Inspiring Kids Books About People Who Love Nature

The wonders of nature are abundant and inspiring! Whether you are an artist capturing its beauty, a naturalist seeking to observe or someone who loves to spend time outdoors, nature has something to offer everyone.

We’ve put together a list of read-aloud biographies about some incredible artists, scientists, naturalists and environmentalists. Their efforts have helped countless others to enjoy, and work to protect, the splendid world we share. Some are familiar names and some are lesser known. Most of them found their passion in childhood.

Perhaps you have a young nature lover at home like we do! If so, our list of Inspiring Kids Books About People Who Love Nature is sure to help get your family outdoors, to explore and learn together.

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Don’t forget to check out our lists of Over 30 Incredible Ocean Themed Books, Games and Resources and Over 35 Earth Day Books for Kids of All Ages!

Nature Artists

Beatrix Potter and Her Paint Box by David McPhail. Beatrix Potter was an English author/illustrator who is best known for her children’s book The Tale of Peter Rabbit.

Antsy Ansel: Ansel Adams, a Life in Nature by Cindy Jenson-Elliott. Ansell Adams was an American photographer who is most famous for his black and white landscape images.

Picturing America: Thomas Cole and the Birth of American Art by Hudson Talbott. Thomas Cole immigrated to the United States in 1818 and soon fell in love with the American landscape. As he travelled the Hudson River he developed a new style of painting which became the first art movement born in America.

The Iridescence of Birds: A Book About Henri Matisse by Patricia MacLachlan. French artist, Henri Matisse, helped develop Fauvism in the early 1900s. Fauvism was a new style of painting that used bold bright colors and shapes to depict subjects.

For the Birds: The Life of Roger Tory Peterson by Peggy Thomas. Roger Tory Peterson loved wildlife and art and used his passion to create pocket-sized books to encourage birdwatching. Peterson is most famous for his field guides which contain beautiful illustrations and snippets of information about each species.

Nature’s Friend: The Gwen Frostic Story by Lindsey McDivitt. Gwen Frostic had a debilitating illness as a child and spent much of her time enjoying the peace and calm of the outdoors. She became a talented artist who wanted to inspire others to appreciate the beauty of nature.

A Green Place to Be: The Creation of Central Park by Ashley Benham Yazdani. After winning New York City’s contest for a design for what is now Central Park, Calvert Vaux and Frederick Law Olmstead worked with dozens of other artists to bring the idea to life. Olmstead created 34 unique bridges throughout the park and Vaux’s work with plants and trees made him the very first landscape artist.

John James Audubon

John James Audubon painted a collection of 435 life-size, very detailed watercolor paintings of North American birds, titled Birds of America. Audubon was very good at taxidermy which he utilized to in order to create realistic paintings.

The Boy Who Drew Birds: A Story of John James Audubon by Jacqueline Davies.

Into the Woods: John James Audubon Lives His Dream by Robert Burleigh.

Maria Merian

Born in Germany in 1647, Maria Merian lived during at time when people thought insects were evil because many of them could shape-shift. Maria, however, was fascinated by them and secretly began catching insects to observe and study metamorphosis. She was a talented painter and created detailed paintings of the creatures she admired and studied.

The Girl Who Drew Butterflies: How Maria Merian’s Art Changed Science by Joyce Sidman

Summer Birds: The Butterflies of Maria Merian by Margarita Engle

Maria Sibylla Merian: Artist, Scientist, Adventurer by Sarah B. Pomeroy

Friends to Animals

Joan Procter, Dragon Doctor: The Woman Who Loved Reptiles by Patricia Valdez. Joan Procter interacted with and observed reptiles all her life. She was one of the first people to study Komodo Dragons from the Indonesian Islands. Joan had chronic illness all her life and eventually had to use a wheelchair. She was often seen with Sumbawa, a male Komodo Dragon, walking beside her wheelchair. She passed away at the age of 34.

Who was Steve Irwin? by Dina Anastasio. Steve Irwin, the beloved Crocodile Hunter, was an Australian zookeeper, educator and conservationist who had a contagious passion for wildlife since childhood. Sadly, Steve Irwin passed away in 2006 while filming footage of a stingray in Australia’s Batt Reef. His family is continuing is legacy and have a wildlife television series called Crikey! It’s the Irwins.

Jane Goodall

A stuffed toy chimpanzee, named Jubliee, helped spark young Jane Goodall’s interest in primates. She is considered the world’s foremost expert on chimpanzees and is well known for her long term study of them in the wilds of Tanzania.

Me… Jane by Patrick McDonnell.

The Watcher: Jane Goodall’s Life with the Chimps by Jeanette Winter.

Jane Goodall (Little People Big Dreams series) by Isabel Sanchez Vegara.

The Ocean Deep

Manfish: A Story of Jacques Cousteau by Jennifer Berne. A self-taught oceanographer, Cousteau helped develop the Aqua-Lung (scuba gear) which allowed divers to be able to breathe underwater allowing for longer exploration.

Life in the Ocean: The Story of Oceanographer Sylvia Earle by Claire A. Nivola. Sylvian Earle has spent over 6,000 hours underwater in oceans around the globe. She has set many diving records and is responsible for discovering many new species of marine life.

Solving the Puzzle Under the Sea: Marie Tharp Maps the Ocean Floor by Robert Berleigh. Born to a father who was a map-maker, Marie sought to map the ocean floor and was the first person to succeed in doing so.

The Brilliant Deep: Rebuilding the World’s Coral Reefs: The Story of Ken Nedimyer and the Coral Restoration Foundation by Kate Messner. Ken Nedimyer noticed the coral reefs were disappearing in the waters near his home. He discovered a way to regrow coral using grafts and eventually founded the Coral Restoration Foundation.

