TREE Studio
Books
Children's books and a professional library, chosen and vetted by educators for inquiry, nature and the image of the capable child.
Links to Bookshop.org support independent bookstores. We may earn a small commission if you buy through them, and it never shapes what we choose. Every book also links to your local library.
How we vet books
Every book on these lists was checked with the same questions. Use them with your own shelves, as a team or on your own.
Five questions
- Why are we doing this?
- Who does it serve, and why?
- Who is not represented?
- What values are we trying to impart?
- Is it necessary?
A closer look
- The story. Who is the hero? Who solves the problem?
- The pictures. Are people drawn as individuals? Is one person standing in for a whole group?
- Stereotypes. Is any group shown in only one way?
- The single story. Is this the only book on the shelf about this group?
- The language. Are any words insulting, loaded or outdated?
- Who tells the story. Do the author and illustrator live the experience they show?
- How it might feel. How might a child from the group shown feel reading it?
- When it was written. Does it still belong on the shelf today?
Nonfiction, reference and coffee table books
- Whose land? Does the book name the Native peoples of the places it shows, including the place where you live?
- Whose knowledge? Is Indigenous and local knowledge of plants and animals shown and credited?
- Whose art? Whose art and photographs are included, and whose are missing?
- Whose animals and places? Are wild places shown as empty of people when people have lived there for a very long time?
- Is the information current? Are names, science and facts up to date?
Drawn from 10 Quick Ways to Analyze Children's Books for Racism and Sexism by the Council on Interracial Books for Children, and Guide for Selecting Anti-Bias Children's Books by Louise Derman-Sparks, Teaching for Change.
All Are Welcome
Alexandra Penfold
A day at a school where children of every family and background belong, from morning to the community celebration.
All Around Us
Xelena Gonzalez
A girl and her grandfather find circles everywhere in nature and in their family.
Alma and How She Got Her Name
Juana Martinez-Neal
Alma learns the story behind each part of her long name.
Arrorró, mi niño
Lulu Delacre
Lullabies and gentle games from Latino families, in Spanish and English, for singing and rocking together.
Atticus Caticus
Sarah Maizes
A playful rhyming day with a cat named Atticus.
A Ball for Daisy
Christopher Raschka
A dog loves her ball until it breaks, and a new friend helps. Big feelings with no words at all.
Be Kind
Pat Zietlow Miller
When a classmate spills grape juice, a child wonders what being kind means and tries small ways to show it.
Beautiful Oops!
Barney Saltzberg
Tears, smudges and spills turn into something new. It supports children who worry about mistakes in their work.
Bee-bim Bop!
Linda Sue Park
A child helps her family shop for, cook and share a Korean dish, told in a bouncing rhyme.
Berry Song
Michaela Goade
A Tlingit girl and her grandmother gather berries and give thanks to the land.
Big Red Barn
Margaret Wise Brown
The animals of a big red barn through one day, from morning to sleep, in gentle rhyme.
The Big Umbrella
Amy June Bates
A big umbrella that always has room for one more, as more and more people come in from the rain.
Birdsong
Julie Flett
A girl who moved from the city makes friends with an older neighbor across the seasons.
Book Fiesta!
Pat Mora
Children read everywhere, on a train, in a tree, in a boat, to celebrate Children's Day, Book Day, El día de los niños, El día de los libros.
The Book of Bones
Gabrielle Balkan
Record breaking animal bones, life size and close up, for children curious about skeletons.
The Busy Tree
Jennifer Ward
One tree and the many creatures that live on it, from its roots to its top, in rhyme.
A Butterfly Is Patient
Dianna Hutts Aston
Butterflies of many kinds, painted closely and named, from egg to wing. A companion to A Seed Is Sleepy and An Egg Is Quiet.
The Carrot Seed
Ruth Krauss
A child plants a carrot seed and keeps caring for it while everyone says it will not come up.
Chalk
Bill Thomson
Three children find chalk in a park, and their drawings come to life.
A Chicken Followed Me Home!
Page, Robin
Questions and answers about chickens, what they eat, how they lay eggs and how to care for them, with bold pictures.
Chickens Aren't the Only Ones
Ruth Heller
Chickens lay eggs, and so do many other animals, birds, snakes, fish, insects and even a few mammals, in rhyme and bright pictures.
Coyote
Gerald McDermott
A Southwestern trickster tale about Coyote, who wants to fly with the crows.
Daniel Finds a Poem
Micha Archer
Daniel asks the animals in the park what poetry is, and each answers from its own life.
The Day You Begin
Jacqueline Woodson
Children who feel different find the courage to share their stories and find each other.
The Desert Is My Mother
Pat Mora
A bilingual poem of the desert as the giver of food, comfort and life.
Diary of a Worm
Doreen Cronin
A young worm's diary of school, family and the world under the ground, funny and true to how worms live.
Diez deditos
José-Luis Orozco
Finger plays and action songs from Latin America, in Spanish and English, with the music and the movements.
Don't Throw That Away!
Lara Bergen
A lift the flap board book about reusing and recycling everyday things.
The Dot
Peter H. Reynolds
Vashti thinks she cannot draw, until a teacher asks her to make a mark and sign it.
