20 Must-Read Children's Books About Spring
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- Busy Spring: Nature Wakes Up (Seasons in the wild)
- Spencer Knows Spring
- The Girl Who LOVES Bugs
- Tilly Plants a Tree
- Sam Plants a Sunflower
- Insect Detective
- Caterpillar Butterfly
- Yucky Worms
- Peter Rabbit Tales – A Spring Surprise
- Bird House
- Christopher’s Caterpillars
- Sonya’s Chickens
- The Gerda Muller Seasons Gift Collection: Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter
- Through the Fairy Door: No One Is Too Small to Make a Difference
- Listen to the Birds
- The Very Hungry Caterpillar
- The Prickletrims Go Wild
- A Good Place
- Spring Story
- The Extraordinary Gardener
As a mum, there is no question about it: Every year I eagerly anticipate nature’s alarm clock to ring, in promise of warmer days, blossoming flowers and return of sunny outdoor adventures. Spring is my favourite season and what better way to celebrate it by sharing with you our favourite seasonal reads?
From stories about animals awaking from hibernation to tales of bugs celebrations, these children’s spring books capture the whimsical spirit of spring with enchanting illustrations.
So grab your picnic blanket and cosy up together under the shade of your favourite tree, and let the pages of these 20 children’s books about spring immerse you in the magic of the season.
1. Busy Spring: Nature Wakes Up (Seasons in the wild)
Authors: Alex Morss and Sean Taylor
Illustrator: Cinyee Chiu
In this uplifting picture book about spring, follow two children and their father through their backyard as they discover all the different ways nature wakes up from its long winter sleep.
Spot the busy creatures and plants as the tale unfolds, then learn about how each responds to the increasing daylight and warmth that usher in the season.
Co-authors Sean Taylor (picture book author) and Alex Morss (ecologist, journalist, and educator) offer an inviting introduction to the science behind spring. The yard is bright, birds are singing, the bees are buzzing and there are tadpoles in the pond! What is all the commotion about?
In each colourful scene, the family discovers a different sign of spring – a bird collecting twigs for its nest, a fox snuggling her cubs, a caterpillar feasting on leaves… After the story, annotated illustrations explain the spring behaviours of various plants and animals.
Inspire an appreciation for the natural world in this joyous exploration of spring.
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2. Spencer Knows Spring
Author: Tiffany Obeng
Illustrator: Tharushi Fernando
Looking for a colourful picture book about spring that perfectly captures the season? Spencer Knows Spring is it!
Spencer Knows Spring is a celebration of spring’s arrival! Written in simple, engaging text, Spencer cheerfully observes the signs of spring. The beautiful, friendly and charming illustrations make this the perfect book to introduce spring to preschool and early elementary aged children.
A good spring picture book featuring a young inviting main character and no specific holidays. After reading, your little one may be a spring expert just like Spencer!
Fallon Favors Fall, Winnie Loves Winter, Spencer Knows Spring and Sonny Vibes Summer are beautiful seasonal-themed picture books for the home and the classroom. Best picture books to introduce the winter, spring. fall and summer seasons. Get all four for your season book collection!
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3. The Girl Who LOVES Bugs
Author: Lily Murray
Illustrator: Jenny Løvlie
The Girl Who Loves Bugs is a hilarious and heart-warming story empowering young girls to always be curious, from superstar writer Lily Murray and Waterstones Prize-winning illustrator, Jenny Løvlie.
Evie loves bugs. And she’s fed up of having to keep up with her mums and brother on walks when she’d rather be peering under logs and examining snails. So, one day, she decides to bring the bugs inside, so she can be with them all the time. The problem is, the family is coming to stay, even fearsome Great Gran, who doesn’t stand for any nonsense. And on the day of their arrival, Evie wakes up to find her bugs have escaped . . . all over the house! What is Great Gran going to say?
A beautiful, bug-filled story about following your dreams, and the unconditional love of family. With ideas and tips at the back for looking after some of your own bugs (outside!).
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4.Tilly Plants a Tree
Author: William Petty
Illustrator: Axel Scheffler
Discover the joy of growing things in this non-fiction nature picture book series from Axel Scheffler and the National Trust
Tilly has been learning all about trees and she would love to grow one. So when Grandma shows Tilly her special oak tree and they collect an acorn from the ground, they know just what to do. With help from their friends Worm and Ladybird, Tilly starts to grow her very own oak tree. Join in as she watches it grow, with fun flaps to lift to see what’s happening underground and a big pop-up surprise at the end.
With a gentle story and simple facts to explain how plants grow, children will be inspired to get outside and follow the helpful tips to plant their very own trees.
