Best Nature Board Books of 2023 – The Baby Blueberry
Title: The Babies and Bunnies Book!
By: John Schindel and Molly Woodward
Published: 2023
We admire the shamelessness of this series. Already the authors figured out an essential secret to board books: Fill ‘em with photos of babies and cute fuzzy animals. There is strong research* to back this up, too, as infants learn more from books with faces. As for the book itself, the babies and bunnies are just amazing. What the baby does, the bunny does, and vice versa. Mimicry is of course how very young children learn first. Age Range: 0 - 4 years
Call Number: JBoardbk (Board books are not reservable at Evanston Public Library.
*https://theconversation.com/for-babys-brain-to-benefit-read-the-right-books-at-the-right-time-83076
Title: Copy This, Copy Cat! Inventions Inspired by Animals
By: Katrina Tangen illustrated by Giulia Orecchia
Published: 2023
A board book intended mostly for the K - 3 set, this introduction to sophisticated biomimicry science is brilliant. Using a rhyming guessing game and a peek hole window to draw kids in, this book rewards kids with lots of lift the flap detail on how the science of each invention works. Could also satisfy the really driven engineer preschoolers out there as nothing else I have ever seen could! Age Range: 4 - 8 years
Call Number: JUV 600 TAN (Northbrook Public Library)
Title: Eat Your Superpowers! How Colorful Foods Keep You Healthy and Strong
By: Toni Buzzea illustrated by Serge Bloch
Published: 2023
From grapes to beets, oatmeal to cashews, learn the health benefits of 25 fruits, vegetables, nuts, and grains, each grouped into color categories. Carefully crafted one-sentence explanations provide the perfect amount of information for the preschool audience, and the charming and humorous art make this an entertaining and uniquely appetizing reference book of food facts. Age Range: 2 - 5 years
Call Number: x613.2 Buzz.T
Title: Flora And Friends ABC
By: Molly Idle
Published: 2023
Perfect for bird lovers, this inventive book features a different bird on each page along with rounded, thick board construction and sturdy flaps. Molly Idle, the author & illustrator, is the Caldecott-winning author for Flora and the Flamingo! Age Range: 2- 5 years
Call Number: J P BOARD BOOK (Niles-Maine District Library)
Title: Frog
By: Maggie Li
Published: 2023
Author/artist Maggie Li is able to cleverly turn the big bulbous eyes of the titular frog into eggs AND tadpoles AND (in time) a frog again. It’s a cut-out technique accompanied by a text ideal for the preschool crowd. With its tactile circular cut-outs and clever rendition of the life cycle, this isn’t just one of the better STEM board books I’ve seen, it’s one of the better life cycle of the frog books I’ve encountered for young readers! Age Range: 3 - 6 years
Call Number: J BOARD BOOK LI (Fox River Valley Library)
Title: Hello, Baby Sloth!
By: Beverly Rose
Published: 2023
A part of the Hello Baby Animals series, these books feature photographic images, text, and colors that work so well together, page to page to page. Each book ends with a small child at the very end. Learn about sloths or penguins: Hello Baby Penguin! is equally good. Age Range: 0 - 5 years
Call Number: jT ROSE, B. (Glenview Public Library)
Title: Lake Life With You
By: Cindy Jin, Illustrated by Andrés Landazábal
Published: 2023
With sweet, rhyming text and beautiful art that will transport you to the lake, this heartfelt board book celebrates the best things about enjoying lake life with the ones you love. Age Range: 1 - 5 years
Call Number: J Boardbk (Board books not reservable at Evanston Public Library)
Title: Leo on a Hike (A Leo Can! Book)
By: Anna McQuinn illustrated by Ruth Hearson
Published: 2023
Leo is ready to hike. He and Daddy head out on the trail, observing all the wildlife along the way. They see tall trees, tiny flowers, and even some crawling bugs. Soon Leo is determined to explore on his own, following a busy bee and lingering to look at a slow worm. By the end of the hike, both explorers are tired, happy, and ready to return another day! Age Range: 0 - 3 years
Call Number: J Boardbk (Board books not reservable at Evanston Public Library)
Title: Look it's Hoot Hoot Owl
By: Camilla Reid, illustrated by Clare Youngs
Published: 2023
Preschoolers will adore Clare Youngs’ friendly animals with their high-contrast collage artwork, decorative foil highlights, and signature animal noises—but there’s a tiny creature to find behind each tuggable felt flap, too! In this book, you’ll meet Squeak Squeak Mouse, Munch Munch Squirrel, Ribbit Ribbit Frog, and Hoot Hoot Owl himself. Ends in a fun mirror because "What do you say?" Age Range: 0 - 4 years
Call Number:
Title: The Making of Butterflies
By: Zora Neale Hurston, adapted by Ibram X Kendi; illustrated by Kah Yangni
Published: 2023
"The Creator wuz all finished and thru makin’ de world." But soon, the Creator finds themselves flying through the sky, making gorgeous butterflies of every color, shape, and size. Find out why butterflies were made in Zora Neale Hurston's stunning and layered African American folktale. This accessible board book is perfect for sparking curiosity in children about how creatures in our natural world came to be. Age Range: 0 - 4 years (and all ages...)