Dreamers
Yuyi Morales
Yuyi Morales tells how she came to the United States with her baby son and found a home in the public library and its books. There is also a Spanish edition, Soñadores.
An Egg Is Quiet
Dianna Hutts Aston
Eggs of every size, shape and color, from birds, fish, insects and reptiles. A book to set beside eggs children find or collect.
Eyes That Kiss in the Corners
Joanna Ho
A girl sees her own eyes in her mother's, grandmother's and sister's, and finds them beautiful.
Feathers: Not Just for Flying
Melissa Stewart
Sixteen ways birds use their feathers, each set beside an everyday object it works like.
Flotsam
David Wiesner
A boy finds an old camera on the beach, and its photographs hold a hidden world.
Fox's Garden
Princesse Camcam
A fox finds shelter on a winter night, and a child brings her kindness.
From Caterpillar to Butterfly
Deborah Heiligman
A class watches a caterpillar in a jar become a butterfly and lets it go. Part of the Let's-Read-and-Find-Out science series.
Fry Bread
Kevin Noble Maillard
A Native American family story told by a Seminole author, about fry bread as food, shape, sound, color, history and family.
Gathering the Sun
Alma Flor Ada
An alphabet of poems in Spanish and English honoring farmworkers and the harvest.
Goat's Coat
Tom Percival
Goat has a fine woolly coat and gives pieces of it away to help the animals around him, and they help him in return.
Gracias / Thanks
Pat Mora
A boy gives thanks for the everyday things in his day, in Spanish and English on each page.
Green Is a Chile Pepper
Roseanne Thong
Colors found in a child's world, with Spanish words in a rhyme.
The Grey Lady and the Strawberry Snatcher
Molly Bang
A wordless chase as a woman carries home strawberries. An educator says children in every class love it.
Harold and the Purple Crayon
Crockett Johnson
Harold draws a whole world with one crayon and one line. A classic for exploring drawing and mark making (graphic languages).
Hello, Hello
Brendan Wenzel
Animal after animal, each connected to the next by a color, a pattern or a shape. A gentle look at how every creature is linked.
The Hiking Viking
Laura Gehl
A Viking who loves hiking more than fighting. A story about being yourself.
Home for a Bunny
Margaret Wise Brown
In spring a bunny looks for a home and finds it, in a story first told in 1956.
Imagine
Juan Felipe Herrera
A former US Poet Laureate remembers his childhood outdoors and how he came to write.
In My Heart
Jo Witek
A child describes feelings as they live in the heart, happy, sad, brave, angry, hopeful, with a cut-out heart through the pages.
In the Tall, Tall Grass
Denise Fleming
A caterpillar's eye view of the creatures in the grass, in rhythm and bold color. Good for the youngest listeners.
The Invisible Boy
Trudy Ludwig
Brian feels unseen at school until a new classmate notices his drawings, and a friendship begins.
Jabari Jumps
Gaia Cornwall
Jabari wants to jump off the diving board and takes his time to feel ready, with his dad beside him.
Jabutí the Tortoise
Gerald McDermott
A trickster tale from the Amazon of how the tortoise's shell came to be cracked.
Journey
Aaron Becker
A girl draws a red door on her wall and steps into another world.
Last Stop on Market Street
Matt de la Peña
CJ rides the bus with his grandmother and learns to see beauty in his neighborhood.
Leaf Man
Lois Ehlert
Pictures made from fallen leaves that travel on the wind. Children often go straight out to collect leaves and make their own.
The Legend of the Lady Slipper
Margi Preus
An Ojibwe legend of how the lady slipper flower came to be.
The Lion & the Mouse
Jerry Pinkney
Aesop's fable told in paintings of the African Serengeti, almost without words.
Looking Closely Through the Forest
Frank Serafini
Close-up photographs ask what each one might be, then the page turns to show the whole leaf, bark or creature.
Los pollitos dicen
Ashley Wolff
The traditional Spanish nursery rhyme of the baby chicks and the hen who cares for them, in Spanish and English.
Mango, Abuela, and Me
Meg Medina
Mia and her grandmother each teach the other their language, with help from a parrot named Mango. A story about family, two languages and learning together.
Mary Wears What She Wants
Keith Negley
Based on Mary Edwards Walker, who wore pants when girls were expected to wear dresses.
Maybe Something Beautiful
F. Isabel Campoy
Mira and her neighbors paint their gray neighborhood with color, from a true story of a mural project. There is also a Spanish edition, Quizás algo hermoso.
Miss Tizzy
Libba Moore Gray
Mix It Up!
Hervé Tullet
Children mix colors by touching and tilting the pages. A companion to color mixing with a limited palette.
My First Book of Patterns
Bobby George
A board book of patterns from cultures and art around the world.
Napí
Antonio Ramirez
A Mazateca girl tells the colors and stories of the land around her village.
A Nest Is Noisy
Dianna Hutts Aston
Nests of many kinds, from birds to insects to fish, painted closely and named.
Not a Box
Antoinette Portis
Not a Stick
Antoinette Portis
A stick becomes a sword, a brush, a fishing pole and more.
