Today, April 22, is Earth Day, with the theme being "Planet vs. Plastics." To quote Rebecca Donnelly from her 2023 starred middle-grade book Total Garbage (Godwin/Holt), illustrated by John Hendrix: "Although all types of waste can cause environmental problems, plastics might be the worst villain in the story of trash." See the following book recommendations, articles, and links for recent children's books related to the appreciation and preservation of our planet:

• Awareness of the world around us (from March 2024 Notes from the Horn Book)
• Animals galore (from March 2023 Notes from the Horn Book)
• Learning from Mother Nature (from September 2022 Notes from the Horn Book)
• Under the sea (from May 2022 Notes from the Horn Book)
• A lot of axolotls by Bodie Shanis
• Nature walks (from November 2021 Notes from the Horn Book)
• 2021: The Year of the Tree? by Cynthia K. Ritter
• For Earth Day: Protecting animals (from April 2021 Notes from the Horn Book)
• 50th anniversary coverage (from 2020)
• Read illustrator Michaela Goade's acceptance speech and profile after her historic 2021 Caldecott Medal win for We Are Water Protectors (Roaring Brook) written by Carole Lindstrom
• Guide/Reviews Database subjects Environment--Conservation, Environment--Pollution, Environment--Recycling, Environment--Refuse and refuse disposal, Pollution and Conservation, and Climate change
• Book Bundles:
  • Animal Love by Summer Edward
  • Our Home Planet by Maeve Visser Knoth
  • Sea Creatures by Russell Perry
  • Trees, Seeds, and Gravity
  • Earth Speaks by Maeve Visser Knoth
  • Environmental Champions by Jessica Tackett MacDonald
  • Animals, Animals!
  • Just Add Sun and Water by Anita L. Burkam
  • Climate SOS by Russell Perry
  • Birds of a Feather by Rachel L. Kerns
  • I Think That I Shall Never See... by Kitty Flynn
  • Nature's Designs by Kitty Flynn
  • Under the Sea by Kitty Flynn
  • Bugs (and More) That Won't Bug You by Kitty Flynn
  • Water, Water Everywhere by Kitty Flynn
  • No Planet B by Kitty Flynn
  • Earth Work by Kitty Flynn

What will you do to help? How will you be honoring the occasion? Share your plans with us in the comments below!