Our Natural World Book Lists

We have gathered a list of some of our favorite books about the natural world just in time for spring. Titles with an asterisk (*) were graciously donated by the Meehan family and were added to the collection in 2023. We thank them for their support. We hope you enjoy our updated collection!

Adult Books

• 100 Plants to Feed the Birds: Turn Your Home Garden into a Healthy Bird Habitat by Laura Erickson (598.072 E)*
• Adirondack Nature Notes by Tom Kalinowski (508.74 K)*
• Attracting Beneficial Bugs to Your Garden: A Natural Approach to Pest Control by Jessica Walliser (635.04 W)*
• Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants by Robin Wall Kimmerer (305.8 K)
• Bringing Nature Home: How You Can Sustain Wildlife with Native Plants by Douglas Tallamy (639.9 T)*
• The Climate Book by Greta Thunberg (363.7 T)
• Entangled Life: How Fungi Make Our Worlds, Change Our Minds and Shape Our Futures by Merlin Sheldrake (579.5 S) 
• Green Jobs: Environmental Careers for the 21st Century by Scott M. Deitche (333.72023 D)
• Fastest Thing on Wings: Rescuing Hummingbirds in Hollywood by Teresa Masear (598.764 M)
• Field Guide to the Haunted Forest by Jarod K. Anderson (811.6 A)*
• Finding the Mother Tree: Discovering the Wisdom of the Forest by Suzanne Simard (333.75 S)
• Fire and Flood: A People’s History of Climate Change, from 1979 to the Present by Eugene Linden (304.28)
• Gathering Moss: The Natural and Cultural History of Mosses by Robin Wall Kimmerer (588.2 K)*
• Grow More with Less: Sustainable Garden Methods for Great Landscapes with Less Water, Less Work, Less Money by Vincent A. Simeone (635 S)
• Half-Earth: Our Planet’s Fight for Life by Edward O. Wilson (363.7 W)
• Homegrown Harvest: a Season-by-Season Guide to a Sustainable Kitchen Garden Edited by Rita Pelczar (635 H)
• How to Create a Wildlife Garden: Encouraging Birds, Bees, Butterflies and Nature into Your Outside Space by Christine Lavelle (639.92 L)
• The Humane Gardener: Nurturing a Backyard Habitat for Wildlife by Nancy Lawson (577.5 L)
• The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Trees by David More (582.1603 M)
• An Immense World: How Animal Senses Reveal the Hidden Realms Around Us by Ed Young (591.5 Y)
• The Invention of Nature: Alexander von Humboldt’s New World by Andrea Wulf (509.2 W)
• Lawns into Meadows: Growing a Regenerative Landscape by Owen Wormser (635.96 W)*
• The Living Landscape: Designing for Beauty and Biodiversity in the Home Garden by Rick Darke (712.2 D)*
• The Moon by Whale Light by Diane Ackerman (591 A)*
• Mycelium Running: How Mushrooms Can Help Save the World by Paul Stamets (579.5 S)*
• National Wildlife Federation: Attracting Birds, Butterflies & Other Wildlife to Your Backyard by David Mizejewski (635.96 M)*
• Native Plants of the Northeast: A Guide for Gardening & Conservation by Donald Joseph Leopold (635.9 L)
• Naturalist by Edward O. Wilson (B WILSON)*
• Nature’s Best Hope: A New Approach to Conservation That Starts in Your Yard by Douglas Tallamy (333.95 T)*
• The Northeast Native Plant Primer: 235 Plants for an Earth-Friendly Garden by Uli Lorimer (635.028 L)*
• The Overstory by Richard Powers (FICTION POWERS)*
• Planting in a Post-Wild World: Designing Plant Communities for Resilient Landscapes by Thomas Rainer (712 R)*
• Plastic Ocean: How a Sea Captain’s Chance Discovery Launched a Quest to Save the Oceans by Charles Moore (363.738 M)
• Plastic Purge: How to Use Less Plastic, Eat Better, Keep Toxins Out of Your Body and Help Save the Sea Turtles! by Michael SanClements (363.728 S)
• Pollinators of Native Plants by Heather Holm (595.715 H)*
• The Pollinator Victory Garden by Kim Eierman (635.04 E)*
• A Sand County Almanac: And Sketches Here and There by Aldo Leopold (508.73 L)*
• The Sibley Guide to Birds by David Allen Sibley (598.097 S)
• Silent Spring by Rachel Carson (632.9 C)
• Silent Spring Revolution: John F. Kennedy, Rachel Carson, Lyndon Johnson, Richard Nixon, and the Great Environmental Awakening by Douglas Brinkley (333.72 B)*
• Slow Birding: The Art and Science of Enjoying the Birds in Your Own Backyard by Joan Strassmann (598.07 S)
• Trashing the Planet: Examining Our Global Garbage Glut by Stuart A. Kallen (363.72 K)
• Tree Story: The History of the World Written in Rings by Valerie Trouet (582.16 T)*
• Vitamin N: The Essential Guide to a Nature-Rich Life by Richard Louv (155.9 L)*
• Waterwise Plants for Sustainable Gardens: 200 Drought-Tolerant Choices for all Climates by Lauren Springer Ogden (635.9525 O)
• We are the Weather: Saving the Planet Begins at Breakfast by Jonathan Safran Foer (636 F)
• White Pine: Poems and Prose Poems by Mary Oliver (811.5 O)*
• Wilding: Returning Nature to Our Farm by Isabella Tree (333.95 T)*
• Wild Plant Culture: A Guide to Restoring Edible and Medicinal Native Plant Communities by Jared Rosenbaum (581.6 R)*
• The Wild Trees: A Story of Passion and Daring by Richard Preston (585.5 P)*
• The Wizard and the Prophet: Two Remarkable Scientists and Their Dueling Visions of Tomorrow’s World by Charles C. Mann (363.70 M)
  