On the Farm
David Elliott
Short poems about farm animals, the rooster, the cow, the sheep, the bees, with woodcut pictures by Holly Meade.
Our Little Kitchen
Jillian Tamaki
Neighbors cook a community meal together from a garden and a pantry. Busy, joyful and full of food.
Over and Under the Pond
Kate Messner
A walk in a canoe that shows life both above the water and below it. It invites slow looking at creeks and puddles.
Over and Under the Snow
Kate Messner
A child skis over the snow while animals live and sleep in the hidden world under it. A companion to Over and Under the Pond and Up in the Garden and Down in the Dirt.
Owl Moon
Jane Yolen
A child and a parent walk quietly into the winter woods to look for an owl. It honors patience, hope and the quiet of watching wildlife.
Papagayo
Gerald McDermott
A noisy parrot helps the night animals save the moon.
Plant the Tiny Seed
Christie Matheson
An interactive book where children press, wiggle and clap to help a seed grow.
Planting a Rainbow
Lois Ehlert
A child and a parent plant bulbs and seeds and grow a garden in every color.
Press Here
Hervé Tullet
Children press, shake and tilt the book, and the dots respond on the next page.
Quest
Aaron Becker
The second wordless book after Journey, an adventure with red and purple crayons.
The Rabbit Listened
Cori Doerrfeld
When Taylor's blocks fall, the animals each tell Taylor what to do, and the rabbit simply stays close and listens. A gentle picture of a calm adult or friend to borrow from (co-regulation).
Rain!
Linda Ashman
One rainy day seen by a grumpy man and a delighted child, until a small kindness changes his mood.
The Rainbow Goblins
Ul De Rico
Seven goblins try to steal a rainbow's colors in a richly painted valley.
Raven
Gerald McDermott
A Pacific Northwest trickster tale of how Raven brings light to the world.
Return
Aaron Becker
The third wordless book after Journey and Quest, with the girl and her father.
A Rock Is Lively
Dianna Hutts Aston
Rocks and minerals of many kinds, painted closely and named, with how they form and change.
Rosie's Walk
Pat Hutchins
Rosie the hen walks across the farmyard and home again, without noticing the fox behind her. The pictures tell more than the words.
Round Is a Tortilla
Roseanne Thong
Shapes found in a child's world, with Spanish words in a rhyme.
Roxaboxen
Alice McLerran
Ruby Finds a Worry
Tom Percival
Ruby's worry grows bigger the more she keeps it to herself, until she talks about it with a friend.
A Seed Is Sleepy
Dianna Hutts Aston
Seeds of many kinds, painted closely and named, beside the slow work of growing. Children can set seeds they have gathered beside the pages.
The Seven Chinese Sisters
Kathy Tucker
Seven sisters, each with a special skill, rescue the youngest from a dragon.
A Sick Day for Amos McGee
Philip C. Stead
Amos the zookeeper visits his animal friends every day, and when he is sick, they come to visit him.
The Snowy Day
Ezra Jack Keats
Peter explores a snowy city morning on his own. A classic that shows a child's wonder at weather.
Stir Crack Whisk Bake
America's Test Kitchen Kids Staff
A board book that invites children to stir, crack, whisk and bake along.
Strictly No Elephants
Lisa Mantchev
A boy and his small elephant are turned away from the pet club, so they start a club where everyone is welcome.
Sylvia's Spinach
Katherine Pryor
Sylvia does not like spinach until she grows it herself in the school garden.
Tasty Baby Belly Buttons
Judy Sierra
A Japanese folktale in which Uriko, a girl born from a melon, sets out to rescue the babies.
Thank You, Omu!
Oge Mora
Omu shares her stew with her whole neighborhood, and they return the kindness. A story of food, sharing and community.
They All Saw a Cat
Brendan Wenzel
One cat seen by a child, a fish, a bee and a bird, each in its own way. It opens talk about how each of us sees differently.
A Thousand White Butterflies
Jessica Betancourt-Perez
Isabella moves from Colombia, and snow cancels her first day of school, where she finds a friend.
Tomatoes for Neela
Padma Lakshmi
Neela and her mother cook a family recipe with summer tomatoes, and remember her grandmother in India.
The Tortoise & the Hare
Jerry Pinkney
The fable of the tortoise and the hare, told almost without words in Jerry Pinkney's paintings of the desert.
Tree
Britta Teckentrup
One tree and an owl through the four seasons, with peek-through pages that show what changes and what stays.
Uno, dos, tres
Pat Mora
Two sisters count their way through a Mexican market, choosing birthday gifts for their mother, in Spanish and English.
Up in the Garden and Down in the Dirt
Kate Messner
A year in a family garden, with the worms, roots and creatures working under the soil. It follows the garden cycle, seed to seed.
Waiting for Iced Tea
Karen M. Gebbia
A new picture book from a local author.
Water Is Water
Miranda Paul
Children follow water through the seasons as rain, fog, ice and snow, the water cycle in a few words a page.
Wave
Suzy Lee
A child at the beach plays with the waves, told only in pictures.
We Are Water Protectors
Carole Lindstrom
An Ojibwe author and a Tlingit illustrator tell of protecting water as a relative. Strong for walks by water and land stewardship.
