The books listed below may be available through publishers, distributors such as bookstores or online retailers, or library systems.
Independent Reading
EASY- Come a Tide
- by George Ella Lyon. Orchard, 1993
- Families in a river community head for high ground when their homes are flooded.
- Marshes and Swamps
- by Lynn M. Stone. Children's Press, 1983
- Describes plants and animals that live in the Wetlands; emphasizes importance of wetlands to earth's ecology.
- On the Riverbank
- by Charles Temple. Houghton Mifflin, 1992
- Rhymed text with playful illustrations recounts an evening of family fishing.
- Our Home Is the Sea
- by Riki Levinson. Puffin Books, 1992
- School is over for the year, and a boy hurries home through the busy streets of Hong Kong to his houseboat home. He will join his father and grandfather on their fishing boat.
- Very Last First Time
- by Jan Andrews. Margaret K. McElderry, 1985
- A young Inuit girl gathers mussels under the ice for the first time alone.
- Window
- by Jeannie Baker. Puffin Books, 1993
- Looking through a window we see a child's country environment become a scene of urban sprawl as the child grows.
- Everybody Cooks Rice
- by Norah Dooley. Carolrhoda Books, Inc, 1992
- Carrie, in the course of searching for her little brother, visits various neighborhood families, all of whom are cooking rice dishes. Recipes included.
- Follow the Water from Brook to Ocean
- by Arthur Dorros. Harper Collins, 1991
- Traces the course of water from rainfall to the sea.
- Kate on the Coast
- by Pat Brisson. MacMillan Publishing, 1992
- When Kate moves to Seattle, she writes letters to her friend in New Jersey.
- The Little Painter of Sabana Grande
- by Patricia Maloney. MacMillan Publishing, 1993
- Fernando makes paints from the materials of his environment and paints the walls of his family's adobe house with the flora and fauna of the region.
- Nora's Duck
- by Satomi Ichikawa. Putnam, 1991
- Nora finds an injured duckling, takes it to Dr. John who cares for sick and abandoned animals. Duckling recovers and Nora returns it to its mother.
- Stringbean's Trip to the Shining Sea
- by Vera Williams. Scholastic, Inc., 1990
- Traveling from Kansas to the Pacific by camper, Stringbean and his brother send postcards home describing what they see and do.
- And Still the Turtle Watched
- by S. MacGill-Callahan. Dial, 1991
- A rock turtle keeps watch over the land until it is gradually destroyed by human carelessness.
- Pearl Moscowitz' Last Stand
- by Arthur Levine. Tambourine, 1993
- Pearl enjoys all the new kinds of neighbors who move into her neighborhood but hates to see the trees go one by one.
- The Sacred Harvest
- by Gordon Regguinti. Lerner Publications, 1992
- Glen takes part in his first wild rice harvest on the Bowstring River on the Leech Lake reservation in Minnesota, accompanying his father in their canoe.
- Wonders of Rivers
- by Rae Bains. Troll Associates, 1982
- Briefly discusses the characteristics, origins, formation, and uses of rivers.
Read Aloud and Reference Books
READ ALOUD BOOKS- The Brook
- by Alfred Tennyson. Orchard, 1994
- A glossary is included with Tennyson's familiar verses about a brook.
- Brother Eagle, Sister Sky
- by Susan Jeffers. Dial, 1991
- A version of Chief Seattle's speech, made in the 1850s, when the U.S. government wanted to buy Native American lands.
- A River Ran Wild: An Environmental History
- by Lynne Cherry. Harcourt Brace, 1992
- Details the history of the Nashua River's increasing pollution and subsequent clean-up.
- River
- by Lionel Bender. Franklin Watts Ltd., 1988
- Describes the geography of rivers, river life, and uses of rivers.
- Rivers and Lakes
- by Martyn Bramwell. Franklin Watts Ltd., 1986
- Describes the birth and development of rivers and the varieties of water at work.