French Earth Day Picture Books
Earth day is coming up and it’s the perfect day to integrate a little more environmental awareness into the classroom! My students have always loved to learn more about the earth and how to protect the environment.
I especially love that there are so many ways to connect the earth day celebration into the curriculum. If you teach science and/or social studies, you already know this! I’ve done a lot of cross-curricular lessons for earth day with my primary grade 1-3 students.
For grade ones, we can tie earth day into the local community social studies unit, the needs of living things unit in science and the daily and seasonal changes strand in science.
For grade twos, I’ve tied earth day lessons into air and water in the environment. My students created water conservation posters that were magical!
And finally for grade 3s, while working on our plants & soil units, we were able to tie it into earth day topics, as we discussed what could happen to the soil and plants if we continue with land pollution.
And the list goes on! If you teach Core French or different grades that I haven’t mentioned, look into your curriculum and try and make a connection! That way, you’ll be even more motivated to discuss earth day in your classroom, as you’ll know that it is relating directly to the curriculum and provides extra value to your kiddos!
I actually have a decent collection of English earth day books but realized that my French Earth day book collection was lacking! I decided to do some research in order to acquire some awesome French Earth day books for kids! I hope this list helps you out and that you discover a couple of new gems that you can add to your French classroom library this year.
French Earth Day Picture Books
Moi, la Terre
Moi, la Terre
By: Stacy Mcanulty
Moi, la Terre (also available in English) is an amazing book that can be used for Earth day but also year-round. I currently have the English copy of this book and would love to grab it in French.
It is filled with so many interesting facts about the world, the solar system and more! I love these type of books because although it doesn’t necessarily speak about Earth day, it exposes students to more knowledge about the world we live in, which can help get them involved in matters directly impacting the earth.
I had a student two years ago who loved all things related to the solar system. We had a solar system puzzle in the classroom that he would grab at almost every free period. When I shared this book with him, he was in awe! It was beautiful to see his excitement, as he shared fun facts and his favourite pages with his classmates.
Sometimes, we just need to expose our students to various topics so that they can find their own areas of interests. This book can definitely help with that and it is one that I’d keep in my classroom library all year-round !
Moi, L’océan
Moi, L’océan
By: Stacy Mcanulty
I must also give an honourable mention to this sister book, written by the same author. “Moi, l’océan” allows students to dive deeper into their understanding of the vast oceans on earth and learn some new facts.
The illustrations are beautiful, as expected. I could imagine some amazing artwork or projects that could be done after reading this one.
Une Seule Terre
Une Seule Terre
By: Eileen Spinelli
This is a new book in my collection! I was able to snag it from Scholastics, so check to see if it is still available. The book “Une Seule Terre” by Eileen Spinelli is AMAZING for discussing Earth day themes.
The book outlines 10 simple things that everyone can do to help protect the earth. I love that the ideas in the story are so applicable and that students will truly gain some new ideas on what it means to protect the environment.
The language is very primary friendly, as there is only a simple sentence or two per page! This makes the book perfect for core-French or French immersion classrooms.
I am even thinking that we could take the 10 different ways to protect the earth that are outlined in this book, and create posters or digital slides for our school announcements. What a great way to encourage everyone to be more mindful, since we only have one earth!
Enfants du monde, Protéger la terre
Enfants du monde, Protéger la terre
By: Louise Spilsbury
When I read this book title, I immediately thought of the “Les enfants du monde” song by Green team. If you know you KNOW! My students were obsessed with this song last year, and wanted to hear it literally daily during the week we discussed Earth day.
Check out the song below, as you’ll definitely want to show it to your students this year!
As for the book, it’s a beautifully illustrated story about protecting the earth and how to do it. The book outlines some great and interesting facts, that will surely captivate your students.
There is a glossary and some suggestions included at the end, for students who would like to go further in their research and understanding of environmental issues.
I’ve also created a bulletin board set for Earth day in French, and one of the title options is the same as the mentioned book and song! Check it out if you’re looking to jazz up your bulletin boards for Earth day.
Nibi a soif, très soif
Nibi a soif, très soif
By: Sunshine Tenasco
Ahhh, okay I LOVE this book! Is it because there’s a French bulldog on the cover? No… that’s surprisingly not the reason this time haha.
So I was able to borrow this book from my school library last year and I am SO glad I did. I read this book to my grade 2 students during our air and water in the environmental science unit.
Nibi is an indigenous girl who is very thirsty. However, when she tries to get water from her taps, the water is brown and dirty. All her neighbours did not have clean drinking water either. When Nibi walked to a nearby town, she went and knocked on the door of a shiny big fancy house. The lady who owns the big fancy house gave her some clean water. The book indirectly (and directly) relates to the injustices of reserve communities and their access to clean drinking water.
It also shows how she remains positive and calm throughout it all, even engaging in peaceful protest with her community members. All-in-all, it really is a story that every child can benefit from listening to and reading.
It tied PERFECTLY to our unit and my students really enjoyed it. This book is a child-friendly way to expose them to the injustices surrounding clean drinking water in Canada. Even my second-grade students were able to understand these complexities and were outraged to find out that the book is based on real-life events.
By reading this story, it was the perfect segway into our water poster projects. They were all so motivated to spread the word and talk about how we all deserve clean drinking water and how to protect this natural resource. My school was awesome and allowed us to display the posters all around the building. This is a great way to raise environmental awareness while also getting an assessment piece for reporting!
It is also important to mention that this book was written by two Natives creators, so I am happy to support them by purchasing my own copy of this book. I’ve seen it available both on Amazon and Scholastics.
Je suis capable, c’est bien d’etre écolo
Je suis capable! C’est bien d’être écolo!
By: Dominique Pelletier
Here’s a simple and actionable book to read to your primary French immersion or early core french students. The language is simple and easy to understand in French.
This French earth day book touches on reducing, reusing and recycling, making it the perfect book to accompany all your earth day plans!
If you’re looking for an easy craft to go along with your French Earth day books or topics, check out these cute earth crafts. The writing prompts are differentiated and open-ended, allowing students to write about a simple way to care for the earth (perhaps inspired or taken directly from any of these read alouds).
Bonus: National Geographic Kids Non-Fiction Readers
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Now it wouldn’t be a book list if I didn’t feature a non-fiction text! I love love love having national geographic kid readers in my classroom. In my first year as a homeroom teacher, I picked up a pack of these books from scholastics. They usually have great deals to buy a bundle of them at a discount.
I didn’t really know how much the kids would like them or if they’d even gravitate towards them. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that these readers have become a classroom staple.
It’s so easy to pull out a national geographic reader that relates to a topic you’re teaching. If you’re teaching your students about the needs and characteristics of living things, there’s surely a Nat Geo kids book about an animal that will pair well with the lesson. If you’re teaching your students about rocks and minerals, there’s a book for that too.
The list goes on! I love them and so do my students. It would be great if you had a couple of non-fiction readers like these ones in your classroom on topics such as the earth, the solar system, soil, rocks, water, etc. You can also find ways to use them for research topics and informational writing assignments.
And there you have it, some awesome French earth day books for kids! I hope this inspires you to pick up a new book or two. I’m excited to dive into some of my new additions this year and for years to come. I’ll be sure to revisit this blog post next year and will add any new books that I come across.
Need a quick early-finisher solution for Earth day? Check out these FRENCH colouring pages. They make the perfect addition to whatever activities you are doing, so that those who have finished early will still have something engaging to do.
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