Go Play Outside

Picture books about unplugged fun

Sidewalk fun

Fleischman, Paul. Sidewalk circus.

Cambridge, Mass. : Candlewick Press, 2004.
A young girl watches as the activities across the street from her bus stop become a circus.
P FLEISCHMAN

Grant, Karima Sofie and the city.
Honesdale, Pa. : Boyds Mills Press, 2006.
When Sofie moves from Senegal to New York City, she has a hard time until she makes a friend chalking sidewalk pictures.
P GRANT

Hutchins, H. J. The sidewalk rescue
Toronto : Annick Press, c2004.
Sidewalk silliness happens when Morgan's little sister jumps into a chalk picture.
P HUTCHINS

Birds & birding

Ehlert, Lois. Feathers for lunch.
San Diego : Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, c1990.
An escaped housecat encounters twelve birds in the back yard but fails to catch any of them and has to eat feathers for lunch.
P EHLERT

Back to top

Franco, Betsy. Bird songs
New York : Margaret K. McElderry Books, c2007.
Throughout the day and into the night various birds sing their songs, beginning with the woodpecker who taps a pole ten times and counting down to the hummingbird who calls once.
P FRANCO

Rockwell, Anne F. Two blue jays.
New York : Walker, 2003.
Miss Dana's class observes two blue jays as they make their nest, have babies, and teach them to fly. Includes information on blue jays.
P ROCKWELL

Ryder, Joanne. Wild birds
New York : HarperCollins Publishers, 2003.
The birds that glide through the sky, hop through the grass, and sing on the fence gradually come to feed from a child's hand.
P RYDER

Bikes and biking

Best, Cari. Sally Jean, the Bicycle Queen
New York : Farrar, Straus and Giroux, c2006.
When Sally Jean outgrows her beloved bicycle, Flash, she experiments with various ideas for acquiring a new, bigger one.
P BEST

Crews, Donald. Bicycle race
New York : Greenwillow Books, c1985.
A counting book for the youngest; who will win the race?
P CREWS

Prince, April Jones. What do wheels do all day?
Boston, [Mass.] : Houghton Mifflin, 2006.
Paper cutouts and rhyming text take readers into the world of the wheel.
P PRINCE

Leaves, nuts, stones & seeds

Ehlert, Lois. Leaf Man
Orlando, Fla : Harcourt, c2005.
A man made of leaves blows away, traveling where the wind takes him. On die-cut pages.
P EHLERT

Back to top

Ehlert, Lois. Red leaf, yellow leaf.
San Diego : Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, c1991.
A child describes the growth of a maple tree from seed to sapling.
P EHLERT

Gerber, Carole. Leaf jumpers.
Watertown, Mass. : Charlesbridge, c2004.
Illustrations and rhyming text describe different leaves and the trees from which they fall.
P GERBER

Ehlert, Lois. Nuts to you!
San Diego : Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, c1993.
A rascally squirrel has an indoor adventure in a city apartment.
P EHLERT

Gerritsen, Paula. Nuts.
Asheville, N.C. : Front Street, [2006]
When autumn arrives, Mouse makes the journey to the nut tree,dressed in her coat with the extra-big pockets.
P GERRITSEN

Dengler, Marianna. The worry stone.
Flagstaff, AZ : Northland Pub., c1996.
When a small, serious boy joins Amanda on the park bench, she remembers that once she was small and serious too, but she had Grandfather--and his wonderful stories.
P DENGLER

Hurst, Carol Otis. Rocks in his head
[New York] : Greenwillow Books, c2001.
A young man has a lifelong love of rock collecting that eventually leads him to work at a science museum.
P HURST

Muth, Jon J. Stone soup
New York : Scholastic Press, c2003.
Three wise monks trick a poor,frightened community into finding happiness by teaching them the magic of generosity.
P MUTH

Krauss, Ruth. The carrot seed.
[New York] : HarperFestival, c1945, 1993.
Everyone tells a small boy that the carrot seed he has planted will never grow, but his patience is rewarded.
P KRAUSS

Levenson, George. Pumpkin circle : the story of a garden.
Berkeley, Calif. : Tricycle Press, c1999.
Rhyming text and photographs follow a pumpkin patch as it grows and changes, from seeds to plants to pumpkins ready to harvest, to jack-o-lanterns and then to seeds again.
P LEVENSON

Back to top

Robbins, Ken. Seeds.
New York : Atheneum Books for Young Readers, c2005.
From cherry pits to exploding pods, to sticktight seeds that cling to your shoes, acclaimed photographer and author Ken Robbins illuminates how wondrous nature springs up throughout the year.
P ROBBINS

Bugs

Carle, Eric The Very Quiet Cricket.
New York : Philomel Books, c1990.
Like the other “very” books by Carle (busy spider, clumsy click beetle, grouchy ladybug, hungry caterpillar, lonely firefly) this one has a surprise on the last page.
P CARLE

Fleming, Denise, 1950- In the tall, tall grass.
New York : H. Holt, c1991.
Rhymed text (crunch, munch, caterpillars lunch) presents a toddler's view of creatures found in the grass from lunchtime till nightfall, such as bees, ants, and moles.
P FLEMING

