2023 Blueberry Award Booklist!

Title: The Gift of Mnoomin / Mnoomin Maan’gowing
By: Brittany Luby, illustrated by Joshua Mangeshig Pawis-Steckley, translated by Mary Ann Corbiere
Published: 2023

Blueberry Winner, Picture Book. A child holds a mnoomin seed and imagines all the life that made a single seed possible―Mayfly, Pike, Muskrat, Eagle and Moose. This bilingual story reveals the cultural and ecological importance of mnoomin, a grain that's a keystone species of the Upper Great Lakes ecosystems. Age Range: 3 - 7 years

Call Number: Ojibwa JPicture Luby. B

Title: How To Bird
By: Rasha Hamid
Published: 2023

Blueberry Winner, Nonfiction Picture Book. “Are you a birder?” Good news. Anyone can bird! Let this joyful little book be your guide with vibrant photographs and a heaping helping of enthusiasm! Age Range: 3 - 8 years

Call Number: x598.07234 Hamid. R

Title: All of Me is Nature: Exploring My Five Senses Outside
By: Ashley Renee Jefferson, illustrated by Kristiana Vellucci
Published: 2023

Blueberry Honor, Picture Book. There is no better way to learn about our five senses than stepping outside! Follow kids of all colors, genders, and ability levels as they explore nature with their fingers, toes, noses, ears, and taste buds, sensing and experiencing nature all around us. Age Range: 2.5 - 7 years

Call Number: x612 Jeffe.A

Title: Bompa's Insect Expedition
By: David Suzuki with Tanya Lloyd Kyi, illustrated by Qin Leng
Published: 2023

Blueberry Honor, Picture Book. The twins go on a nature expedition with Bompa. At first disappointed with searching right outside their door, they soon find world-champion flyers, eaters, and weightlifters with more tiny surprises at every turn! This adventure into the extraordinary world of bugs is inspired by David Suzuki's adventures with his own grandkids. Age Range: 4 - 8 years

Call Number: JPicture Suzuk.D

Title: Eclipse
By: Andy Rash
Published: 2023

Blueberry Honor, Picture Book. A boy and his dad experience a total solar eclipse in this heartwarming picture book by author and illustrator Andy Rash. "Shimmering rays shine around the moon. I try not to blink. We are in the perfect place at the perfect time." Read it before April 8, 2024, when a total solar eclipse will be visible as it crosses from Texas to Maine. Age Range: 4 - 8 years

Call Number: JPicture Rash.A

Title: Stickler Loves the World
By: Lane Smith
Published: 2023

From award-winning author/illustrator Lane Smith comes Stickler, a woodland creature who reminds us to appreciate the everyday wonders we often ignore. In a picture book that’s both silly and sweet, readers will find Stickler’s enthusiasm irresistible and see the world anew. Age Range: 4 - 8 years

Call Number: JPicture Smith.L

Title: Tumble
By: Adriana Hernández Bergstrom
Published: 2023

Blueberry Honor, Picture Book. This gorgeous, poetic story follows the unexpected journey of a lone tumbleweed making its way across the desert:
"Wind blows. Tumble goes.
Fence stops. Tumble hops.
Cactus waves. Tumble stays, and stays, and stays."
And the science will surprise even adults! Age Range: 2 - 6 years

Call Number: JPicture Bergs. A

Title: A Walk in the Woods
By: Nikki Grimes, illustrated by Jerry Pinkney and Brian Pinkney, with Charnelle Pinkney Barlow
Published: 2023

Blueberry Honor, Picture Book. In this moving account of loss, a boy takes a walk in the woods and makes a discovery that changes his understanding of his father.
"A week after the funeral, I stare in the morning mirror, angry that my father's eyes stare back at me." The boy opens an envelope his father left behind and is surprised to find a map of the woods beyond their house, with one spot marked in bright red. Nature heals. Age Range: 4 - 8 years

Call Number: JPicture Grime.N

Title: Whose Prints?
By: Kari Allen, illustrated by Kim Smith
Published: 2023

Blueberry Honor, Picture Book. Go on a snowy adventure through the woods and match animals to their tracks in this beautiful board book with fun die-cuts throughout! Who tiptoed across the snow? Who scurried and skittered? Who slink-slink-slinked along? Young readers will love looking at different tracks in the snow and figuring out which animal made each one. Age Range: 2 - 4 years

Call Number: JBoardbk (Board books are not reservable at the Evanston Public Library.)