Where Are You From?
Yamile Saied Méndez
A girl is asked where she is from, and her abuelo answers with the land, the people and the love she comes from. There is also a Spanish edition, ¿De dónde eres?
Where the Wild Things Are
Wild Berries
Julie Flett
A Cree child and his grandmother pick blueberries, with Cree words woven in.
Wonder Walkers
Micha Archer
Two children walk outdoors and ask big questions about the world around them. It mirrors wondering alongside children.
Wonderful Worms
Linda Glaser
What earthworms do underground, how they move, eat and help the soil, with cutaway pictures of the world below.
Zomo the Rabbit
Gerald McDermott
A West African trickster tale about a rabbit who wants wisdom.
¡Pío Peep!
Alma Flor Ada
Traditional Spanish nursery rhymes with English versions beside them, for singing and clapping.
"The Having of Wonderful Ideas" and Other Essays on Teaching and Learning (3rd ed.)
Eleanor Duckworth
Essays drawing on Piaget about the having of wonderful ideas as the heart of intellectual development.
1-2-3 Magic: Effective Discipline for Children 2-12
Thomas W. Phelan
A counting method for managing behavior, for parents and caregivers.
25 Just-Right Plays for Emergent Readers
Carol Pugliano-Martin
Short plays with rhyme and repetition.
365 Art & Craft Activities
The 50 Mile Bouquet: Seasonal, Local and Sustainable Flowers
Debra Prinzing, photographs by David E. Perry
Locally grown flowers from field to vase.
All Children Flourishing: Igniting the Greatness of Our Children
Howard Glasser and Melissa Lynn Block
The Nurtured Heart Approach written for parents.
Analyzing Children's Art
Rhoda Kellogg
Draws on Kellogg's collection of children's drawings to classify the forms common to children's art from infancy to age eight, with many visual examples.
Approaches to Early Childhood Education
Jaipaul L. Roopnarine and James E. Johnson
A survey of program models, for comparing approaches.
Links to the 6th edition (2012).
The Art of Awareness: How Observation Can Transform Your Teaching
Deb Curtis, Margie Carter
Nine study sessions of experiences and stories that build habits of close observation.
Links to the 3rd edition (2022).
The Art of Math and Science
Jayanti Tambe
Nineteen artists and art forms and the math and science in their work, with questions to wonder about together.
Assessing and Guiding Young Children's Development and Learning
Oralie McAfee, Deborah J. Leong and Elena Bodrova
Carrying out assessment, interpreting what we gather and using it to plan curriculum.
Links to the 6th edition (2015).
The Backyard Homestead: Produce All the Food You Need on Just a Quarter Acre!
Carleen Madigan (Ed.)
Growing food, keeping animals and bees, and drying harvests.
Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving: 400 Delicious and Creative Recipes for Today
Judi Kingry and Lauren Devine (Eds.)
Safe preserving methods with step by step guidance.
Links to the updated edition.
Basics of Assessment: A Primer for Early Childhood Professionals
Oralie McAfee, Deborah Leong, Elena Bodrova
A short primer on assessment terms, so educators share a vocabulary with specialists and families.
Becoming Brilliant: What Science Tells Us About Raising Successful Children
Roberta Michnick Golinkoff, Kathy Hirsh-Pasek
Six competencies, from collaboration to confidence, and ways adults can nurture each.
Before the Basics: Creating Conversations with Children
Bev Bos
Bev Bos on creating conversations with young children.
Beyond Remote-Controlled Childhood: Teaching Young Children in the Media Age
Diane E. Levin
How media culture shapes play, with ways to talk with families about screens.
Brain-Body Parenting: How to Stop Managing Behavior and Start Raising Joyful, Resilient Kids
Mona Delahooke
Reading behavior through the nervous system, with a calm adult to borrow from (co-regulation).
Bringing Learning to Life: The Reggio Approach to Early Childhood Education
Louise Boyd Cadwell
Cadwell describes bringing the Reggio approach into practice with young children, giving educators a close look at inquiry and documentation over time.
Building Sustaining Leading: A Guide for Developing Child Care Facilities with Affordable Housing
Lihbin Shiao, ed.
Planning, financing and designing child care facilities within affordable housing developments.
California Native Plants for the Garden
Carol Bornstein, David Fross and Bart O'Brien
Selecting and growing California natives.
California Preschool Curriculum Framework, Volume 2: Visual and Performing Arts, Physical Development, Health
California Department of Education
The state framework for arts, physical development and health.
California Preschool Learning Foundations, Volume 2
California Department of Education
Describes the knowledge and skills most preschool children reach at around 48 and 60 months in visual and performing arts, physical development and health.
The California Teaching Pyramid Framework: Promoting the Social-Emotional Competence of Young Children
California Collaborative on the Social and Emotional Foundations for Early Learning (CA CSEFEL)
California's training materials for the Teaching Pyramid, a framework for promoting children's social and emotional competence.
The Caregiver's Companion: Readings and Professional Resources
Janet Gonzalez-Mena
Readings that accompany the textbook by the same authors.
Caring Spaces, Learning Places: Children's Environments That Work!
