50 Inspiring Books to Make Arbor Day Celebrations Fun

Trees help clean our air, they provide shade in the summer and homes for animals. Arbor Day is a special day each year where you can celebrate the wonderful benefits of trees. One of my favorite ways to celebrate anything is with a good book! Here are 50 great options for learning more about trees.

15 Tree Identification Field Guides

Trees provide a rich source of educational material. Get some great books and set out on a nature adventure to learn from the trees.

The Tree Book for Kids and Their Grown-Ups - This beautiful book is one of my favorites for both its information and its art. 

Trees, Leaves & Bark (Take Along Guides) - If you're looking for a simple book to take around with you to identify trees, your young ones will love it. 

What Tree Is That?: A Guide to the More Common Trees Found in North America - Similar to a choose your own adventure book, this guide to identifying trees leads you through a series of questions to figure out what trees are around. It's beautifully illustrated.

Tell Me, Tree: All About Trees for Kids - A simple children's book identifying the parts of a tree with watercolor illustrations.

DK Eyewitness Books: Tree - A photographic guide of the life of trees from seed to giants and much more.

Trees (21st Century Junior Library: Plants) - Free with Amazon Prime, this kids guide to trees uses hands on activities to introduce young readers to the amazing world of trees.

Treecology: 30 Activities and Observations for Exploring the World of Trees and Forests - I love this series of books. They do a great job of incorporating facts with hands on activities to help students learn the concepts for themselves.

Trees of North America: A Field Guide to the Major Native and Introduced Species North of Mexico (A Golden Field Guide) - This thorough pocket guide offers a quick reference for identifying families of trees, and then an abundant resource for finding the specific variety. 

Tree Finder: A Manual for Identification of Trees by their Leaves (Eastern US) (Nature Study Guides) - Small in stature, this little book is perfect for on the go tree identification. With a series of simple questions, readers can identify the trees from their leaves.

Fandex Family Field Guides: Trees - This is a fun alternative to a tree identification book. Each of the cards has a sample of the leaf shape at the end allowing for quick reference.

I Can Name 50 Trees Today!: All About Trees (Cat in the Hat's Learning Library) - Who doesn't love to identify trees with Dr. Seuss? Fun and educational wrapped in one package is always a winner for me!

Step into the Forest (TIME FOR KIDS® Nonfiction Readers) - If you have some budding readers, this book on the forest will be a

Collins Gem Trees: How to Identify the Most Common Species - If you're looking for something a little more mature, this tree identification book is an excellent resource.

Trees of Texas Field Guide - Since we live in Texas, a local guide is helpful. Learn about 180 Texas trees, organized in the book by leaf type and attachment. This series has many options for trees in different areas of the United States.

Ultimate Explorer Field Guide: Trees - With tons of info and interactivity prompts, it's the perfect companion for backyard or field trips, camping or vacation. Durable and portable, it's just right for your pocket or backpack!

20 Tree Tales

Trees provide the backdrop of some of the greatest stories. My kids spend hours climbing up their trunks and swinging from their branches, it's no wonder they are so intricate to many great stories.

The Tale of Three Trees: A Traditional Folktale - Three tees have a unique roll to play in the life of Christ.

The Berenstain Bears and the Forgiving Tree (Berenstain Bears/Living Lights) - When Brother Bear gets angry at his cousin for wrecking his bike, Sister Bear helps him learn that forgiving is better. 

Every Time I Climb a Tree - A fun loving play with words and poetry about nature and being outside.

Where Would I Be in an Evergreen Tree? - This is a beautiful mellowly illustrated tale of a young tree providing shelter for woodland creatures.

Under the Freedom Tree - A free verse poem about slaves reading the Emancipation Proclamation under a giant oak in 1863.

Old Elm Speaks: Tree Poems - Deceptively simple verses reveal what trees think about and what they say to one another, as well as how they look and all the things they do for us.

Let's Have a Tree Party! - A fun romp of forest animals culminates in a celebration in a tree.

Giants in the Land - A story of the human ingenuity needed to turn the Giant Pines of New England into masts for the great British Navy.

Strange Trees: And the Stories Behind Them - There are bizarre but real trees all over the world which reminds us that the art of nature is stranger than fiction.