Teen Books

• Braiding Sweetgrass for Young Adults: A Guide to the Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants by Robin Wall Kimmerer (YA 305.8 K)*
• Eyes Wide Open: Going Behind the Environmental Headlines by Paul Fleischman (YA 363.7 F)
• Gaia Warriors by Nicola Davies (YA 363.738D)
• Generation Green: The Ultimate Guide to Living an Eco-friendly Life by Linda Siversten (YA 333.72 S)
• Green Careers: You Can Make Money and Save the Planet by Jennifer Power Scott (YA 363.70023 P)
• Moonbird: A Year on the Wind With the Great Survivor B95 by Phillip Hoose (YA 598.072 H)
• Space Junk: The Dangers of Polluting Earth’s Orbit by Karen Romano Young (YA 629.4 Y)
• A Weird and Wild Beauty: The Story of Yellowstone, the World’s First National Park by Erin Peabody (YA 978.7 P)
• Whale Quest: Working Together to Save Endangered Species by Karen Romano Young (YA 599.52 Y)
• Where Have All the Bees Gone? by Rebecca Hirsch (YA 595.79 H)

Kids’ Books

• Am I Even a Bee? by Felicity Muth (JP MUT)*
• B is for Bee, P is for Pollen by Flora C. Caputo (JP CAP)*
• Back from the Brink by Nancy F. Castaldo (J 333.95 C)
• Blueberries for Sal by Robert McCloskey (Q JP MCC)
• The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind by William Kamkwamba (J B KAM)
• The Bug Girl: A True Story by Sophia Spencer (J BIO SPE)
• Buzzing with Questions: The Inquisitive Mind of Charles Henry Turner by Janice N. Harrington (J BIO TUR)*
• Caring for the Environment by Kirsten Chang (J 333.72 C)
• Climate Change by Amanda Bishop (J 551.6 B)
• Earth Day by Erika S. Manley (JE 394.26 M)
• The First Book of Gardening by Virginia Kirkus (J 635)
• Fly Guy Presents: Garbage and Recycling by Tedd Arnold (JE 628.4A)
• Garden to Table: A Kid’s Guide to Planting, Growing, and Preparing Food by Katherine Hengel (J 635 H)
• Greta Thunberg by Maria Isabel Sanchez Vegara (J BIO THU)
• Humongous Fungus by Lynne Boddy (J 597.5 B)*
• It’s Earth Day, Tiny! By Cari Meister (JP MEI)
• Kids’ Container Gardening: Year-Round Projects for Inside and Out by Cindy Krezel (J 635.9 K)
• Let’s Eat: Sustainable Food for a Hungry Planet by Kimberley Veness (J 621.3V)
• Let’s Garden: A Step By Step Introduction by Clara Lidstrom (J 635 L)
• Life in the Ocean: The Story of Sylvia Earle by Claire A. Nivola (J B EAR)
• The Lost Words: A Spell Book by Robert Macfarlane (J 821.92 M)*
• The Magic School Bus and the Climate Challenge by Joanna Cole (J 363.738 C)
• Nature’s Best Hope: How You Can Save the World in Your Own Yard by Douglas Tallamy (Young Reader’s Edition) (J 635.95 T)*
• Old Enough to Save the Planet by Loll Kirby (J 363.7 K)*
• Out of School and into Nature: The Anna Comstock Story by Suzanne Slade (JP SLA)
• Over and Under the Snow by Kate Messner (JP MES)*
• Parker Grows a Garden by Parker Curry (JE CUR)
• Peppa Pig and the Earth Day Adventure (JP PEP)
• Rachel Carson: Pioneering Environmental Activist by Kristina Lyn Heitkamp (J BIO CAR)
• Rachel Carson and Her Book That Changed the World by Laurie Lawlor (J BIO CAR)*
• The Reason for a Flower by Ruth Heller (J 582 H)*
• The Secret Life of Butterflies by Roger Vila (J 595.789 V)*
• Señorita Mariposa by Ben Gundersheimer (JP GUN)
• The Snail and the Whale by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler (JP DON)
• The Story of Climate Change: A First Book About How We Can Help Save Our Planet by Catherine Barr (J 363 B)
• Tell Me, Tree: All About Trees for Kids by Gail Gibson (J 582.16 G)
• Thank You, Earth: A Love Letter to Our Planet by April Pulley Sayre (JP SAY)
• Tiny Bird: A Hummingbird’s Amazing Journey by Robert Burleigh (JP BUR)*
• The Tree Lady by Joseph H. Hopkins (Q JP HOP)
• Up in the Garden and Down in the Dirt by Kate Messner (JP MES)*
• Wake Up, Woods by Gillian Harris (J 580 H)* 
• Wangari Maathai by Eucabeth Odhiambo (J BIO MAA)
• The Watcher: Jane Goodall’s Life with Chimps by Jeanette Winter (J B GOO)
• Welcome to the Neighborwood by Shawn Sheehy (JP SHE)*
• What’s Inside a Flower?: And Other Questions About Science & Nature by Rachel Ignotofsky (J 582.1 I)*
• When the Shadbush Blooms by Carla Messinger (JP MES)*
• Where Does the Recycling Go? By Jerry Shea (J 628.4S)*