Many of these books are
out of print and available only through libraries. We hope that this bibliography
of energy and environmental literature will grow. If you find a fictional book
with interesting and accurate information about the relationship between energy
and the environment, please send title, author, and publication information
to us by e-mail.
Books with an * were produced for the Alliance's Children's Language Arts &
Science Project (CLASP). Contact us by e-mail for ordering information.
Pre-School and Primary
Grades
Abed, Hisham and Young, Jane.
Mouse House Surprise.
Enterprise for Education, 1993. When everything stops working, mouse children
discover that electricity is the source of energy for all their appliances.
Illustrated back pages show readers tips for electrical safety. K-1.
Abed, Hisham.
Tree House Team Saves
the Forest. Enterprise for Education, 1994. A team effort promotes community
energy conservation and saves a forest from being cut down to make room for
a power plant. K-1.
Berenstain, Stan and Jan. Berenstain Bears Don't Pollute.
Random House, 1991. The cubs explore the environmental consequences of pollution
and start an Earthsavers Club, but it takes a nightmare to convince Papa Bear
that he needs to promote conservation. K-3.
Brown, Ruth. The World That Jack Built. Dutton, 1991. This
cumulative tale takes an energy and environmental turn to show how the factory
that Jack built damages the land and surroundings. PK-1.
Burn, Doris. Andrew Henry's Meadow. Coward-McCann, 1965.
Andrew Henry's inventions outgrow his home, and his family makes him move them
to a meadow. K-6.
Burton, Virginia Lee. Maybelle, the Cable Car. Houghton
Mifflin, 1952. This story of a San Francisco cable car illustrates changes in
energy technologies and people's reliance on mechanical then electrical energy
and finally gasoline-powered engines. K-3.
Burton, Virginia Lee. Mike Mulligan and his Steam Shovel.
Houghton Mifflin, 1939. A little boy's bright idea gives Mike and Mary Anne,
the steam shovel, a new purpose and introduces children to forms and transfers
of energy. K-3.
Calhoun, Mary. Hot-Air Henry. William-Morrow, 1984. Readers
explore energy in hot air with Henry as he inadvertently lifts off in a balloon.
K-3.
Carle, Eric. The Very Hungry Caterpillar. Collins Publishers,
1979. This caterpillar eats his way through everything from leaves to salami
and provides a springboard for discussions of food energy, growth, and changes.
K-3.
Chandrasekar, Aruna. Oliver and the Oil Spill. Landmark
Editions, 1991. Oliver and his mother are among a group of sea otters rescued
from an oil spill. K-3.
dePaola, Tomie. The Popcorn Book. Holiday House, 1978.
This story explores the energy locked in popcorn and released by cooking as
well as information about the history and cultivation of this popular food.
K-3.
Dorros, Arthur. Me and My Shadow. Scholastic, 1990. The
energy sources and principles behind shadows are explored and extended to introduce
X-rays, sonograms, and other forms of light energy. K-3.
Glaser, Linda. Compost! Growing Gardens From Your Garbage.
Illustrated by Anca Hariton. Millbrook. 1996. A little girl tells how her family
turns compost into fertilizer and introduces young readers to recycling and
energy transfers in nature. K-3.
Hoban, Russell. Arthur's New Power. Crowell, 1978. Arthur,
the crocodile, explores energy conservation. K-3.
*Ryan, Susan. Illustrated by Patricia Kiley. Who Turned Out the Lights? Florida State University's
Energy & Environmental Alliance and Delta Education, Inc., 1997. This big
book shows how children can conserve energy, clean up the environment, and recycle
resources, and it includes related science, math, and language arts activities.
K-2.
*Toth-King, Susan. Illustrated by Michael Medel. The Incredible Journey of E.B. Florida State University's
Energy & Environmental Alliance and Delta Education, Inc., 1997. The travels
of E.B., an ancient energy bit from the Sun, illustrate energy transfers and
time involved in conversions of solar energy to fossil fuel and electricity,
and they provide a springboard for science, math, and language arts activities
that follow the story. K-3.
*Toth-King, Susan. Illustrated by Kim Neilson and Pat Mullins. The
Great Choclate Chase. Florida State University's Energy & Environmental
Alliance and Delta Education, Inc., 1997. Two children discover the amount of
embedded energy in chocolate chips and the sun as a source of energy for cooking.
Activities in the back involve readers in language, science, and math extensions.
1-3.
Intermediate Elementary
Hendershot, Judith.
In Coal Country.
