Books About the Outdoors to Help Kids Celebrate Great Outdoors Month

If you’re planning on hitting up any of the National Parks over the summer, this journal can help you plan it out, get all of the things you need done ahead of time completed, and record your experiences. There’s also helpful information about how the park system is organized, packing suggestion pages, and lots of tips to help make your trip especially great. If you’re going to a national park, bring this along! (It’s also a great guided journal for kids!)

Kids are spending more time indoors than ever before, with some significant consequences for their emotional and physical development. Rinella takes this on and shows parents that there’s still a way to start engaging your kids with nature and the outdoors, even if you live in an urban area. Fishing locally, growing a veggie garden, and other activities are all discussed in this accessible and interesting book. If you’re looking for a way to connect to nature but not sure how and are a little overwhelmed, this is one to pick up.

In Sweden, where McGurk is from, nature-centric parenting and child-rearing are the norm. Kids go outside in all kinds of weather, babies nap in the cold, and environmental education is part of school curriculum. When she moved to the U.S., she (obviously) saw this was not the case, and it was a bit of a shock. She decided to take her daughters to Sweden for six months to see if the difference in philosophies would make a difference, and the result is a compelling look at how the lack of nature and outdoors can impact children and families.

Tariq, the founder of @BrownPeopleCamping, has written a fun story about an immigrant family going camping in the Midwest for the first time. Fatima Khazi is super excited for her family’s camping trip — after a hard week in school, she’s looking forward to this. She has lots of adventures and she hates the thought of leaving the woods and going back to everyday life — until her sister reminds her of the memories she’s made.

Chin’s books are always a pleasure to read and explore, and this one’s no different. This picture book follows a father and daughter as they hike through the Grand Canyon. Different die cut pages provide lots of visual treats; the illustrations are lushly colored, informative, and detailed; and there’s a map and lots of back matter to explore. Whether you’re taking a trip to the Grand Canyon or just want to go there one day, this is a picture book that readers of all ages will love.

The books in the Outdoor School series are beautifully done and jam-packed with info, including this one. In this book, there are sections in which to journal about explorations, rock and mineral identification guides, information about finding fossils, and tips on how to display your findings — and a lot more. If you have a kid who loves rocks and shells, this is one to get. Even if you don’t plan on a dig anytime soon, it’s easy to use for lessons and learning, too.

This is a charming poetry collection with colorful illustrations that’s perfect for reading during the summer. The poems capture the fun of childhood and playing outside, with blowing bubbles, city sounds, running outside, playing in puddles, catching fireflies, and much more. These are great reminders of all the little things you can do outside near your house that are fun and playful, and the poetry varies in form and is an easy way to introduce kids to the genre.

Even though it’s summer, this winter adventure picture book is a fun read to cool off with. Two young hikers decide to look for Yeti, and as they get deeper and deeper into the woods, they leave letters for him, trying to get him to come out. When they realize they’re lost and there’s an impending snowstorm, Yeti might just save the day.