Call Number: JBoardbk (Board books aren't reservable at Evanston Public Library.)
Title: My Love for You
By: Lisa Verchol Perron, illustrated by Sheryl Murray
Published: 2023
A beautiful celebration of the changefulness of nature and the solid endurance of a mother's love! The art is lovely and evocative. The board book supports emotional intelligence as well as a love of the beach. The poetry is simple, but there's not a trace of the maudlin, just a lovely assurance of permanent love. Age Range: 3 months through preschool
Call Number: J Boardbk
Title: Opposites Are Natural
By: Kate Riggs, illustrated by Maria Cristina Pritelli
Published: 2023
Open that first cover and you are awash in this soothing, green, two-page spread of a spring forest suffused in an early morning mist. Even the words are calming, “In a quiet forest, young trees grow old.” Each page is like that, a warm bath of opposites that also, somehow, seem to be saying something bigger than what’s on the page. “Thin branches thicken.” “Bright fruits darken.” Gorgeous and calm-inducing. Age Range: 4 - 6 years
Call Number: J BOARD BK RIGGS (Morton Grove Public Library)
Title: Our Favorite Apples
By: Grace Lin
Published: 2023
Grace Lin (National Book Award, Children's Literature Legacy Award & more!) has written and illustrated a number of the "storytelling math" board books in 2023, picturing diverse kids outdoors. This one shows the fun of apple picking while also talking about sorting! In the back, there are two pages of information for parents/teachers about how to help kids explore math in everyday situations.
Other amazing 2023 books in the series, contributed by Grace Lin are: Who Jumps More? (a snow play story) and A Beautiful House for Birds (about making something to help birds), both great nature activities! Age Range: 0- 2 years
Call Number: J Boardbk (Evanston Public Library doesn't allow reserves on board books.
Title: Our Underwater World: A First Dive into Oceans, Lakes, and Rivers
By: Sue Lowell Gallion illustrated by Lisk Feng
Published: 2023
See what it looks like under the water of rivers, ponds, streams, coves, and more. On the left-hand side of the page is the younger kid-friendly text. On the right hand side is a longer text if you’ve a kid particularly interested in the topic. That it physically makes a globe (see picture) is a neat trick, too! Age Range: 4 - 7 years
Call Number: J 577.6 GALLION, at Lake Villa Public Library
Title: Puddle Song
By: Laura Purdie Salas, illustrated by Monique Félix
Published: 2023
A delightful poem written from the point of view of the puddle itself drives this fun celebration of wet weather! Age Range: 3 - 5 years
Call Number: JBoardbk Board books are not reservable at Evanston Public Library
Title: Seed, Sprout, Grow! (National Geographic kids, little kids first board book)
By: Ruth A Musgrave
Published: 2023
National Geographic has been creating high quality science board books since 2019 undertake title Little Kids First Board Book. There were 2 nature based ones this year -- Seed, Sprout, Grow! and Becoming a Butterfly, both by Ruth A. Musgrove. Short simple sentences accompany pictures you'd expect in a book for older kids. "The baby plant grows into a leafy vine with yellow flowers." Lovely. Age Range: 0-3 years
Call Number: JBoardbk (Not reservable)
Title: Snow!
By: Leslie Patricelli
Published: 2023
Snow, snow, snow—let's go! Baby and friend spend a winter's day outdoors, and it's a wonderland indeed! Bundle up in snowsuits and boots, and out we go . . . Whump! Right into the fluffy, soft snow. We don’t care! There’s a hill to climb up and sled down, a snowperson to build, and skis to try out. Swish! Then—brrr—inside, please! Warm up in a bubbly tub, snuggle on the couch, and watch the storm. So few snow books display children of color; this is refreshing and necessary. Age Range: 0- 3 years
Call Number: J Boardbk
Title: Whose Prints?
By: Kari Allen, illustrated by Kim Smith
Published: 2023
Go on a snowy adventure through the woods and match animals to their tracks in this beautiful board book with die-cuts throughout! Who tiptoed across the snow? Who scurried and skittered? Who slink-slink-slinked along? Little readers will love looking at different tracks in the snow and figuring out which animal made each one. Age Range: 3 - 6, preschool
Call Number: JBoardbk
Board books are not reservable at Evanston Public Library.