Title: Chloe's Nature Journal
By: Miri Leshem-Pelly
Published: 2023

Blueberry Honor, Early Chapter Book. Chloe's teacher assigns the class to start a science journal, noting the animals they find in their yards. Chloe realizes all kinds of creatures make a home in her yard: birds, insects, reptiles, and mammals, some of them eating each other. She asks a lot of questions about what she sees, noting her discoveries, finding some answers. Without realizing it, Chloe is following the scientific method. And so a young scientist is made! Age Range: ‎7 - 10 years

Call Number: JChapter Leshe.M

Title: The Book of Turtles
By: Sy Montgomery, illustrated by Matt Patterson
Published: 2023

Blueberry Honor, Nonfiction Picture Book. This tribute to one of the most fascinating and beloved species on the planet speaks to the wonder and wisdom of these long-lived reptiles. Sy Montgomery is one of our best nature writers for both kids and adults and this 2024 Sibert Honor winning book is one of her most masterful. Age Range: 4 - 8 years

Call Number: x597.92 Montg.S

Title: Cicada Symphony
By: Sue Fliess, illustrated by Gareth Lucas
Published: 2023

Blueberry Honor, Nonfiction Picture Book. There are about three thousand different kinds of cicadas on earth. Some species emerge from the ground every year, while others come up every 13 or 17 years. This book describes the life cycle of the cicada, helping readers better understand this fascinating insect, just in time for the 2024 Double Brood Emergence! Age Range: 4 - 8 years

Call Number: x595.752 Flies.S

Title: The Gentle Genius of Trees
By: Philip Bunting
Published: 2023 in US

Blueberry Honor, Nonfiction Picture Book. What could we clever humans learn from trees? Find out when you take a stroll through the woods and learn a few life lessons from our foliaged friends! Trees create an interconnected wood-wide web that enables them to collaborate with each other, share resources, warn of threats, and survive and thrive together. Age Range: 4 - 8 years

Call Number: x582.16 Bunti.P

Title: If the Rivers Run Free
By: Andrea Debbink, illustrated by Nicole Wong
Published: 2023

Blueberry Honor, Nonfiction Picture Book. In rhyming text, the fascinating story of "daylighting," unearthing and restoring cities' buried rivers to their rightful places as sources of well-being and beauty, comes to life! Age Range: 5 - 8 years

Call Number: x333.9162 Debbi.A

Title: Jumper: A Day in the Life of a Backyard Jumping Spider
By: Jessica Lanan
Published: 2023

Blueberry Honor, Nonfiction Picture Book. What if you were small as a bean, could walk on the walls and ceiling, sense vibrations through your elbows, and jump five times your body length? Wonderful rich back matter with more information about spiders for even the most persistent child! Sibert Honor Winner, too! Age Range: 4 - 8 years

Call Number: x595.44 Lanan.J

Title: Nature Is a Sculptor: Weathering and Erosion
By: Heather Ferranti Kinser
Published: 2023

Blueberry Honor, Nonfiction Picture Book. Glaciers, rivers, wind, and rain form features big and small―from grand canyons to smooth pebbles and fine grains of sand. Lyrical verse by Heather Ferranti Kinser introduces weathering, erosion, and deposition, and eye-catching photos provide a look at some of the world's geological marvels. Age Range: 5- 9 years

Call Number: x551.302 Kinse.H

Title: Not a Monster
By: Claudia Guadalupe Martínez, illustrated by Laura González
Published: 2023

Blueberry Honor, Nonfiction Picture Book. An axolotl is actually a salamander that will never lose its gills or fins. Explore the traits of the axolotl, the Aztec origin myth about the species, and the way pollution is affecting its natural habitat: the canals of Xochimilco in Mexico City. Age Range: 3 - 7 years

Call Number: x597.858 Marti.C

Title: One Tiny Treefrog: A Countdown to Survival
By: Tony Piedra & Mackenzie Joy
Published: 2023

Blueberry Honor, Nonfiction Picture Book. In the tropical forest of Costa Rica, ten sticky frog eggs cling to a leaf. Only nine eggs hatch. Only eight tadpoles wind up in the water below. What will it take to survive the countdown to adulthood and begin the cycle again? This beautifully designed, color-drenched introduction to frog metamorphosis beautifully illustrates competition and natural selection. Age Range: 4 - 8 years

