Elementary Students:
LRFO = Let’s Read and Find Out early readers
Water
- Junior Science Book of Water by Ottis Peterson
- Super Simple Things to Do With Water by Kelly Doudna
- A Drop Of Water: A Book of Science and Wonder by Walter Wick (PB, gr. 3-6, supplement)
Earth
- The Earth’s Crust by Irving Adler (48 p.)
- The Soil that Feeds Us by Eleanor Heady (62 p.)
- Birth of an Island by Millicent Selsam (48 pages)
- All About the Planet Earth by Patricia Lauber
- Geology (A Golden Guide) by Frank H. T. Rhodes and Raymond Perlman
- First Book of the Earth by Irene Sevrey
- What’s Inside the Earth? by Herbert S. Zim
- What Happens Underground? by Ray Bethers
- What is the Earth? by Gene Darby
- Young Experimenters’ Workbook: Treasures of the Earth by Harry and Laura Sootin
- How Mountains Are Made by Kathleen Weidner Zoehfeld (LRFO 2)
- The First Book of Caves by Elizabeth Hamilton
- The Story of Caves by Dorothy Sterling
- Caves by Roma Gans
- Volcanoes by Franklyn M. Branley (LRFO 2)
- Earthquakes by Franklyn M. Branley (LRFO 2)
- How to Dig a Hole to the Other Side of the World by Faith McNulty (IP, gr. P-3, 32 p.)
- The Northern Lights by Jill Kalz (PB, gr 4+, 32 p.)
- Janice VanCleave’s Earth Science for Every Kid by Janice VanCleave
- How a Rock Came to be in a Fence on a Road Near a Town by Hy Ruchlis
- First Book of Stones by M. B. Cormack
- All Upon a Stone by Jean Craighead George
- Rocks & Minerals (DK Smithsonian) by Chris Pellant
- Rocks and Minerals (Golden Nature Guides) by Herbert S. Zim
- Rocks, Gems and Minerals (Golden Guide) by Paul R. Shaffer and Herbert S. Zim
- Rocks and How They Were Formed by Herbert S. Zim
- Rock is Lively by Dianna Aston
- Rock All Around by Margaret Farrington Bartlett
- Earth Treasures: Rocks and Minerals by Iris Tracy Comfort
- Wonder of Stones (LRFO) by Roma Gans
- Let’s Find Out About Rocks and Minerals by David C. Knight
- True Book of Rocks and Minerals by Illa Podendorf
- What is a Rock by John Syrocki
- Rocks All Around Us by Anne Terry White
- Adventures with Rocks and Minerals by Lloyd Barrow
- Rock Collecting (LRFO) by Roma Gans
- Rock-Hound’s Book by Seymour Simon
- Quartz by Herbert S. Zim
- Diamonds by Herbert S. Zim
- Fossils: A Guide to Prehistoric Life (Golden Nature Guides) by Paul R. Shaffer and Herbert S. Zim
River
- By Pond and River by Arabella Buckley
- True Book of Rivers by Norman & Madelyn Carlisle
- Wonders of Rivers by Rae Bains
- Rivers by Irving and Ruth Adler
- Let’s Go to the Brook by Harriet Huntington
- In a Running Brook by Winifred & Cecil Lubell
- Crawdad Creek by Scott Russell Sanders
- First Book of Rivers by Corinne Naden
- Rivers by Delia Goetz
- River by Roger Pilkington
- Follow the Water from Brook to Ocean by Arthur Dorros (LRFO 2)
- In Ponds and Streams by Margaret Waring Buck
MS and HS Students:
Air
- The World Above by Hicks
Ocean
- The Silent World by Captain J.Y. Cousteau
- Children of the Sea by Wilfrid Bronson
- The Sea Around Us by Rachel Carson (288 pp)
- Under the Sea Wind by Rachel Carson
- The Edge of the Sea by Rachel Carson
- What Happens in the Sea by Ray Bethers
Rivers
- Rivers by Irving and Ruth Adler
- In Ponds and Streams by Margaret Waring Buck
Geology
- Rocks, Rivers, and the Changing Earth by Herman Schneider (IP)
- All About Our Changing Rocks by Anne Terry White (142 pp.)
- All About the Planet Earth by Patricia Lauber (137 pp.)
- Science Explorer: Roy Chapman Andrews by Jules Archer (191 pp.)
- Secrets from the Rocks: Dinosaur Hunting With Roy Chapman Andrews by Albert Marrin (80 pp.)
- Founders of Geology by Archibald Geikie
- A Grain of Sand: Nature’s Secret Wonder by Gary Greenberg (Reference)
- The Geology Book (Wonders of Creation) by John D Morris
- The Map That Changed the World by Simon Winchester (I found the author’s attitude toward Christians offensive, but my son said he didn’t think it was as bad as that.)
- Earth: An Intimate History by Richard Fortey (480 pp.)
- Giants of Geology: The Story of the Great Geologists by Carroll Lane Fenton (318 pp.)
- Underland by Robert MacFarlane **Please be aware that this book contains some curse words. Parents should pre-read it to see if it is appropriate for their child.
- The Control of Nature by John McPhee (adds a little ecology to your geology lesson, 288 pp.)
- Annals of the Former World by John McPhee (720 pp.) or the individual books:
- Coming into the Country (Alaska, 448 pp.)
- Assembling California (volcanic and tectonic processes, 304 pp.)
- Basin and Range (The Rockies to the Sierra Nevadas, 240 pp.)
- In Suspect Terrain (Appalachian Mountain system, 224 pp.)
- Rising from the Plains (Rocky Mountains, Wyoming, 208 pp.)
- or other McPhee books
Environmental Science
- A Sand County Almanac by Aldo Leopold
- Walden by Henry David Thoreau
- Rachel Carson: Witness for Nature by Linda Lear
- Pilgrim at Tinker Creek by Annie Dillard
- The 50-Year Farm Bill article by Wendell Berry (the actual farm bill)
- The Gift of Good Land: Further Essays Cultural & Agricultural by Wendell Berry
- Our Only World: Ten Essays by Wendell Berry
- Home Place: Essays on Ecology by Stan Rowe
- Nature as Measure: The Selected Essays of Wes Jackson
- Silent Spring by Rachel Carson
- Under the Sea Wind by Rachel Carson
- The Control of Nature by John McPhee
- The Secret Network of Nature by Peter Wohlleben
- Let Creation Rejoice by Jonathan Moo and Robert White
- Pollution and the Death of Man by Francis Schaeffer
- For the Beauty of the Earth: A Christian Vision for Creation Care by Steven C. Bouma-Prediger
- Redeeming Creation: The Biblical Basis for Environmental Stewardship by Fred H. Van Dyke
- The Invention of Nature: Alexander von Humboldt’s New World by Andrea Wulf
- Saving God’s Green Earth: Rediscovering the Church’s Responsibility to Environmental Stewardship by Tri Robinson
I encourage you to check out Biblioguides, which now offers an SMH partner guide. They provide a list of all of the books on SMH, but with added information, including (when available) images of the book’s cover, a complete description, a look inside, and links to available digital versions. Also, with advanced search capabilities, you can find books that meet your qualifications. “Biblioguides gives you the resources and tools to discover the right book for the right person at the right moment.” They offer a free trial, so do check it out.