Featuring artwork from bestselling The Gruffalo illustrator Axel Scheffler, this new nature series from the National Trust is one for all the family to treasure!
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5. Sam Plants a Sunflower
Author: Kate Petty
Illustrator: Axel Scheffler
Another non-fiction nature book from the National Trust featuring the artwork of The Gruffalo illustrator Axel Scheffler.
Sam loves big, yellow sunflowers, so when his friends Worm and Ladybird suggest he grows his own, he soon plants some seeds in his garden. Join Sam as he watches them grow, with fun flaps to lift to see what’s happening underground and a big sunflower pop-up surprise.
With a gentle story and simple facts to explain how plants grow, children will be inspired to get outside and follow the helpful tips to plant their very own sunflowers.
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6. Insect Detective
Author: Steve Voake
Illustrator: Charlotte Voake
Right now, all around you, thousands of insects are doing strange and wonderful things. But you can’t always see them straight away. Sometimes you have to know where to look…This wonderful book, illustrated by Charlotte Voake and written by Steve Voake, tells us all about the different kinds of insects hiding away in your garden and how to recognize them. It’s full of glorious detail, but remember if it doesn’t have six legs, it’s not an insect!
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7. Caterpillar Butterfly
Author: Vivian French
Illustrator: Charlotte Voake
Watch a caterpillar metamorphose into a butterfly in this fun, informative, award-winning picture book, part of the Nature Storybooks series. Curious young minds will love discovering each stage in the journey, from wriggly green caterpillar to the beautiful butterfly, in this picture book which combines story with information.
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8. Yucky Worms
Author: Vivian French
Illustrator: Jessica Ahlberg
Worms … they’re yucky, aren’t they? Not according to this enjoyable new book which reveals just how amazing the wriggly creatures really are!
Worms – fun, fascinating and wriggly worms! The humble earthworm plays a significant role in the environment, as all farmers and gardeners know: it aerates the soil, composts dead matter into rich humus in which seeds can germinate and plants can grow. Children love them too – especially for their wriggliness!
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9. Peter Rabbit Tales - A Spring Surprise
Author: Beatrix Potter
It’s springtime and all the animals are preparing to celebrate with an Easter picnic!
Everyone has to bring something to share with their friends, but there’s just one small problem… Peter Rabbit can’t think of ANYTHING to bring.
Will Peter manage to find something in time?
Will he stumble upon the best springtime surprise?
With new, adorable illustrations of Beatrix Potter’s classic characters, this picture board book is the perfect gift for children to celebrate Easter, friendship, and sharing.
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10. Bird House
Author: Libby Walden
Illustrator: Clover Robin
Welcome to The Bird House, a homemade habitat where birds can safely rest and nest! Bird houses come in all shapes and sizes, designed to suit all different types of birds. Discover how bird houses can provide much-needed shelter, explore how we can help our gardens to become more bird-friendly and lift the flaps to find out more about your favourite feathered friends…
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11. Christopher's Caterpillars
Author: Charlotte Middleton
Christopher Nibble is so busy tending his dandelion patch that it’s starting to take over his life and he doesn’t even have time for football any more. Then he meets his new neighbour, Posie. She offers to help him out in the garden. When the dandelion seedlings start being nibbled by caterpillars, it’s Posie’s idea to keep them as pets. Mr Rosetti from the café gives them some empty sweet jars and Christopher and Posie feed their furry caterpillars and watch them grow. But one morning Christopher and Posie can’t see any caterpillars in their jars. They have disappeared! Quite desperate, they make ‘missing’ posters and put them up all over Dandeville. It takes Mr Rosetti to reveal the miracle of metamorphosis to the two bereft guinea pigs. After the mystery is solved, Christopher and Posie’s lost-and-found posters showing brightly coloured caterpillars and butterflies delight all the guinea pigs of Dandeville when they are displayed in a special exhibition at the art gallery. A contemporary environmental tale set in a wonderfully surreal world where guinea pigs drink cappuccino, play football, and visit art galleries!
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12. Sonya's Chickens
Author: Phoebe Wahl
Sonya raises her three chickens from the time they are tiny chicks. She feeds them, shelters them and loves them. Everywhere Sonya goes, her chicks are peeping at her heels. Under her care, the chicks grow into hens and even give Sonya a wonderful gift: an egg! One night, Sonya hears noises coming from the chicken coop and discovers that one of her hens has disappeared. Where did the hen go? What happened to her? When Sonya discovers the answers, she learns some important truths about the interconnectedness of nature and the true joys and sorrows of caring for another creature.
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13. The Gerda Muller Seasons Gift Collection: Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter
Author: Gerda Muller
Celebrate the seasons together!