The Tree Lady: The True Story of How One Tree-Loving Woman Changed a City Forever - A storybook history of Kate Sessions and how she inspired the conversion of San Diego from a dry desert town to a lush city full of parks and gardens. 

The Lorax - The Lorax is a story of misuse of the natural resources, and a town's realization that they must work together to revitalize their town.

The Giving Tree - A sweet story about a tree and her selfless love of a young boy.

The Happiness Tree: Celebrating the Gifts of Trees We Treasure - From seed of hope to forest of happiness, this story of trees invites readers to look to the deeper things of life revealed by trees.

The Tree That Time Built: A Celebration of Nature, Science, and Imagination (A Poetry Speaks Experience) - A book of tree inspired poetry with a bonus audio track to enjoy the poems read as the author intended.

The Tickle Tree - A whimsical and colorful story about a young boy and a tree.

The Tree House That Jack Built - A fun tree house version of the old "House That Jack Built" favorite.

The Hugging Tree: A Story About Resilience - A tree growing on the edge of a cliff experiences hardships and challenges, yet becomes an anchor and meeting place for a community. 

The Tree of Time: A Story of a Special Sequoia - Tracing the life of one special sequoia that lived for over 2,000 years, it shows the stages of development of the tree in relation to important events in world history.

Winter Trees - A walk through the woods at winter time is a lovely adventure for a boy and his dog.

A Tree for Peter - A small tree becomes a source of hope and joy at Christmas for Peter and the town of Shantytown.

5 Multicultural Tree Books

Trees have played such an important role in every culture. Find out more about the special roles trees play in cultures around the world.

Songs in the Shade of the Olive Tree: Lullabies and Nursery Rhymes from the Maghreb - Sung in Arabic and Berber, this collection of lullabies and nursery rhymes from Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia draws children into a musical journey across North Africa, from the Sahara Desert through the Atlas Mountains to the Mediterranean Sea.

Under the Sunday Tree - People who stand under the Sunday Tree are filled with love and peace. This collection of poems from the Bahama's is complemented beautifully with paintings by Mr. Amos Ferguson.

The Mangrove Tree: Planting Trees to Feed Families - With alternating verse and prose passages, The Mangrove Tree invites readers to discover how Dr. Sato s mangrove tree-planting project transformed an impoverished village into a self-sufficient community.

Songs in the Shade of the Flamboyant Tree: French Creole Lullabies and Nursery Rhymes - This collection celebrates life’s passages and various island rituals in the tropical isles of Guadeloupe, Haiti, Martinique, and Reunion.

Under the Breadfruit Tree - This Jamaican treasure is filled with 36 poems rooted in the Caribbean people and culture.

10 Books Featuring Johnny Appleseed

If you want to find one man that loved trees, look no further than Johnny Appleseed. There are so many wonderful book options your family will love.

Seed by Seed: The Legend and Legacy of John "Appleseed" Chapman - A modern look at the facts and legend of Johnny Appleseed. This book features many activities for celebrating Johnny Appleseed Day on September 26th.

Johnny Appleseed: God's Faithful Planter, John Chapman (The Sowers) - A fictional approach to a diary of John Chapman aka Johnny Appleseed. This book looks at the man that not only spread apple seeds across the country, but also Bibles.

Who Was Johnny Appleseed? - I love this series as an introduction to great lives. 

Johnny Appleseed - This beautifully illustrated, full color book offers a sweet introduction to the apple loving man.

Johnny Appleseed - A poetic version of the legend!

Johnny Appleseed (Ready-to-Reads) - For your early readers, this version will be a great option for reading for themselves about Johnny Appleseed.

Johnny Appleseed: My Story (Step-Into-Reading, Step 3) - As they get better at their reading, this is another great option for independent budding readers.

Johnny Appleseed: The Legend and the Truth - With a mixture of poetry and tidbits of fact, this beautifully illustrated book does a great job of bringing home the idea that while Johnny Appleseed is a legendary figure, he was also a real man of history.

Johnny Appleseed: The Story of a Legend - This beautiful folk tale is filled with beautiful folk paintings by Will Moses.

Johnny Appleseed: The Man, the Myth, the American Story - For the older Johnny Appleseed fans, this is a great option for getting a more in depth read.