Call Number: x597.878 Piedr.T

Title: Stand as Tall as the Trees: How an Amazonian Community Protected the Rain Forest
By: Patricia Gualinga and Laura Resau, illustrated by Vanessa Jaramillo
Published: 2023

Blueberry Honor, Nonfiction Picture Book. An inspiring true story about how an activist in the Amazon worked with other Indigenous communities to protect and preserve their sacred lands and forests. Age Range: 6 - 9 years

Call Number: x333.7516 Guali.P
Also available in Spanish: Con la cabeza en alto : cómo una comunidad Amazónica protegió la selva

Title: A Stone Is a Story
By: Leslie Barnard Booth, illustrated by Marc Martin
Published: 2023

Blueberry Honor, Nonfiction Picture Book. “Where do rocks come from?” The answer may be more incredible than you think! Embark on a journey across time to see how one stone can change and transform, from magma under Earth’s crust to the sand swept up by a rushing river to the very heart of the tallest mountain. Age Range: 5 - 8 years

Call Number: x552 Barna.L

Title: Tibbles the Cat
By: Michal Šanda, illustrated by David Dolensky
Published: 2023

Blueberry Honor, Nonfiction Picture Book. A cat named Tibbles and her owner move from England to a new home on a small island off the coast of New Zealand in 1894. The amusing Tibbles discovers a rare species of flightless bird – the Stephens Island wren. Based on a true historical incident, this is the story of how science ruefully discovers the harm invasive species can cause. Age Range: 6 - 9 years

Call Number: x578.62. Sanda.M

Title: What's Inside a Caterpillar Cocoon? And Other Questions About Moths & Butterflies
By: Rachel Ignotofsky
Published: 2023

Blueberry Honor, Nonfiction Picture Book. Butterflies soar in the sunlight. Moths flutter under the moon and stars. Find out more about these mysterious and majestic insects' similarities and differences, and their incredible metamorphoses! Age Range: 4 -7 years

Call Number: x595.789 Ignot.R

Title: The Glorious Forest that Fire Built
By: Ginny Neil
Published: 2023

Blueberry Honor, Poetry. A wildfire roars through the forest, leaving nothing but ashes until seeds sprout from below; the forest rises again. In this cumulative nonfiction story about forest succession, readers will learn that forest fires are critical to forest health and that the end of a tree's life provides the opportunity for new life. Age Range: 6 - 8 years (the Chicago Botanic Garden uses with 3 - 5 years)

Call Number: x577.24 Neil.G

Title: We Are Branches
By: Joyce Sidman, illustrated by Beth Krommes
Published: 2023

Blueberry Honor, Poetry. Caldecott winner Beth Krommes and Newbery Honor-winning poet Joyce Sidman team up in this celebration of a fascinating shape in nature. Branches are all around in butterfly wings, on gecko toes, in flowers, frost, and mud. Branches are nature’s most efficient way to spread and to connect. They are even found inside our own bodies. Branches—strong, hopeful, beautiful—are the shape of life. Age Range: 4 - 8 years

Call Number: : x516.15 Sidma.J

Title: Zap! Clap! Boom! The Story of a Thunderstorm
By: Laura Purdie Salas, illustrated by Elly MacKay
Published: 2023

Blueberry Honor, Poetry. Offers the perfect introduction to the science of weather and the forces that work together to create a storm. The next time nature puts on a dramatic thunder and lightning show, readers will be ready to find a cozy spot near a window and watch the storm unfold. Age Range: 3 - 6 years

Call Number: x551.554 Salas.L

Title: Drawn to Change the World: 16 Youth Activists, 16 Artists (Graphic Novel Collection)
By: Emma Reynolds PLUS 16 Artists: Derick Brooks, Natasha Donovan, Teo DuVall, Gloria Félix, Devon Holzwarth, Erin Hunting, Margarita Kukhtina, Victoria Maderna, Bill Masuku, Ann Maulina, Natasha Nayo, Federico Piatti, Emma Reynolds, Shivana Sookdeo, Anoosha Syed, Jade Zhang.
Published: 2023

Blueberry Honor, Graphics. The CARP* AWARD WINNER, selected by Cara Pratt,
Evanston's Sustainability Manager! Meet sixteen incredible youth activists from around the world, fighting to protect all life on Earth. Illustrated by sixteen different artists, this graphic novel is for kids who wants to learn more about the climate crisis and what we can do about it. Age Range: 8 - 12 years
*Evanston's Climate Action and Resilience Plan

Call Number: JGraphic Reyno.E.

