We’re a big book family! Every night we read multiple books or multiple chapters of a book. This summer we set out to read 100 different books for the season and while doing this, we definitely discovered some new favorites! Books are something that I will never, ever discourage getting more of, provided they’re actually being read. We pick them up at grocery stores, bookstores, boutiques, and all over the world along our travels.
Because we love books so much, I wanted to share the books that our little family of four absolutely loves – obviously, especially the kiddos – that also foster and encourage a love and respect for nature, adventure, or the outdoors. These are books that my kids have loved from the age of 1 through to the age of 5, the current age of our oldest.
Our Favorite National Park Books for Adventurous Kids
Scout Moore, Junior Ranger on the Colorado Plateau – This is a super cute story that follows Scout on her journey to became a Junior Ranger, explore national parks and find friends in unexpected places.
National Parks A-Z Adventure from Acadia to Zion – This book definitely has more content than the average alphabet book. Each of the letters have fun facts about different national parks or wildlife that lives within them.
Do Princesses and Super Heroes Hit the Trails? A National Park Adventure – This book is a little more basic, but I love that it encourages kids to get outside and gives very brief fun facts about different national parks.
G is for Grand – This is another A-Z book about the national parks, but is a bit more basic for the littler national park lovers.
Good Morning National Parks – This is another good one for little national park lovers. It’s different park landscapes with interactive flaps and such. It’s really cute.
Our Favorite Outdoor Themed Books for Adventurous Kids
Let’s Go On a Hike – We love this book. It’s all about the ways to make a hike seem more exciting and taking time to notice and appreciate the outside world around us.
Big Horns Don’t Honk – This is another family-favorite that we picked up in Zion National Park. It teaches about big horn sheep in a really fun storytelling way.
Bee: A Peek-Through Picture Book – I love this book. It’s more than pictures, it tells the story of how one bee does so much good for nature. All the flowers that are made by the actions of one single bee. CJ went through a stage of being terrified of bees after being stung by a wasp, and this reignited her love and respect for these sweet pollinators.
Mrs. Peanuckle’s Hiking Alphabet – This is a more basic alphabet book with less information than the national park alphabet book, but still unique and quality alphabet items related to hiking.
Blue Ridge Babies 1, 2, 3 – This is a counting book that counts the different animals that dwell in the Blue Ridge Mountains.
I Love the Mountains – This simply follows along with the song, but it’s one that the kids love to read because they can sing and “read along” with it. Plus, the illustrations are so beautiful and they love to point things out on it.
The Newest Gnome – This is one of my favorite new books. It’s definitely for the older ages on the list, but it’s a gnome who’s born and gets to learn all about how the earth works. It’s just so beautiful!
The Leaf Thief – This is the cutest little book that explains fall and just is really stinking cute. It’s a favorite in our house.
Discovering the Hidden Woodland World – I love an interactive book that teaches about nature. This book is really hands-on and gets them really curious.
Humongous Fungus – Fungi are fascinating! And I love that this book makes the kids see that and be inspired by that.
HIKE – This is an illustration only book of a father and kid on a hike and I love the way my kids change up the story each time we read it. It’s a lot of fun to “read” together.
Over and Under the Canyon – I love this book and the way it sweetly describes the desert’s ecosystem.
The Little Naturalists Board Books: These are little mini biographies of people throughout history who have impacted the way we see and interact with the natural world. Our favorites are Teddy Roosevelt, Georgia O’Keefe, Jane Goodall, Henry David Thoreau, George Washington Carver, John Muir, John James Audubon, and Ansel Adams.
The Magic and Mystery of Trees – This is much more in-depth look at the beautiful and widely varied these beautiful organisms are!
Our Favorite General Adventure Themed Books
I’m Not Scared, You’re Scared – I think this is a sweet and poignant book about fear, confidence, and bravery, all while still being fun and silly.
The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse – This feels like one of the most important books I’ve ever read, as a grown adult and for my kids. It’s a guide to any adventure: a journey, relationships and simply life. 10/10 recommend this for anyone – kid or not.
Acorn Was a Little Wild – This is one of my favorite adventure tales about an acorn who takes big risks and the consequences of those risks, both good and bad. It’s a really beautiful story. Another 10/10.
Great Big Things – This is a sweet story about adventure and relationships.
Our Favorite Books About Taking Care of the Earth, Animals, Etc.
Mable Meets a Black Bear – This is a great little book about the reasons behind taking care of your trash and the way you treat wild animals, specifically bears, and it’s so wonderful.
Our Planet! There’s No Place Like Earth – This sweet book is all about our planet and how to protect it.
We Are Water Protectors – This is about pipelines and the potential harm they bring to the environment. Charleigh loves to take the little oath at the end every single time we read it.
Does Earth Feel? – This book is filled with 14 questions for kids to think about when it comes to the earth and how it feels.
Our Favorite Cultural Exposure Themed Books for Adventurous Kids
Same, Same But Different – This is the story of penpals from the US and India and how they realize their lives are different, but also the same.
Coyote Places the Stars – This is a retelling of a Native American story. I love the exposure of different ideas and tales of how different things came to be.
My Ukrainian American Story – This is a book by a first generation Ukrainian American and the way she embraces being Ukrainian, even here in the U.S., and what all that entails.
Buffalo Woman – Another Native American tale about love and protection. It’s a beautiful story about a buffalo who turns into a woman and has to eventually choose what world her son lives in, the buffalos’ or the humans’?
How We Find Unique Adventurous Books for Our Adventurous Kids
I have found that there are some places that are better than others to find really unique books. While I stated above, I do grab books at Barnes and Nobel and Target, I think there are other spaces that have a larger amount of unique books.
National Park Gift Shops – The gift shops in National Park Visitor Centers are where all my paychecks go to die, ha. But for real, I have bought so many books there. But there are some especially cool kids’ books in there. They’re educational, they’re fun and they’re adventurous!
Local Bookstores – Because we go to a lot of adventurous places on vacations, we’ve found local bookstores often carry kids’ books by local authors or books that are geared to those specific destinations.
Library Sales and Library Shops – My hometown has a Friends of the Library Book Sale a couple times a year where we manage to find really cool and really unique used books! Plus, we’ve found some libraries have a little gift shop with cool options, and in Estes Park, we found the coolest used bookstore called Cliffhanger Used Books that’s run by library volunteers and all the profits go back to the local library! Love this! We bought 10 books there when we were in Estes last year.
Also, Don’t Forget… Take Advantage of Local Libraries!
Even when we’re traveling, we love to stop into libraries. So whether you visit the library in your hometown and can take books home with you, or if you’re on the road you can read them in the libraries you visit. Plus, this is a great way to discover new books, potentially by local authors, while saving you money and being a little better for the planet as well!
Other Posts on Toys and Activities for Adventurous Little Ones
Looking for other activities for your kiddos while traveling or at home? We’ve got lots of tips in these three posts:
Are We There Yet? 9 Screen-Free Things to Entertain Toddlers on Road Trips
Kid-Friendly Campsite Activities That The Whole Family Loves
Our Favorite Toys for Adventurous Toddlers
There are so many wonderful books out there to expose your kids to adventure, culture, the outdoors, and the national parks. If you have a little outdoor or adventure lover in your life, or a little one you want to start exposing to the outdoors, grab one of the books off this list and watch their world get bigger right before your eyes.
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