Huggins-Cooper, Lynn. Alien invaders / Invasores extraterrestres
Green Bay, WI : Raven Tree Press, c2005.
Bugs in the garden? Or are they really alien invaders? A small child compares the physical resemblance of small garden creatures to what they know of space invaders.
P HUGGINS-COOPER

Monks, Lydia. Aaaarrgghh, spider!
London : Egmont, 2007.
A spider who wants to be a family pet tries to prove that she is the best pet ever. Includes CD.
P MONKS

Pallotta, Jerry. The icky bug colors.
New York : Scholastic, 2002.
Like his other icky bug books (on the alphabet, numbers, shapes and counting), Pallotta uses insects to teach a concept.
P PALLOTTA

Singer, Marilyn. Fireflies at midnight.
New York : Atheneum Books for Young Readers, c2003.
During one summer's day creatures large and small tell their tales in verse, each at one time of day, morning, afternoon, dusk, midnight, nighttime, dawn.
P SINGER

Wind & Rain

Bridges, Margaret Park. I love the rain.
San Francisco : Chronicle Books, c2005.
Instead of grumbling about the rain, two little girls enjoy how it makes shiny black streets, forms fun puddles, and sounds like tap dancers on the roof of their bus.
P BRIDGES

Cobb, Vicki. I face the wind.
New York : HarperCollins, c2003.
Introduces the characteristics and actions of the wind through simple hands-on activities.
P COBB

Hutchins, Pat. The wind blew.
New York : Aladdin ; Toronto : Maxwell Macmillan Canada ; New York : Maxwell Macmillan International, [[1974], 1993. A rhymed tale describing the antics of a capricious wind.
P HUTCHINS

Jagtenberg, Yvonne. Jack's kite.
Brookfield, Conn. : Roaring Brook Press, 2004.
While waiting for his father to join the family on a weekend camping trip, Jack tries to fly his kite and finally succeeds with the help of some new friends.
P JAGTENBERG

Kalan, Robert. Rain.
New York : Greenwillow Books, c1978. Blue sky. Yellow sun. White clouds. Then, suddenly, gray clouds. Gray sky. RAIN. Using bold graphics by Donald Crews and few words, Rain explores concepts like weather, colors, and a changing landscape.
P KALAN

London, Jonathan. Puddles.
New York : Puffin Books, c1997, 1999.
When the rain stops falling and the skies clear up, it's time to put on boots and go outside to play in the puddles.
P LONDON

MacLachlan, Patricia. Painting the wind.
[New York] : J. Cotler Books, c2003.
Several artists paint different things, with different kinds of paint, and at different times of the day, on the same island that they visit each summer.
P MACLACHLAN

McKissack, Pat. Mirandy and Brother Wind.
New York : Knopf, c1988.
To win first prize in the Junior Cakewalk, Mirandy tries to capture the wind for her partner.
P MCKISSACK

Ray, Mary Lyn. Red rubber boot day.
San Diego : Harcourt, c2000.
A child describes all the things there are to do on a rainy day.
P RAY

String and Rope

Martin, Bill. Knots on a counting rope.
New York : H. Holt, c1987.
In this story, the counting rope is a metaphor for the passage of time and for a boy's emerging confidence in facing his blindness.
P MARTIN

Schaefer, Carole Lexa. The squiggle.
New York : Crown Publishers, c1996.
As she walks to the park with her school class, a young girl finds a piece of string which her imagination turns into a dragon's tail, an acrobat, fireworks, a storm cloud, and more.
P SCHAEFER

Wood, Audrey. Twenty-four robbers.
Auburn, ME : Child's Play, [2004], 2005.
This jumprope rhyme tells the story of twenty-four robbers. When they visit a woman's cottage she gives them what they ask for, but they keep coming back for more until they are ready to give something to her.
P WOOD

Worldwide Outside Fun

Ada, Alma Flor. I love Saturdays y domingos.
New York : Atheneum Books for Young Readers, c2002.
A young girl enjoys the similarities and the differences between her English-speaking and Spanish-speaking grandparents.
P ADA

Leaf, Munro. Wee Gillis.
New York : New York Review Books, 2006. In this classic illustrated by Robert Lawson, Wee Gillis can not decide whether he wants to be a Highlander and stalk stags, like his father, or a Lowlander like his mother, and raise long-haired cows.
P LEAF

Mollel, Tololwa M. Big boy.
New York : Clarion Books, c1995.
In Tanzania, little Oli is supposed to take a nap, but goes outside to play instead.
P MOLLEL

Schaefer, Carole Lexa. Someone says.
New York : Viking, 2003.
A day at a Chinese preschool has leaping frogs, dancing ponies, flapping wings, eating like tigers, and all the things that children can dream.
P SCHAEFER

Winnick, Karen B. The night of the fireflies.
Honesdale, Pa. : Boyds Mills Press, 2004.
In Japan, Toshio takes his sister, Miko, through the woods to the river, where they join other children in capturing fireflies and placing them in lanterns.
P WINNICK

Back to top