Title: Saving H’Non: Chang and the Elephant
By: Trang Nguyễn, illustrated by Jeet Zdung
Published: 2023

Blueberry Honor, Graphics. In this gorgeously illustrated middle grade graphic novel adventure, based on a true story, a young Vietnamese conservationist overcomes the odds to save and return an elephant to its natural habitat near Yok Don National Park. Age Range: 8 - 12 years

Call Number: J Graphic Nguye. T

Title: Survival Scout: Lost in the Mountains
By: Maxwell Eaton III
Published: 2023

Blueberry Honor, Graphics. Scout’s ended up abandoned in the wilderness all alone except for a snarky skunk. What to do? Find out how to find shelter, make a fire, signal for help, and more with this fun and funny guide to survival. Age Range: 8 - 12 years

Call Number: JGraphic Eaton.M

Title: Breaking the Mold: Changing the Face of Climate Science
By: Dana Alison Levy
Published: 2023

Blueberry Honor, Nonfiction. So amazingly empowering! Join more than 16 scientists working to fight climate change, as they tell you about their personal journeys, their ground-breaking research, and how they “broke the mold” on who gets to work on this most pressing issue of our time. Age Range: 9 - 18 years

Call Number: x509.22 Levy.D

Title: The Deep: Wild Life at the Ocean’s Darkest Depths
By: Lindsey Leigh
Published: 2023

Blueberry Honor, Nonfiction. Plunge beneath the waves to find an alien world of bizarre creatures who explain how they’ve adapted to life in the deep dark sea. Take a rollicking survey of animals that live in the deepest part of the ocean. The humorous commentary by the animals cover a wealth of cool facts. Age Range: 8 - 12 years

Call Number: x591.77 Leigh. L

Title: The Great Giraffe Rescue: Saving the Nubian Giraffes
By: Sandra Markle
Published: 2023

Blueberry Honor, Nonfiction. Oil was discovered in Murchison Falls National Park in Uganda, home to nearly all the country's Nubian giraffes. Conservationists knew they had to do something. They planned to move some giraffes across a river to safer territory. But there was no bridge and giraffes can't swim! Follow the true story of this unusual--and successful--rescue effort. Age Range: 9 - 12 years

Call Number: x599.638 Markl.S

Title: Can I Recycle This?: A Kids’ Guide to Better Recycling and How to Reduce Single-Use Plastics
By: Jennie Romer, illustrated by Christie Young
Published: 2023

Blueberry Changemaker, Nonfiction Picture Book. You probably know you're supposed to recycle--but you may not know how or why. This adaptation, written by a lawyer and sustainability expert, will answer all your recycling questions. One cool section is about the varied and amazing machines that help us sort recycled items. Empowering! Age Range: 4 - 8 years

Call Number: x363.7282 Romer.J

Title: A Little Dose of Nature: Outdoor Fun to Help Happiness Bloom
By: Dr. Alison Greenwood, illustrated by Anneli Bray
Published: 2023

Blueberry Changemaker, Nonfiction Picture Book. Want to be happier? Healthier? More energized? Check out these 25 activities that are scientifically proven to not only give kids a love of nature, but will help their hearts and minds as well! Age Range: 5 - 8 years

Call Number: x508 Green.A

Title: The Mellons Build an Eco House
By: Robin Jacobs, illustrated by Nik Neves
Published: 2023

Blueberry Changemaker, Picture Book. When the Mellon family can’t find the right house they decide to build their own! And with the help of architect Masha, this is going to be the most sustainable house you’ve ever seen. Age Range: 4 - 8 years

Call Number: JPicture Jacob.R

Title: Dig Deep: Connecting Archaeology, Oceans and Us
By: Nicole F. Smith
Published: 2023

Blueberry Changemaker, Nonfiction. From harvesting herring eggs to hunting humpback whales, humans have had a relationship with the world's oceans for more than 100,000 years. What can archaeology and Indigenous Traditional Knowledge tell us about how our marine environments have been effected by climate change? Archaeological discoveries unearth clues to keep our oceans healthier today and in the future. Age Range: 9 - 12 years

Call Number: x930.1028 Smith. N