Edited by Frances Foster. Knopf, 1987. A child describes life and growing up
in a community that, like our country, is dependent on coal-mining for energy
and commerce. 3-6.
Laird, Donivee. Illustrated by Carol Jossem. The Fantastic Hawaiian
Energy Adventure. Barnaby Books, 1989. Students in Mr. Garcia's class
are magically transported to an island where they use up the limited energy
resources. 3-5.
Lawson, Robert. Ben and Me. Little, Brown and Company,
1939. This classic presents Dr. Franklin's experiments with electricity and
his part in revolutionary history from the point of view of Amos, a mouse. This
story has been reproduced recently in audio and video recordings. 3-6.
Lottridge, Celia. The Wind Wagon. Silver Burdett, 1995.
Sam Peppard, a blacksmith during the 1860s, builds a wind-powered prairie schooner
that sails across the plains from Kansas to Colorado. 4-7.
Love, Douglas. Be Kind to Your Mother (Earth). Harperfestival,
1993. In this readers' theater or stage play, two children travel through time
to correct pollution problems, stop species extinction, and confront historical
figures like George Washington and colonists who staged the Boston Tea Party.
3-6.
MacGregor, Ellen and Pantell, Dora. Miss Pickerell and the Supertanker.
McGraw-Hill, 1978. Investigating an oil spill and the mysteries of microbiology,
Miss Pickerell plunges into the depths of this energy and environmental issue.
4-6.
MacGregor, Ellen and Pantell, Dora. Miss Pickerell on the Trail.
McGraw-Hill, 1982. Miss Pickerell uses scientific inquiry to track down emissions
causing acid rain, and she must confront politics and a power company to solve
the problem. 4-6.
MacGregor, Ellen and Pantell, Dora. Miss Pickerell Tackles the
Energy Crisis. McGraw-Hill, 1980. Feisty Miss Pickerell enters an antique
car race and uses her creativity to find fuels that are alternatives for gasoline.
4-6.
Moeri, Louise. Downwind. Dell, 1987. This thriller puts
readers in touch with the panic created by an accident at a nuclear power plant.
3-9.
Pfeffer, Wendy. Illustrated by Gail Piazza. Marta's Magnets.
Silver Burdett, 1996. Marta's magnet collection is junk to her sister, the source
of her acceptance by kids in their new neighborhood, and a good way for teachers
to introduce magnetic energy. 3-6.
Ross, Michael. What Makes Everything Go? Yosemite, 1979.
This story presents the concept of energy and its applications in a simple and
entertaining narrative. 3-6.
*Ryan, Susan. Illustrated by Sandra Cook. The Green School Mystery. Florida State University's
Energy & Environmental Alliance and Delta Education, Inc., 1997. Energy
patrol at school leads three boys into a battle between economic development
and preservation of history and the environment. The book includes related science,
math, and language arts activities. 3-5.
Scovel, Karen & Hunter, Ted. Joe's Earthday Birthday.
Earth Friendly Press/Parenting Press, 1993. Joe's birthday party helps guests
and readers of this book see how much wasted energy can be saved through wise
use and recycling. 2-4.
Simon, Seymour. Einstein Anderson Lights Up the Sky. Viking
Press, 1982. Each chapter is an episode introducing readers to different forms
of energy and Einstein's genius for applying energy fundamentals to pranks and
problems. (See also Einstein Anderson Sees Through the Invisible Man.)
3-6.
van Allsburg, Chris. Just a Dream. Houghton Mifflin, 1990.
Dream images reflect the environmental tolls of energy production and thoughtless
consumption of resources. 3-6.
Middle and High School
Blackwood, Gary. Beyond
the Door. Macmillan/McGraw-Hill, 1991. This science fiction adventure
shoves two students into an alternate world and contrasts cultures with and
without energy technologies. 6 -9.
Gamow, George. Mr. Thompkins in Paperback. Cambridge, 1967.
A bank clerk attends physics lectures to learn about particles and energy but
always falls asleep and dreams of subatomic particles, expanding universes,
and a town where the speed of light is so slow that it's hard to see anything
happen. 9-12.
Hesse, Karen. Phoenix Rising. Holt, 1994. This fiction
reveals scientific and medical truths about the results of nuclear accidents
and raises unsettling questions about the use of nuclear energy. 6-9.
Stannard, Russel. The Time and Space of Uncle Albert. Holt,
1990. Working on his science project, Gedanken is beamed into space and explores
inconsistencies between everyday experiences and Uncle Albert's research and
theories about energy, time, space--a great introduction to Einstein's theories
and work. 6-8.