French Spring Picture Books
Spring is just around the corner and chances are, you’re looking for some fun & fresh French Spring picture books to add to your classroom library or read to your students.
With the start of a new season, there are so many great themes to discuss. These themes include seasonal changes, life cycles, fresh starts and positive outlooks on life.
I really enjoy swapping out my book displays and highlighting some new books every season, so I hope this list helps you out. I’ll try and update this blog post yearly to add some more French spring books as they come up.
*Some of the links to the picture books contain affiliate links. I earn a small commission fee if you do decide to purchase the book through my link. There is no pressure to do so :)
French Picture Books for Spring
C’est le printemps!
By: Todd Parr
When it comes to celebrating all the great things that come with the spring season, this book does an amazing job. It’s simple and straight to the point, making it perfect for primary French immersion and core French classes.
Through mother’s day, earth day, picnics, and rain, this French spring book highlights all the joys of this season.
Patience, petite chenille!
By: Ross Burach
If you’re already discussing the butterfly life cycle in French, then this book is PERFECT for that. This book follows the journey of an impatient caterpillar who learns about the metamorphosis phase, although he does not enjoy the patience required to go through with it.
Through the humorous text, students will fall in love with this caterpillar while also learning about the butterfly life cycle and the lesson that beautiful things take time. This is a classic French spring book for any collection.
Pépin et Coco
By: Alex Latimer
While not specific to spring, this book discusses growth and new chapters, making it a very wholesome and emotional French spring book.
Pépin is a seed from a beautiful tree and Coco is an egg from a nearby bird’s nest. The two are inseparable however no matter their friendship, they inevitably need different things. Pépin needs to start to plant roots down and Coco needs to grow her wings and fly.
The book is beautiful and the metaphors of having similarities yet noticeable differences, just as one does with his or her classmates, will make this a book that everyone can relate to.
La mauvaise graine
By: Jory John
Another great book to discuss French life cycles in a subtle way. The bad seed used to live on a sunflower with his family, and everything was perfect.
When he was spit up and chewed out and left all alone, he turned into a bad seed, with bad manners and a bad attitude. One day, however, he gets tired of being the bad seed and decides he wants to be good.
This book shows students that anyone can make a change at any moment and can change their own story. I find this book applicable to read all year-long, however, the nature of the bad seed and the fact that he comes from a sunflower makes this a great French spring book to read with your class!
If you’d like to dive a little deeper into this book for an entire week, I have a comprehensive book companion to use along with the read aloud. Your students will practice reading comprehension, retelling, analyzing and more!
Trop de carottes!
By: Katy Hudson
Here’s a funny story that you can use around Easter time, although it is not specific to Easter at all. Rabbit loves carrots a little too much. When the carrots start to overcrowd his burrow, things get a little out of control!
This story sends the message that you can count on good friendships to get you through bumpy roads in life.
Comment capturer le lapin de Pâques
By: Adam Wallace
Another good option to use around Easter time, this book allows students to think creatively about how they can trap an Easter bunny.
This book is highly engaging and the illustrations are very unique. Students will love to read about all the interesting ways they can try and trap the bunny. There are a lot of fun discussion questions you could ask during and post-reading as well.
If you’re not familiar with this series, there are a ton of different “How to catch” books, and they tie nicely into any STEM activities you may want to do. If you’re looking for some French STEM activities and inspiration, you can read my blog post all about it to get started.
L’œuf Modèle
By: Jory John
Again, another book that is perfect to use around Easter, as the egg theme is super cute! This book is not specific to holiday though, so it’s totally fine for public schools.
I LOVE the message in this story, because it is so relatable. We all have times where we feel overwhelmed or out of control. The good egg is always very well-behaved however his fellow eggs are not. This causes him a lot of stress and forces him to focus on some self-regulation and SEL techniques.
The coping skills discussed in this book are so great and valuable to talk about with your students. In the end, the egg learns that it’s okay to be different than your peers and sometimes, we have to embrace those differences while also protecting our energy.
I also have a great comprehensive book companion for this read-aloud. You can check out more about it over in my TPT shop to see if it would be a good fit for you.
Bonjour, la pluie!
By: Kyo Maclear
There’s no spring without rain! This book takes the reader through the journey of a girl and her dog who get caught in a rainstorm.
From umbrellas to rainboots, there is no shortage of useful French spring vocabulary in this book, making it a great read for the spring season.
I hope you enjoyed this list and discovered some new gems to add to your collection. If you’re reading this during the spring season, that means you’re almost at the finish line to the end of the school year (yay)!
If you’re also interested in some French picture books for Earth day, I’ve got an entire blog post with some amazing suggestions that you should definitely check out.
Enjoy reading these French spring books with your class and see where it takes you! Happy Reading!
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