Dry by Neal and Jarrod Shusterman (Simon & Schuster for Young Readers, 2018) is futuristic dystopian young adult novel, but it portrays what could be real life in the Western United States. Water becomes a scarce commodity in California when neighboring states turn off access to their water reserves. When the “Tap-Out” begins, the whole

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The picture book Turtle, Turtle, Watch Out! by April Pulley Sayre (illustrated by Annie Patterson; Charlesbridge, 2010) emphasizes the human and animal dangers to turtles, and the ways humans can help. The refrain “Turtle, turtle, watch out!” echoes throughout. Watercolor illustrations make this a friendly read, despite these dangers.

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With a wide variety of poems, the picture book Volcano Wakes Up! by Lisa Westberg Peters (illustrated by Steve Jenkins; Henry Holt, 2010) shows the plants, crickets, and road having a conversation as a sleepy volcano “wakes up.” Based on volcanoes on the Hawaiian Islands, this book reminds readers that the Hawaiian Islands are active

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What’s Alive? by Kathleen Weidner Zoehfeld (illustrated by Nadine Bernard Westcott; published 1995) is an easily approachable “Let’s Read and Find Out!” book that finds commonalities between a child and other living things. It is written with a conversational voice that would attract very young children and has a second-person narration that directly speaks to

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With collage illustrations, Little Turtle and the Changing Sea by Becky Davies (illustrated by Jennie Poh; Little Tiger Press, 2021) emphasizes a turtle’s life cycle, with emphasis on the dangers of human pollution when the ocean changes one day. As the title suggests, the story highlights two different oceans. The first ocean turtle encounters, beginning

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Life After Whale: The Amazing Ecosystem of a Whale Fall by Lynn Brunelle (illustrated by Jason Chin; Neal Porter Books, 2024) is a nonfiction picture book about the complete ecosystem that forms around a whale carcass on the bottom of the ocean. It begins with an elderly whale and in the first pages, the whale

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The Wild Robot Protects by Peter Brown (Little Brown Books for Young Readers, 2023) is the third volume in the story about The Wild Robot. My daughter and I listened to the others in anticipation of seeing the movie (as soon as it’s not $$$ to rent online!). I was excited when I first learned

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I was unfortunately a little disappointed with oversized nonfiction picture book I Am Wind: An Autobiography by Rachel Poliquin (illustrated by Rachel Wada; Tundra, 2024). As the title indicates, this book teaches about wind with a first-person narration. Interspersed with the narration are side paragraphs (in a different font) that identify and name specific winds

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Life in a Coral Reef by Wendy Pfeffer, illustrated by Steve Jenkins (a Let’s-Read-and-Find-Out, Stage 2, book) has colorful, textured collage illustrations that wonderfully match the child-friendly text. The text is written in present tense, which helps the reader feel present in the setting, among the tentacles of the sea anemone with the clown fish

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In The Wild Robot Escapes by Peter Brown (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, 2018), our robotic friend from the first book has been refurbished and sent to work as a “normal” robot on a farm in a futuristic world. With all of her memories and abilities from her wild years, however, Roz is only

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