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Best Gardening Books for Kids

By Danielle Steinberg for PBS.org

Inch by inch, row by row, learn to make your garden grow! Browse through these seed-filled reads and explore the outdoors through books.

From Seed to Plant
Gail Gibbons Age: 4-8

From Seed to Plant cover image

Hard to understand concepts like plant reproduction, seed dispersal, pollen transference, and seed germination are made simple with big, beautiful drawings. A great resource to introduce elementary aged children to the relationship between seeds and plants.

How a Seed Grows
Helene J. Jordan Age: 4-8

How a Seed Grows cover image

When you pick up a tiny seed, it’s hard to imagine how big the final product will be! This book helps kids understand the difference between various seeds and how they become trees, fruits and vegetables.

Oh Say Can You Seed?: All About Flowering Plants
Bonnie Worth Age: 4-8

Oh Say Can You Seed?: All About Flowering Plants cover image

The Cat in the Hat knows a lot about plants! With help from Thing 1 and Thing 2, the famous feline teaches kids about flowering plants in traditional Seussian form.

A Seed is Sleepy
Dianna Hutts Aston Age: 5-6

A Seed is Sleepy cover image

With brilliant and bright illustrations combined with fluid and poetic text, this book is an absolute favorite for both teachers and parents when introducing kids to various seed and plant facts.

Gardening Lab for Kids
Renata Fossen Brown Age: 8-12

Gardening Lab for Kids cover image

An activity per week, this book is overflowing with wonder-filled experiments and suggestions for hands-on, outdoor experiences. Take your learning to the next level by participating in these activities with your children.

Growing Vegetable Soup
Lois Ehlert Age: 1-4

Growing Vegetable Soup cover image

Simplistic language and a bold color palette makes this book perfect for the youngest gardeners-in-training. This story not only shares gardening information for beginners, but also maintains an easy story arc for children.

The Vegetables We Eat
Gail Gibons Age: 4-8

The Vegetables We Eat cover image

Making her second appearance on this list, Gail Gibbons has found a way to make vegetables interesting, beautiful and accessible in her book ‘The Vegetables We Eat.’ Get your kids excited about eating healthy by talking about these different types of vegetables and how they get from the ground to our plates.

Flip, Float, Fly: Seeds on the Move
JoAnn Early Macken Age: 6-9

Flip, Float, Fly: Seeds on the Move cover image

Seed distribution has never looked so peaceful! The delicate and sweet illustrations are paired with language that is fun for kids to read along. Often used in the classroom, this book belongs on your shelves at home, too.

The Flower Alphabet Book
Jerry Pallotta Age: 4-8

The Flower Alphabet Book cover image

From amaryllis to zinnia, this book introduces all sorts of flowers to readers, and their parents! Use this book for a nature hike, scavenger hunt, or even to work on letter sounds and pronunciation, as many children will not be familiar with the flower names beforehand.

Berries, Nuts, And Seeds
Diane Burns Age: 7-10

Berries, Nuts, And Seeds cover image

This book is perfect for the nature-loving family. Not only does it introduce you to the various berries, nuts and seeds in your neighborhood, but the author also provides safety tips, activities and ideas to get the whole family involved in learning.

The Carrot Seed
Ruth Krauss Age: 4-8

The Carrot Seed cover image

A timeless book that teaches children about nature, patience, and believing in yourself. One noticeable addition: the illustrator, Crockett Johnson, presents a young boy who captures your heart, just as he did in ‘Harold and the Purple Crayon.’

Muncha! Muncha! Muncha!
Candace Fleming Age: 3-8

Muncha! Muncha! Muncha! cover image

Fleming presents this story of gardening via repetitive sound effects, making it simple for children follow along — both in reading aloud and comprehending the storyline. The pictures are cute, although children may want to imagine their own illustrations based on the sounds they hear.

If You Hold a Seed
Elly MacKay Age: 5-8

 If You Hold a Seed cover image

A book reminiscent of The Giving Tree, If You Hold a Seed encourages us to imagine a place where nature and imagination collide. Follow your heart and root for the little protagonist — in the end, you’ll be glad you did.

Jack’s Garden
Henry Cole Age: 4-8

Jack’s Garden cover image

‘This is the garden that Jack planted…’ is a verse that will become ingrained in your little one’s memory. With perhaps the best illustrations of the gardening process, this book will inspire even the littlest nature-lovers to build their own garden.