Picture Books for April 🌲

lovely themes of outdoorsiness and springtime

Apr 05, 2023

It’s time for the monthly list of picture book recommendations! Most of these titles correlate with this month’s focus on peacefulness and awe (with a heavy focus on going outside.) First, here are a couple suggestions for older kids and to read aloud as a family ⬇️

Older Kids

The Wild Robot by Peter Brown is a favorite of my 9-year-old (and many respectable book bloggers.) The story is about a robot who got washed ashore on a faraway island, and it has incredible themes of survival, friendship, and belonging in a family…even if they’re different than you. Iron Giant vibes for a new generation?

Read-Aloud

James Herriot’s Treasury for Children has lovely illustrations on each page and tells the true stories of a vet in rural England who learned to care for all kinds of animals (and people!) The audiobook is currently $3.49 since it’s only an hour and a half long. This book provoked my mom to read Herriot’s large autobiographical series and watch the PBS show, both of which are better suited for teens or adults. If you’re into animals, Herriot is for you!

I also recommend looking through 1000 Hours Outside by Ginny Yurich and giving your kids Post-its to mark which activities they want to try. There are lots and lots of ideas in there that I haven’t seen anywhere else! (You’ll see some of these, of course, in Family Scripts throughout the year, such as painting on ice canvases 😉)

Picture Books

Hike by Pete Oswald is a beautiful wordless book about a boy and his son who spend the day hiking together. A strong father-son bond is rarely portrayed, and this book is thoroughly positive (and it has a gorgeous setting.)

Blue on Blue by Dianne White and illustrated by Beth Krommes is a gentle, vividly illustrated book about rain and mud. It’s a cozy read.

The ABC’s of Yoga for Kids by Teresa Power and illustrated by Kathleen Rietz is a picture book that works through the alphabet to show you why yoga poses are called what they are. (For example, your kids might say, “Ohhh, that’s why it’s called the boat pose.”) There’s also a set of cards and a poster.

Farewell to Shady Glade by Disney legend Bill Peet was one of my husband’s favorite stories as a kid, and now our kids love it, too. It’s a sweet tale about woodland animals who lose their home due to deforestation and find a new place together.

The Napping House by Audrey and Don Wood is a sweet story that builds on and repeats itself. (Those stories can be bothersome to read for the tenth time, but kids sure like them.) It beautifully captures a rainy spring day that’s perfect for napping.

Make Way for Ducklings by Robert McCloskey is a classic story set in Boston that won a Caldecott in 1941. It’s about a mallard family finding a home that makes them feel safe and secure. It’s extra pleasant to read in springtime!

Slow Down in the Park by Rachel Williams and illustrated by Freya Hartas is a board-book version of the more detailed book mentioned below. Its singsong poems about cool happenings in nature are enjoyable to read to toddlers, but chances are everyone will learn something.

Roxaboxen by Alice McLarren and illustrated by Barbara Cooney is a story about the magic of children being imaginative outside together and creating their own special place. Also a classic.

The Not-So-Great Outdoors by Madeline Kloepper is about a girl who doesn’t want to spend time with her family in nature but learns to love it. If your kids dread spending time outside, this might help them find it a bit more inviting.

A Seed is Sleepy by Diana Hutts Aston and Sylvia Long is part of a gorgeous watercolor-and-calligraphy series about how things in nature work. I love how the paintings are so detailed and the species of the various plants are labeled (again, in gorgeous calligraphy.)

Finding Winnie by Lindsay Mattick and Sophie Blackall is a wonderful true story about a soldier and a bear. I don’t want to give the ending away, but just make sure you get this one. (If your older kids love it, there’s a chapter book called Winnie’s Great War by the same author.)

Slow Down: 50 Mindful Moments in Nature by Rachel Williams and illustrated by Freya Hartas is a large book with gorgeous illustrations and concise explanations of things in nature such as how spiders weave webs, what causes thunderstorms, etc. It's beautiful, peaceful, and covers topics that you and your kids might be curious about anyway.

The Garden, The Curtain, and The Cross by Carl Laferton and illustrated by Catalina Echeverri is an excellent book for Easter, if you’re looking for something from a Christian perspective. It’s also good for anytime. The entire “Tales That Tell the Truth” series is full of cute illustrations and rich concepts that are told in a way that kids actually enjoy hearing them again and again.

If you want more booklists, Read-Aloud Revival and Can We Read? have you covered as always!

Movies

My go-to movies for April are:

Rise of the Guardians (a sometimes-scary but super creative take on the Easter Bunny, Santa, Jack Frost, etc.)
The Miracle Maker (a high-quality, faithful-to-the-text claymation about Jesus starring Ralph Fiennes)
The Big Year (a Jack Black, Steve Martin, Owen Wilson, and Rashida Jones movie about birdwatching…it isn’t a masterpiece but I just love it so much somehow 😅)

I’d love to hear about some of your favorite books, films, and music for the month of April and May!