Eugenie Clark

Eugenie Clark loved sharks and was determined to educate others about them. At a time when most people were afraid of sharks, Eugenie spent hours underwater with them while scuba diving. She was among the first to scuba dive for research purposes and became a world authority on sharks. Before her death she founded the Mote Marine Laboratory in Sarasota, Florida.

Swimming with Sharks: The Daring Discoveries of Eugenie Clark by Heather Lang.

Shark Lady: The True Story of How Eugenie Clark Became the Ocean’s Most Fearless Scientist by Jess Keating.

Nature

Finding Wonders: Three Girls Who Changed Science by Jeannine Atkins.
This book shares the stories of three remarkable girls, Maria Merian who studied insects, Mary Anning who discovered fossils and Maria Mitchell who searched the heavens in search of a new comet.

Girls Who Looked Under Rocks: The Lives of Six Pioneering Naturalists by Jeannine Atkins. This book features sections on Maria Merian, Anna Comstock, Frances Hamerstrom, Rachel Carson, Miriam Rothschild, and Jane Goodall and their contributions to science, wildlife and the environment.

Small Wonders: Jean-Henri Fabre and His World of Insects by Matthew Clark Smith. Jean-Henri Fabre was a French naturalist who spent hours observing insects in the wild, instead of in jars, to study their natural behavior. His work helped people understand the complex lives of insects that hadn’t been known before.

Here Come the Girl Scouts!: The Amazing All-True Story of Juliette ‘Daisy’ Gordon Low and Her Great Adventure by Shana Corey. Juliette Gordon Low founded the Girl Scouts organization for girls like her that love exciting new adventures and challenges wherever they go.

Karl, Get Out of the Garden!: Carolus Linnaeus and the Naming of Everything by Anita Sanchez. As a child, Carolus Linnaeus, was a terrible student (although very smart) and was often distracted by the outdoors. He is responsible for the Linnaean classification system which gives scientific names to all living things.

Out of School and Into Nature: The Anna Comstock Story by Suzanne Slade. Anna Comstock was a naturalist who encouraged teachers and librarians to take their students outdoors to learn and engage with nature.

Henry David Thoreau For Kids: His Life and Ideas with 21 Activities by Corinne Hosfeld Smith. In 1845, Thoreau built a log cabin and began living alone, observing the natural world around him and recording his findings in a journal.

Charles Darwin’s Around the World Adventure by Jennifer Thermes. Charles Darwin spent five years sailing around the world aboard the Beagle and collected dozens of specimens, explored volcanoes, and studied food chains.

Plants, Trees & Flowers

Gregor Mendel: The Friar Who Grew Peas by Cheryl Bardow. Using pea plants, Gregor Mendel, made discoveries regarding heredity and is considered the world’s first geneticist.

The Tree Lady: The True Story of How One Tree-Loving Woman Changed a City Forever by H. Joseph Hopkins. Katherine Olivia Sessions was an American botanist and landscape architect who is best known for her work throughout parks in San Diego, California.

Miss Lady Bird’s Wildflowers: How a First Lady Changed America by Kathi Appelt. Lady Bird Johnson loved wildflowers her entire life. She worked as First Lady to make sure that Americans of all ages could enjoy their remarkable beauty no matter where they lived.

The Flower Hunter: William Bartram, America’s First Naturalist by Deborah Kogan Ray. William Bartram aspired to be a botanist like his father. As a child he accompanied his father on his journey to the Colonial America in search of plant specimens for the King of England. As an adult, Bartram, explored and recorded specimens in Florida and the Southeastern United States.

Wangari Maathai

Wangari Maathai lived in Kenya and worked tirelessly to lead a group of women to plant trees in an effort to reforest the land. She founded the Green Belt Movement which is responsible for planting over 30 million trees. Maathai was the first African woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize in 2004.

Seeds of Change: Wangari’s Gift to the World by Jen Cullerton Johnson

Wangari Maathai: The Woman Who Planted Millions of Trees by Franck Prevot

John Muir

John Muir was an American naturalist who explored the land that is now Yosemite National Park. Muir invited President Theodore Roosevelt on a camping trip into the remote, uncharted woods he loved so much. This trip was an important part of the founding of our nation’s National Parks.

John Muir: My Life With Nature by John Muir and Jospeh Cornell

John Muir: America’s Naturalist (Images of Conservationists) by Thomas Locker.

The Camping Trip that Changed America: Theodore Roosevelt, John Muir, and Our National Parks by Barb Rosenstock.

Scientists & Environmentalists

One Plastic Bag: Isatou Ceesay and the Recycling Women of the Gambia by Miranda Paul. Isatou Ceesay lives in a small village in Gambia that was overrun with discarded plastic bags. She was tired of the mess, smell and disease they spread and came up with an idea to upcycle the bags into sellable goods.

The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind (Picture book) by William Kamkwamba. When William Kamkwamba was 14, drought hit his village in Malawai causing crops to die. William was able to figure out how to build a working windmill out of junkyard scraps to bring electricity and relief to his suffering community. There is also a chapter book version available.

Rachel Carson

Best known for her book, Silent Spring, Rachel Carson’s observations of the affects of synthetic chemicals on wildlife helped spark the environmental movement. Her work has shed light on the impact mankind is having on the planet.

Rachel Carson and Her Book That Changed the World by Laurie Lawlor

Spring After Spring: How Rachel Carson Inspired the Environmental Movement by Stephanie Roth Sisson

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