Gerda Muller’s beautiful ‘seasons’ board books are loved the world over. Beautifully illustrated, and with no words, children and parents can imagine their own story or simply spend time spotting characters and details in the lively seasonal scenes.
This charming gift box includes four mini board books, one for each season.
As spring arrives children play with lambs, sow seeds and paint Easter eggs. In summer they fish for tadpoles, play at the beach and eat ice-cream. By autumn the leaves have fallen and it’s time to collect horse chestnuts, fly kites and make jam. In winter the snow has come and they have fun ice-skating, feeding the birds, and being cosy inside with the Christmas tree.
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14. Through the Fairy Door: No One Is Too Small to Make a Difference
Author: Gabby Dawnay
Illustrator: Lars van de Goor and Giulia Tomai
In a busy, noisy town, there is a girl called Willow. She sees the things that everyone is too distracted to notice… including a little bird, who leads her to a tiny door in an old tree. When she steps through the fairy door, she enters a magical Wild Wood, meeting tiny fairies who nourish the earth and turn the seasons.
With vibrant, luminous photographs, artist Lars van de Goor launches an ordinary child on an extraordinary journey to discover the joy of living in harmony with nature and rewild her own home.
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15. Listen to the Birds
Author: Marion Billet
An internationally bestselling series of board books with amazing real-life sounds!
This brand new edition includes replaceable AAA batteries and an exciting ‘Look and Find’ game on the final page. Press the button, recognise the sound, then point at the right picture!
What sounds do a nightingale, cuckoo, great tit, magpie, pigeon and blackbird make? Push the buttons to find out!
Aimed at babies and toddlers, this ground-breaking series of interactive board books has a button on every spread, which plays one of six different exceptional quality sound effects. Children of every age will be captivated as they bring the artwork to life with six amazing real-life sounds.
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16. The Very Hungry Caterpillar
Author: Eric Carle
Eric Carle’s The Very Hungry Caterpillar is a perennial favourite with children and adults alike. Its imaginative illustration and clever cut-out detail charts the progress of a very hungry caterpillar as he eats his way through the week.
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17. The Prickletrims Go Wild
Author: Marie Dorléans
The Prickletrim family are very proud of their pristine garden, with its razor-straight edges, regulation-height lawn and perfectly shaped topiary. They LOVE nature – just so long as it is well ordered and properly managed. Then one day their long-suffering gardener can’t stand their suffocating rules any longer and quits.
Free at last, the Prickletrim’s garden explodes upwards and outwards, spilling into their house and every corner of their lives. The family realise they cannot control nature. Can they learn to live in their wild garden?
Quirky imagination and gentle humour weave their way through this delightfully distinctive picture book from Marie Dorleans, award-winning creator of New York Times Best Illustrated Children’s Book The Night Walk.
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18. A Good Place
Author: Lucy Cousins
Follow four adorable insect friends on a delightful adventure that invites young readers to consider what they can do to help make our planet a good place for all living creatures.
Four insect friends are looking for a place to live – one that has flowers for Bee, leaves for Ladybird, a pond for Dragonfly and dead wood for Beetle. But – oh no! – with dangers all around, a good place is not so easy to find.
This picture book from internationally acclaimed author-illustrator Lucy Cousins sees new depth and contrast to her familiar vivid colour palette. The story has a gentle, environmentally conscious message that brings the natural world to joyful and vibrant life for young readers, inviting them to consider what they can do to help make our planet a good place for all living creatures.
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19. Spring Story
Author: Jill Barklem
Wilfred woke early. It was his birthday. He had lots of lovely presents, but the best one was a surprise… Mr Apple had organised a secret celebration picnic and all the mice of Brambly Hedge were invited.
There was so much to carry. Poor Wilfred got very tired as he lurched and bumped his way along the grassy track. What was it Mrs Apple had said was in his hamper? Knives? Sandwiches? They were certainly heavy!
When they finally arrived, Wilfred was allowed to open up the hamper and there he found the best treat of all…
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20. The Extraordinary Gardener
Author: Sam Boughton
Shortlisted for the KLAUS FLUGGE PRIZE 2019 and longlisted for The CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal 2019.
A charming story about the important of nature and community, teaching us that if we work hard enough our dreams really can come true!
Joe is a boy just like any other, but Joe loves to imagine. Joe lives in a pretty ordinary tower block, in a rather ordinary city. His world is rather grey. However, he spends his time imagining a wonderful world filled with exotic plants and unusual animals. Once day Joe decides to plant a seed on his balcony, he waits and waits but nothing happens!
Joe gives up and goes back to his daily life, but one day when he least expects it he spots that the seed has turned into the most beautiful tree. Joe begins caring for the tree and growing lots of other plants on his balcony and soon everyone in the neighbourhood is getting involved.
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