Jim Greenman
Gathers ideas, problems, solutions, examples, photographs and poetry about designing environments for young children, written for directors, designers and classroom educators.
Child and Adolescent Development for Educators
Judith L. Meece and Denise H. Daniels
A research-based introduction organized by topic.
A Child's Garden: 60 Ideas to Make Any Garden Come Alive for Children
Molly Dannenmaier
Sixty garden ideas built around what children seek out, such as water, soft earth and hideaways.
Child, Family, and Community: Family-Centered Early Care and Education
Janet Gonzalez-Mena
Covers how children from birth through age eight are socialized at home, in child care and in school, with an advocacy focus and practical strategies for working with families.
Links to the 7th edition (2016).
Children as Illustrators: Making Meaning Through Art and Language
Susan Conklin Thompson
Making and reading pictures as part of early literacy, with over two dozen techniques.
Children of 2020: Creating a Better Tomorrow
Valora Washington and J. D. Andrews
Writing on the future of early childhood education and child welfare in the United States.
Children's Imagination: Creativity Under Our Noses
Ursula Kolbe
Children's play with everyday materials and how unhurried play feeds imaginative thinking.
The Children's Music Studio: A Reggio-Inspired Approach
Wendell Hanna
A children's music studio built on Reggio Emilia ideas.
The Cooperative Sports & Games Book: Challenge Without Competition
Terry Orlick
Games where players work together toward a shared challenge.
The Creative Curriculum for Preschool
Diane Trister Dodge, Laura J. Colker, Cate Heroman
An environment-based preschool curriculum with goals linked to a developmental continuum.
Links to Volume 1 of the 6th edition (2016).
Developing and Administering an Early Childhood Education Program
Shauna M. Adams, Amy S. Kronberg, Michelle L. Donley and Ellen M. Lynch
Planning, staffing and directing a program.
Links to the 10th edition (2021).
Developing Early Literacy: Report of the National Early Literacy Panel
National Early Literacy Panel
A review of published research on young children's early literacy that identifies which early skills and abilities are precursors of later reading and writing achievement.
The Developing Person Through Childhood and Adolescence
Kathleen Stassen Berger
A child development textbook covering how children grow from infancy through adolescence and how developmental researchers study that growth.
Links to the 13th edition (2024).
Developmentally Appropriate Practice in Early Childhood Programs Serving Children From Birth Through Age 8
NAEYC
Sets out principles for making decisions in early childhood programs, grounded in research on development and learning, with examples for infants and twos through the primary grades.
Links to the 4th edition (2021).
Early Learning Thematic Lesson Plans: 32 Thematic Lesson Plans for a Developmentally Appropriate Curriculum, Grades PreK-1
Sherrill B. Flora
Thirty-two thematic plans with reproducible materials.
Early Learning Theories Made Visible
Miriam Beloglovsky, Lisa Daly
Vignettes and photos connect Piaget, Erikson, Vygotsky, Dewey, Gardner and Derman-Sparks to everyday practice.
Eat Plants Every Day: 75+ Flavorful Recipes to Bring More Plants into Your Daily Meals
Blair Warsham and Carolyn Warsham
Family recipes built on vegetables, beans and whole grains.
The Ecology of Imagination in Childhood
Edith Cobb
How childhood experience of nature shapes imagination.
Emergent Curriculum
Elizabeth Jones and John Nimmo
Follows one program's educators through a school year as they talk through shaping curriculum around children's needs and interests as they arise.
Emergent Curriculum in the Primary Classroom: Interpreting the Reggio Emilia Approach in Schools
Carol Anne Wien (Ed.)
Educators describe the emergent practices they built in kindergarten through third grade.
The Enneagram of Parenting: The 9 Types of Children and How to Raise Them Successfully
Elizabeth Wagele
Enthusiastic and Engaged Learners: Approaches to Learning in the Early Childhood Classroom
Marilou Hyson
Approaches to learning, the enthusiasm and engagement children bring.
Essentials of Children's Literature
Kathy G. Short and Desireé W. Cueto
Children's literature by genre, with guidance on choosing and sharing books.
Links to the 10th edition (2022).
Ethics and the Early Childhood Educator: Using the Code of Ethics
Christyn Dundorf
Uses cases from early childhood programs, reflection questions and a step by step process to apply the NAEYC Code of Ethical Conduct to workplace ethical issues.
Links to the 4th edition, due December 2026.
Explode the Code, Book 1
Nancy Hall and Rena Price
The first workbook in a phonics series, for TK readers.
Links to the 2nd edition (2015).
Extending the Dance in Infant and Toddler Caregiving: Enhancing Attachment and Relationships
Helen H. Raikes and Carolyn Pope Edwards
Strengthening attachment in care for infants and twos.
Farm Anatomy: The Curious Parts and Pieces of Country Life
Julia Rothman
Farm life details, from squash varieties to beehives.
First Art for Toddlers and Twos: Open-Ended Art Experiences
MaryAnn F. Kohl
Art experiences written for children under three.
Links to the updated edition (2012).
The Five Commitments of Optimistic Leaders for Children: A Reflective Practice Journal
Judy Jablon and Nichole Parks
Five commitments for adults who work with children, with reflection exercises on identity, relationships and group work.
