Trees, Seeds, and Growing Things: Picture Books

It's spring, and seeds are sprouting all over our yard right now--peas, maple trees, and dozens, and dozens, and hundreds of weeds. This week, I wanted to share some of the picture books about seeds and growing things that we've enjoyed reading.

"Spring, spring, spring! sang the robin." ~ Home for a Bunny, Margaret Wise Brown

Do you have any favorite spring stories for preschoolers? Here are some of ours...

Who Will Plant a Tree? By Jerry Pallotta, illustrated by Tom Leonard

How do animals (and people) help to plant trees? This is a fun read with lots of repetition, showing a wide variety of seeds and the different ways they spread.

Flip, Float, Fly: Seeds on the Move, by JoAnn Early Macken, illustrated by Pam Paparone

This one is similar to Who Will Plant a Tree, but maybe a bit more science-y? It explains a little more explanation about the seeds and plants, and where they grow.

A Seed Is Sleepy, by Dianna Hutts Aston, illustrated by Sylvia Long

I found Aston’s An Egg is Quiet last year, after writing my own egg story. She has a beautiful, lyrical style or writing, and both books have vivid pictures.

A Leaf Can Be, by Laura Purdie Salas, illustrated by Violeta Dabija 

A quiet story, similar to A Hole is to Dig. I didn’t think it was quite as fun as some of the others, but it’s a nice story about all the different things a leaf can be.

Swirl by Swirl, by Joyce Sidman, illustrated by Beth Krommes

I liked this one even more than my kids, I think. It’s a fascinating collection of the patterns and shapes found in nature.

Home for a Bunny, by Margaret Wide Brown, illustrated by Garth Williams

This is an older story (a true classic), and not especially science-y, but it’s one of my favorite spring picture books.

Tree, by Britta Techentrup

A friend gave us this book last year, and we’ve read it a few dozen times since. It’s a lovely introduction to seasons, told through the tree’s changes during the year.

Ox-Cart Man, by Donald Hall, illustrated by Barbara Cooney

Another fun picture book about seasons, but from a historical angle, telling how a New England family tackles seasonal chores through the year.

Experiments with plants, by Christine Taylor-Butler

After reading about plants and seeds, it might be fun to try some experiments with them. We did a couple of the ones in this book, including a project that tested how well seeds sprout when they have little, moderate, or large amounts of water available to them.

Other, fact-based picture books about seeds and plants:

Seed to plant, by Kristin Baird Rattini
Seed, soil, sun: Earth's recipe for food, by Cris Peterson

Update, December 2019:

Since writing this post, I've created my own picture book about trees! In Can a Tree Be Blue, children will discover all the colors that a tree can be. You can read more about it under the Books tab on this page, or find it on Amazon.