaching that gardening is a skill to develop and that there are often failures in the garden, but that hard work and careful tending will result in a garden you can be proud of. I also loved the way it teaches about how plants grow and what they need to thrive.
The Tiny Seed by Eric Carle (2-5)
Eric Carle is maybe Jamie’s favorite author, so I definitely had to include one of his books in here. The Tiny Seed is a great book for younger kids and follows the life cycle of the seed. Bright illustrations accompany the story of a tiny seed that grows to become a big flower and eventually release its own seeds into the world. Another great pick for the tiniest gardeners.
In the Garden: Who’s Been Here? by Lindsay Barrett George (4-8)
This is a cute book about pests you might find in a garden. Jamie really loved the way the book was set up – you read about some sort of evidence a pest leaves behind (e.g., a trail of slime on a leaf) and then ask “Who’s been here?”. The next page reveals the animal or insect to blame. Jamie loved learning the different animals and bugs and answering each question. It would be a fun way to introduce gathering evidence and making predictions for older kids!
The Curious Garden by Peter Brown (4-8)
Based on a true story about an old railroad in Brooklyn, this story shows how greenery can transform environments. It follows a boy named Liam who plants a garden in an abandoned part of town, which leads to the whole city becoming filled with plants. While it will work well for older kids, the beautiful illustrations and few words per page also make it a great pick for toddlers.
Do you have any favorite gardening books for kids? Was there one I missed that you love? Leave a comment below so I can add it to our library list!