Flora: Inside the Secret World of Plants
DK, with the Smithsonian Institution and Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
A photographic botany reference on roots, leaves, flowers, seeds and plant families.
Floret Farm's Cut Flower Garden: Grow, Harvest, and Arrange Stunning Seasonal Blooms
Erin Benzakein with Julie Chai, photographs by Michele M. Waite
Growing, harvesting and arranging cut flowers.
Foundations of Early Childhood Education: Teaching Children in a Diverse Society
Janet Gonzalez-Mena
Theories, educator skills and respect for diverse families.
Links to the 8th edition (2023).
From Play to Practice: Connecting Teachers' Play to Children's Learning
Marcia L. Nell, Walter F. Drew, Deborah E. Bush
Play workshops for educators that connect adults' own play to children's play-based learning.
Fundamentals of Consumer Food Safety and Preservation: Master Handbook
Lizann Powers-Hammond and Sandra M. McCurdy
The Master Food Preserver handbook.
The Gardener's Basic Book of Flowers
Stanley Schuler
A reference on choosing and growing flowers.
The GIANT Encyclopedia of Preschool Activities for Four-Year-Olds: Over 600 Activities Created by Teachers for Teachers
Kathy Charner, Maureen Murphy
Over 600 ideas contributed by educators.
Gizmos & Gadgets: Creating Science Contraptions That Work (& Knowing Why)
Jill Frankel Hauser
Seventy-five simple devices about friction, gravity and motion, written for older children.
The Habitat Garden Book: Wildlife Landscaping for the San Francisco Bay Region
Nancy Bauer
Garden habitat for Bay Area birds, butterflies and pollinators.
The Hands-On Approach to Science
Brashears and Werlin
Healthy Young Children: A Manual for Programs
Alicia L. Haupt, Brittany Massare, Jennifer Nizer, Manjula Paul and Louis A. Valenti (Eds.)
Promoting the health of children, staff and families.
Links to the 6th edition (2024).
Infants, Toddlers, and Caregivers: A Curriculum of Respectful, Responsive, Relationship-Based Care and Education
Janet Gonzalez-Mena and Dianne Widmeyer Eyer
A curriculum of respectful, responsive care for infants and twos.
Links to the 12th edition (2020).
Insights and Inspirations from Reggio Emilia: Stories of Teachers and Children from North America
Lella Gandini, Susan Etheredge, Lynn T. Hill (Eds.)
Stories and images from North American educators show how Reggio Emilia ideas took shape in their schools over thirty years.
The Intentional Teacher: Choosing the Best Strategies for Young Children's Learning
Amy Schmidtke (Ed.)
Balancing child-guided and adult-guided learning across content areas.
Links to the 3rd edition (2025).
The Interactive Art Book
Ron van der Meer and Frank Whitford
Sixty famous artworks with flaps and pop-ups that open up light, color and composition.
It's Fun to Make Pictures
It's Not a Bird Yet: The Drama of Drawing
Ursula Kolbe
How children use drawing to think and imagine, with ideas for adults who draw alongside them.
The Kindness Diaries: One Man's Quest to Ignite Goodwill and Transform Lives Around the World
Leon Logothetis
The Lao Kitchen: Lao Flavors and Stories Told Through Family Recipes
Saeng Douangdara
Ninety-five Lao family recipes with stories from the Lao diaspora.
Learn American Sign Language: Everything You Need to Start Signing Now
James W. Guido
A beginner's guide to over 800 signs.
Links to the 2nd edition (2025).
Learning About Weather, Grades K-1 (ScienceWorks for Kids)
Jo Ellen Moore
Lessons and picture cards on weather and the water cycle.
Learning to Listen, Listening to Learn: Building Essential Skills in Young Children
Mary Renck Jalongo
Listening as a skill children practice and educators nurture.
Learning Together with Young Children: A Curriculum Framework for Reflective Teachers
Deb Curtis and Margie Carter
A curriculum framework built on observation, reflection, inquiry and action, with classroom stories and photographs.
Learning with the Pedagogy of Reggio Emilia: Innovative Approaches to Early Childhood and Teacher Education
Lori Ryan (Ed.)
Graduates of a Boulder Journey School partnership write about deep listening, children's rights and belonging, with reflective prompts closing each chapter.
Life in the Ocean Picture Cards (24 Cards)
Jo Larson and Jo Ellen Moore
Twenty-four photo cards of sea life.
Loose Parts 2: Inspiring Play with Infants and Toddlers
Lisa Daly and Miriam Beloglovsky
Loose parts ideas for infants and twos, with safety notes by age and stories tied to research.
Loose Parts 3: Inspiring Culturally Sustainable Environments
Lisa Daly and Miriam Beloglovsky
Designing spaces that honor children's cultural identities, built around equity, authenticity and critical reflection.
Loose Parts 4: Inspiring 21st-Century Learning
Lisa Daly and Miriam Beloglovsky
Bringing loose parts into play and sharing them with families, linked to resilience, leadership and creativity.
Loris Malaguzzi and the Schools of Reggio Emilia: A Selection of His Writings and Speeches, 1945-1993
Paola Cagliari, Marina Castagnetti, Claudia Giudici, Carlina Rinaldi, Vea Vecchi, Peter Moss (Eds.)
