50 Under $10 Books for Nature Kids

December 5th, 2009 | Category: Books & Reviews | 3 comments |

reading is fun by John-Morgan

A list of under $10 nature books for kids. As well as seeing nature while playing outdoors kids need to learn about nature from books.

Books prompt the kind of questions which start great nature conversations and help kids learn and place their knowledge in context. Every one of these under $10 books is fun, colorful, educational, and of high quality.

Nature Books for Under 3’s

Early nature books teach infants and toddlers the vocabulary of the outdoors, bugs, birds, animals, and plants.

Creepy Crawlies and Under the Sea chunky board books are easy for little ones to handle.
Backyard Look and Say has tabs which make the board pages easy to turn. Other titles in the Look and Say series include Weather, Beach and Farm.
Very First Animals has colors which catch the attention of infants and hold their interest early in visual development.
Sun is a nature board book with delightful illustrations. When morning comes each animal is shown waking up from its home – seal pup, bird, bee, calf, mouse and child – then venturing out to start the day.
Like it or not, poop is part of nature and toddlers want to learn about it. Everyone Poops, with it’s basic illustrations and explanations of animals from fish to elephants, doesn’t delight every adult but kids love it!
The Zoo is one of the series of Talkabout Board Books produced by Usborne. They are colorful, very visual, early search books with easy to turn tabbed board book pages. Other titles are The Farm and The Seaside. They won’t do much to familiarize kids with local nature, but they encourage reading and questions about animals and their needs.
Touchy-feely Flashcards picture textured animals including dog, elephant and panda. And Animals Flashcards are bright and bold for babies and toddlers.

Nature Books for 3 to 6 years

Three to six year olds have some attention span for stories. Once they know what a butterfly is, for instance, they can learn about how butterflies develop. Questions like what do bees eat and where does rain come from can be answered using books. They are ready for a wider vocabulary of nature, and understanding of seasons and weather. Books build the skills for reading, writing and attention.

1001 Bugs to Spot teaches not only bug vocabulary, but also habitats, counting and visual discrimination. These I-Spy type books keeps kids busy for ages and are great for any time kids need to be still and quiet. Other books in the series include 1001 Animals to Spot and 1001 Things to Spot in the Sea.
Kids get down in the dirt and find creepy crawlies. I’m a Pill Bug explains stuff about these fascinating critters that kids love.
Honey, A Gift from Nature is beautifully illustrated. It teaches kids about bees, flowers and how we are connected to nature. What more could you want?
Picture books from Usborne are great for outdoor kids. They include: The Snowy Day, Sunny Day, Windy Day, Rainy Day, books about animals and nature such as The Butterfly and In the Pond, and books about habitats such as On the Seashore and Under the Sea.
Animal Homes, Nighttime and On the Beach are inexpensive, educational, and fun flap books which help kids learn about and understand what animals are doing when we don’t see them and how some of nature’s critters live.
Dot to Dot Nature is a great way to fit in some pencil work and counting while a kid has fun. Best for 5 and 6 year olds or kids who can already count above 20, they reinforce number sequences. Other books in the series include Dot to Dot on the Seashore and Dot to Dot on the Farm.

Nature Books for 6 to 9 years

Six to nine year olds are gaining independence and they know what they like. They are early readers and they want to know how the world works. They also enjoy collecting – book series are great for them, they’ll want a shelf for their collection and they’ll read their favorites many times. Continue reading to kids in this group because their curiosity about nature goes beyond information they can read and process independently.

Usborne Pocket Nature is an amazing, compact little 170 page hardback book which contains thousands of facts about nature. It’s like a miniature encyclopedia. Kids learn stuff like how animals escape from enemies, how invertebrates move and how wind helps flowers. Pocket Nature even includes internet links.
First Reading Bugs and Frogs are for very early readers to manage independently. They include internet links – kids can visit safe websites with related material.
Nature-themed books one reading level up from the Usborne Bugs and Frogs books include: Owls, Elephants, Polar Bears, Butterflies and Penguins. They’re great for a child just learning early reading vocabulary to read for a younger sibling.
The Great Animal Search and other books in the Usborne Great Searches series are ideal for reluctant readers and active, curious kids. They help kids learn about wildlife and habitats and develop focus and visual skills. Other books in the series include Great Undersea Search and Great Planet Earth Search. These are award winning books.
Books in the Beginners Nature series cover a wide range of topics, from bears to bugs and dangerous animals to sharks and volcanoes. They contain a wealth of nature and science information to help kids figure out how things work. They are chapter-book sized, hard-backed, colorful and leveled for a typical first to second grade reader.
Discovery Nature books are the next step up from Beginners Nature, with more in-depth information. Titles include Birds, Bugs, and Sharks. Discovery Nature books also come with pre-selected internet links.
For some interactive fun the Usborne Animals Sticker Book has over 100 stickers. The Animal Sticker Atlas and the Seas and Oceans Sticker Atlas, both with over 200 stickers, allow kids to see where in the world the animals and ocean creatures and plants they love live. They include lots of facts too.

You may want to bookmark this page. I will be adding more Under $10 books on outdoor and nature topics for kids of all ages. Next I will add more books for 6-9 year olds, followed by books for age 9-12 years, then adults. Meantime, you can find more books and gift recommendations at the Loving Nature’s Garden Amazon.com A-store.

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