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17 Weather Books for Kids

By Melissa Droegemueller | March 13, 2019 | Comments 0 Comment

Over the last week, we have seen practically every kind of weather: snow, ice, rain, thunderstorms, and even fog! The girls and I have enjoyed exploring the changes happening outside as the snow thaws and reveals a huge, muddy mess waiting in our yard. To deal with the rainy days, we’ve stopped by the library to grab some weather books for kids. Along with books from our own collection, my children have been reading about types of weather throughout the four seasons and making a list of experiments to try over the weekend.

Adding a stack of books next to the couch can make learning about any subject more fun. Some homeschooling families call this strategy “strewing,” and it’s worked well for us since the girls were toddlers! I like to make sure to include a variety of books, including fiction and non-fiction to interest both of my kids.

17 Fun Weather Books for Kids

17 Weather Books for Kids

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Being Safe With Weather by Susan Kesselring

Clouds by Anne Rockwell

Clouds by Marion Dane Bauer

Flash, Crash, Rumble, and Roll by Franklyn M. Branley

Kipper’s Book of Weather by Mick Inkpen (board book)

Let’s Investigate with Nate: The Water Cycle by Nate Ball

Little Cloud by Eric Carle

On the Same Day in March by Marilyn Singer

Precipitation by Frances Purslow

Rain by Marion Dane Bauer

Rainbows (Science Matters)

Rain Feet by Angela Johnson

The Cloud Book by Tomie de Paola

Thundercake by Patricia Polacco

Weather Poems for All Seasons selected by Lee Bennett Hopkins

Weird But True Facts About Weather by Lauren Coss

What Will the Weather Be? by Lynda DeWitt

We like to start any new unit of study with books. If you’re looking for hands-on ideas for your preschool and Kindergarten kids, be sure to check out our 40 fun learning activities all about weather, available here!

What are your favorite weather books for kids?

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17 Fun Books All About Weather

Elmer and the Rainbow with A Rainbow of My Own

8 Fun Rainbow Books for Kids

By Melissa Droegemueller | March 7, 2019 | Comments 0 Comment

Young children love learning about rainbows, and books are always a fun way to discover more about a topic. Whether you purchase a new book or two or borrow them them from the library, these rainbow books for kids are sure to capture your child’s interest!

(Reminder: Rolling Prairie Readers uses affiliate links at no additional cost to you. You can see our full disclosure policy here.)

Our Favorite Rainbow Books for Kids

If you have a science- and math-minded kid, he/she might enjoy a non-fiction book that explains why rainbows exist.

Light Makes a Rainbow by Sharon Coan is a beautiful book with simple words and sentences. The science is definitely not “dumbed down,” though. The book introduces light as energy, light waves, wavelengths, and Roy G. Biv. It also includes a couple of hands-on science activities in the back for your family try together. We will definitely be adding this one to our family collection!

A great companion book to Light Makes a Rainbow is A Rainbow of My Own by Don Freeman (author of Corduroy)! It’s a playful book about a young child who chases a rainbow after a rainstorm. When the child gets back home, there is a rainbow reflected on the wall from the water in a fishbowl.

Our favorite fiction book about rainbows is Elmer and the Rainbow by David McKee. This sweet story follows a kind and unique elephant who works together with other animals in his community. They search for the beginning of the rainbow, which has mysteriously lost its colors. I won’t spoil the ending, but it’s heartwarming and teaches about giving to others.

Our girls grew up watching Signing Time, so Rainbow Salad is one of our favorite songs whenever we’re in the kitchen. You can watch it here:

For follow-up, you might want to add the board book Strawberries are Red by Petr Horacek to your family reading nook. It’s a simple way to reinforce colors through a toddler’s favorite way of learning: eating!

Finally, if your family likes to grow flowers, Lois Ehlert’s Planting a Rainbow is a terrific book for kids of all ages! After reading the story, you could plant flower seeds or buy an assortment of artificial flowers for your child to “plant” again and again, all year long.

Do you have a hands-on learner? Check out our tactile rainbow activities!

More Rainbow Books for Kids

Just this week, the girls and I sat down to do an online storytime for The Play School Club community. We found a few fabulous rainbow-themed books that also include animals and friendship themes like Elmer and the Rainbow, and I wanted to share those here:

Finally, if your child enjoys interactive books, be sure to check out What Makes a Rainbow? by Betty Ann Schwartz. The “magic” ribbons accumulate throughout the story, leaving a rainbow behind at the end of the book.

What are your favorite rainbow books for kids?

13 Fun Winter Animals Books for Kids

By Melissa Droegemueller | January 3, 2019 | Comments 0 Comment

Winter is absolutely my favorite season. I love watching the snow fall and sledding down hills with my girls. I also love all the extra reading time that comes along with the cold weather.

We are lucky to live in a small town, near a creek that attracts a lot of the local wildlife. We see rabbits and squirrels, a family of three deer, large possums, and a little tiny chipmunk who travels back and forth across our driveway daily. After a snowstorm, it’s really fun to see all the different tracks criss-crossing our yard.

However, we know that the most exciting things happening are under the ground and in little hideaways that we’ll never see. The best way for us to learn about how animals behave in winter is through books.