Malaguzzi's letters, speeches and essays from 1945 to 1993 let educators trace how his ideas grew over time.
Making and Tinkering with STEM: Solving Design Challenges with Young Children
Cate Heroman
Design challenges sparked by picture book characters.
Links to the 2nd edition (2026).
Making Learning Visible: Children as Individual and Group Learners
Project Zero and Reggio Children; edited by Claudia Giudici, Carla Rinaldi, and Mara Krechevsky
Drawn from research by Reggio Emilia educators and Harvard Project Zero, it shows how documentation makes both individual and group learning visible to children and adults.
Managing Infectious Diseases in Child Care and Schools: A Quick Reference Guide
Timothy R. Shope and Andrew N. Hashikawa (Eds.)
A quick reference on preventing and managing illness in group care.
Links to the 7th edition (2026).
Me, You, Us: Social-Emotional Learning in Preschool
Ann S. Epstein
Strategies across eleven social and emotional topics.
Mentoring in the Early Years
Alison Robins (Ed.)
Mentoring as an ongoing part of professional practice.
Mind in the Making: The Seven Essential Life Skills Every Child Needs
Ellen Galinsky
Seven life skills, from focus and self-control to self-directed learning.
The Mix & Match Guide to Companion Planting: An Easy, Organic Way to Deter Pests, Prevent Disease, Improve Flavor, and Increase Yields in Your Vegetable Garden
Josie Jeffery
Choosing companion plants in a vegetable garden.
Moral Classrooms, Moral Children: Creating a Constructivist Atmosphere in Early Education
Rheta DeVries and Betty Zan
A cooperative classroom for ages two to eight, with conflict resolution, group time and rule making.
More Than Graham Crackers: Nutrition Education and Food Preparation with Young Children
Nancy Wanamaker, Kristin Hearn and Sherrill Richarz
Nutrition education and food preparation with young children.
More Working in the Reggio Way
Julianne Wurm
A follow-up that names common American barriers and looks at the assemblea, projects, documentation and educator reflection.
Nature Anatomy: The Curious Parts and Pieces of the Natural World
Julia Rothman
How parts of the natural world are built, with ideas for close looking.
Nature Crafts
Joy Williams
Crafts from natural materials found outdoors.
Never Split the Difference: Negotiating As If Your Life Depended On It
Chris Voss with Tahl Raz
Negotiation principles from a former FBI negotiator.
Northern California Gardening: A Month-by-Month Guide
Katherine Grace Endicott
A month by month guide for Northern California gardens.
NurtureShock: New Thinking About Children
Po Bronson and Ashley Merryman
Child development research on topics such as intelligence, lying and friendship.
Nutrition, Health, and Safety for Young Children: Promoting Wellness
Joanne Sorte, Inge Daeschel and Carolina Amador
Supporting children's nutrition, health and safety from birth through school age, with case studies from many kinds of programs.
Links to the 4th edition (2020).
Observation and Participation in Early Childhood Settings: A Practicum Guide (2nd ed.)
Jean Billman, Janice A. Sherman
A practicum guide for observing and taking part in early childhood settings.
Paving Pathways: Child and Adolescent Development
Laurel Hughes
Development in age order, with the research for each stage.
Play the Forest School Way: Woodland Games and Crafts for Adventurous Kids
Jane Worroll and Peter Houghton
Shelter building, whittling, foraging and nature crafts.
Policies and Procedures for Early Childhood Directors
The Power of Emergent Curriculum: Stories from Early Childhood Settings
Carol Anne Wien (Ed.)
Stories of emergent curriculum in practice, each answered by experts such as Elizabeth Jones and Lella Gandini.
The Power of Observation (2nd ed.)
Judy R. Jablon, Amy Laura Dombro, Margo L. Dichtelmiller
Shows how observing children informs educators' work, through the authors' own experiences and others'.
Powerful Children: Understanding How to Teach and Learn Using the Reggio Approach
Ann Lewin-Benham
Projects at a school that adapted the Reggio approach with Head Start-eligible children, connected to current questions in education.
Practical Solutions to Practically Every Problem: The Survival Guide for Early Childhood Professionals
Steffen Saifer
Practical responses to common classroom and program situations.
Prekindergarten Learning & Development Guidelines
California Department of Education (Janet Lundin, Ed., with Sharon Hawley)
Earlier California guidelines on program quality, families and curriculum areas.
Preschool Art: It's the Process, Not the Product
MaryAnn F. Kohl
A large collection of process art experiences.
The Psychology of Children's Art
Rhoda Kellogg with Scott O'Dell
Color plates from Kellogg's study of how scribbles and shapes develop.
Ramps & Pathways: A Constructivist Approach to Physics With Young Children
Rheta DeVries and Christina Sales
Shows through classroom examples how children build ideas about force and motion with ramps, using ten principles of constructivist teaching drawn from Piaget.
Rapunzel's Supermarket: All About Young Children and Their Art
Ursula Kolbe
Young children and their art, with ways to look at textures, patterns, marks and lines.
