Many CarbonCure concrete producers share that they are deeply proud of being pillars of their communities and creating a lasting legacy. Part of this legacy is helping construct strong, essential bridges, roads and buildings. It’s also a legacy of leading the way in adopting sustainable practices and delivering sustainable, low carbon concrete that help ensure that all our children and grandchildren will inherit a vibrant, healthy world.
So as Earth Day 2021 approaches on April 22, we’re offering some terrific books to share with the young people in your lives, because conveying your appreciation and concern for the planet with the next generation is another part of your legacy!
And just because we couldn’t resist, we’re suggesting some kids’ books that will help you share your passion for the construction industry—and how you’re doing it in a climate-friendly way. We have also included three top-selling adult books on the environment, after your kids are tucked in bed.
In the spirit of promoting healthy communities, we encourage you to try to buy the books from your local bookstore. But for your convenience, we’ve linked each title to its purchase page on Amazon.
Kids' Books About Nature and the Environment
Thank you Earth: A Love Letter to the Planet • April Pulley Sayre
Using beautiful photography and an economy of words, Thank you Earth celebrates and models gratitude for the varied shapes, colors, plants, animals, seasons, geography and times of day that make up the natural world. Reading age: four to eight years, but it’s also a great one to read with babies and toddlers.
The Lorax • Dr. Seuss
The Lorax was published in 1971, the year after the first Earth Day, so this August the beloved classic will turn 50 years old. But given the present-day urgency of climate change, The Lorax’s message—that caring for the environment and its inhabitants is critical to everyone’s future—is more relevant than ever. And the whimsy of Seuss’ illustrations and wordplay will draw in babies, toddlers—and you!—as much as the kids aged 5 to 9 who will find it at their reading level.
The Honeybee • Kristen Hall
This imaginative and entertaining picture book celebrates the precious honey bees and opens a window into their flower-filled lives and how they make honey. A note from the author at the end shares why honey bees are so important and how to help care for them.
The Big Book of the Blue • Yuval Zommer
A dazzlingly illustrated deep dive into the ocean and its inhabitants, this book teaches budding oceanographers with a reading age of three to five years about all kinds of creatures and ways to help protect them.
Right this Very Minute • A Table to Farm Book about Food and Farming • Lisl H Detlefsen
Do you want your impatient young eaters to learn where their food comes from? Right this Very Minute takes readers aged five to eight back to the farm and encourages appreciation of the farmers who grow their food.
The Last Straw: Kids vs. Plastics • Susan Hood
A recently released new picture book that educates kids aged four to eight about both the value of plastics and why too much plastic is a bad thing—especially for the oceans. Full of facts and beautiful illustrations, it’s sure to prompt readers to get active in helping to reduce plastic pollution.
Climate Change, the Choice is Ours: The Facts, Our Future and Why there’s Hope! • David Miles
This interactive, illuminating and hopeful book is a perfect way to share with kids aged seven to 10 what climate change is, the history of climate change going back to the last ice age, what causes it, the consequences, and how they can do their part to help slow it down.
- Spring After Spring: How Rachel Carson Inspired the Environmental Movement • Stephanie Roth Sisson
- Rachel Carson and Her Book That Changed the World • Laurie Lawler
- Rachel Carson and Ecology for Kids: Her Life and Ideas, with 21 Activities and Experiments • Rowena Rae
Using differing styles to reach kids from four to 12, these books tell the inspiring story of Rachel Carson, the pioneering biologist and author who sparked public awareness of the dangers to everyone of harmful pesticides and launched Earth Day itself with her seminal 1962 book, Silent Spring. Spring after Spring engages kids at a reading level of four to eight with an illustrated picture book format; Rachel Carson and her Book that Changed the Word is a vivid biography accessible to six- to nine-year-olds; and Rachel Carson and Ecology for Kids teaches kids aged 9 to 12 scientific concepts and provides them with 21 activities for engaging with and protecting nature.
Extra Credit: Kids Construction Books
Let’s go, Construction Trucks! • Scholastic Books
A brightly colored board book embedded with spinning wheels, Let’s Go, Construction Trucks! is one that a baby or squirmy toddler could play with the whole way through. Each page introduces a new construction vehicle—including a concrete truck—with rhyming descriptions of what each one does.
The Mixed-Up Truck • Steven Savage
This sweet story injects humor into a cement mixer’s first day on the job. He arrives afraid of making mistakes, and sure enough, he makes some whacky ones. Reading age: two to six years, but it’s recommended for babies on up.
Goodnight, Goodnight Construction Site • Sherri Duskey Rinker
Are you ready for a new go-to for bedtime? Under a setting sun, all the construction site vehicles in this delightful book gradually finish their work and go to bed, including a cement mixer that hoses itself off first! Reading age: two to four years.
Three Adult Best-Sellers
- How to Avoid a Climate Disaster: The Solutions We have and the Breakthroughs We Need • Bill Gates
- Under a White Sky: The Nature of the Future • Elizabeth Kolbert
- Nature's Best Hope: A New Approach to Conservation That Starts in Your Yard • Douglas W. Tallamy
We hope these books have inspired you to share your commitment to protecting our environment, along with the pride you feel regarding the construction industry with the next generation. We at CarbonCure are honored to work with you and thank all of you for your efforts in building a better future.
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