Reaching Standards and Beyond in Kindergarten: Nurturing Children's Sense of Wonder and Joy in Learning
Gera Jacobs, Kathleen E. Crowley
Meeting kindergarten standards through creative play, with attention to assessment and families.
Reality-Based Leadership: Ditch the Drama, Restore Sanity to the Workplace, and Turn Excuses into Results
Cy Wakeman
Clarifying roles, direct feedback and handling conflict.
Reflecting Children's Lives: A Handbook for Planning Child-Centered Curriculum
Deb Curtis and Margie Carter
Tools for observing, documenting and designing environments while planning curriculum from children's lives, for ages three to five.
Resonant Leadership: Renewing Yourself and Connecting with Others Through Mindfulness, Hope, and Compassion
Richard Boyatzis and Annie McKee
Renewal for leaders through mindfulness, hope and compassion.
The Role of the Pedagogista in Reggio Emilia: Voices and Ideas for a Dialectic Educational Experience
Stefania Giamminuti, Paola Cagliari, Claudia Giudici, Paola Strozzi
Drawn from observations and interviews in Reggio Emilia, it shows pedagogistas, atelieristas and educators sharing documentation and progettazione as joint work.
Salad of the Day: 365 Recipes for Every Day of the Year
Georgeanne Brennan
365 salads organized around seasonal produce.
Science Experiences for the Early Childhood Years: An Integrated Affective Approach
Jean D. Harlan and Mary S. Rivkin
Science across plants, animals, water, weather, rocks, sound and light.
Links to the 10th edition (2012).
Self-Study Kit for Program Quality Improvement through NAEYC Early Childhood Program Accreditation
National Association for the Education of Young Children
NAEYC's kit for a program's self-study toward accreditation.
Sentipensante (Sensing/Thinking) Pedagogy: Educating for Wholeness, Social Justice and Liberation
Laura I. Rendón
Education that balances inner life with intellectual rigor.
Links to the 2nd edition (2023).
Sing a Song of Popcorn: Every Child's Book of Poems
Selected by Beatrice Schenk de Regniers and others
128 poems for reading aloud, illustrated by nine Caldecott artists.
Smart Moves: Why Learning Is Not All in Your Head
Carla Hannaford
How movement and sensory experience connect to learning.
Taking Back Childhood: Helping Your Kids Thrive in a Fast-Paced, Media-Saturated, Violence-Filled World
Nancy Carlsson-Paige
Three essentials for children, open-ended play, a sense of safety and close relationships.
Teacher Resource Guide: A Guide to Educational Materials about Agriculture
California Foundation for Agriculture in the Classroom
A directory of agriculture teaching materials and the organizations that offer them, published each year by the California Foundation for Agriculture in the Classroom.
Tell It Again! 2: Easy-to-Tell Stories with Activities for Young Children
Rebecca Isbell and Shirley C. Raines
Sixteen stories to tell from simple outlines.
Their Name Is Today: Reclaiming Childhood in a Hostile World
Johann Christoph Arnold
Interviews on pressures such as testing and screens, and a case for time to play and time in nature.
The Things You Can See Only When You Slow Down: How to Be Calm and Mindful in a Fast-Paced World
Haemin Sunim
Think of Something Quiet: A Guide for Achieving Serenity in Early Childhood Classrooms
Clare Cherry
Creating calm and quiet in early childhood classrooms.
Together We're Better: Establishing a Coactive Learning Environment
Bev Bos
Children growing in their ability to work together.
Tools of the Mind: The Vygotskian Approach to Early Childhood Education
Elena Bodrova and Deborah J. Leong
Explains Vygotsky's theory and its strategies, including the zone of proximal development, mediators, language and shared work, with play as the main driver of development in preschool (the leading activity).
Links to the 3rd edition (2024).
Transition Time: Let's Do Something Different!
Jean R. Feldman
Over 400 ideas for arrivals, gatherings and clean-up.
The Usborne Big Book of Science Things to Make and Do
Rebecca Gilpin and Leonie Pratt
Projects from household materials, each with a note on the science.
The Weekly Curriculum: 52 Complete Preschool Themes
Barbara Backer
Fifty-two week-long themes with vocabulary, ideas and related books.
Windows on Learning: Documenting Young Children's Work (2nd ed.)
Judy Harris Helm, Sallee Beneke, Kathy Steinheimer
How to collect, analyze and display children's work as documentation of their learning.
The Wisdom of the Enneagram: The Complete Guide to Psychological and Spiritual Growth for the Nine Personality Types
Don Richard Riso and Russ Hudson
Wonder Art Workshop: Creative Child-Led Experiences for Nurturing Imagination, Curiosity, and a Love of Learning
Sally Haughey
Twenty-five child-led invitations, including loose parts, potion trays and story landscapes.
The Young Child and Mathematics
Angela Chan Turrou, Nicholas C. Johnson and Megan L. Franke
Vignettes and strategies for math concepts with young children.
Links to the 3rd edition (2022).
Young Investigators: The Project Approach in the Early Years
Judy Harris Helm, Lilian G. Katz and Rebecca Wilson
The project approach for the early years, where children investigate a topic in depth over time.
Links to the 4th edition (2023).
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