Recommended Books

I don't provide links to purchase these books from any mega-online retailer
Feel free to buy them anywhere or try the library! 


Books for Adults

Cadillac Desert: the American West and it's disappearing water
by Marc Reisner
Penguin Books, 1993
ISBN: 978-0-14-017824-1
The story of the American West is the story of a relentless quest for a precious resource: water. It is a tale of rivers diverted and dammed, of political corruption and intrigue, of billion-dollar battles over water rights, of ecological and economic disaster. If you can only read one book...

The Hidden Life of Trees: What they feel; how they communicate
by Peter Wohlleben
Greystone Books, 2016
ISBN: 978-1771642484
Are trees social beings? Yes, the forest is a social network. The author draws on groundbreaking scientific discoveries to describe how trees are like human families: tree parents live together with their children, communicate with them, support them as they grow, share nutrients with those who are sick or struggling, and even warn each other of impending dangers.

Artful Rainwater Design: Creative Ways to Manage Stormwater
by Stuart Echols and Eliza Pennypacker
Island Press, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-61091-051-4
Stormwater management as art? Absolutely. Rain is a resource that should be valued and celebrated, not merely treated as an urban design problem—and yet, traditional stormwater treatment methods often range from ugly to forgettable. This book shows that it's possible to effectively manage runoff while also creating inviting, attractive landscapes.

Water in Plain Sight
by Judith D. Schwartz
St. Martin's Press, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-250-06991-7
Water does not perish, nor require millions of years to form as do fossil fuels. However, water is always on the move. This book presents a refreshing perspective on water that transcends zero-sum thinking. By allying with the water cycle, we can revive lush, productive landscapes.

Trees in Paradise: A California History
by Jared Farmer
W. W. Norton & Company, 2013
ISBN: 978-0393078022
From roots to canopy, a lush, verdant history of the making of California. California now has more trees than at any time since the late Pleistocene. This green landscape, however, is not the work of nature. It's the work of history.

Asphalt to Ecosystems: design ideas for schoolyard transformation
by Sharon Danks
New Village Press, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-9766054-8-5
Case studies demonstrate natural outdoor learning and play environments that support hands-on interdisciplinary lessons and expand the possibilities for schoolyard recreation, while nurturing healthy imagination and socialization.

Managing Water: Avoiding Crisis in California
by Dorothy Green
University of California Press, 2007
ISBN: 978-0-520253278
A useful primer on watershed and water policy issues, this book provides reasoned, thoughtful, and insightful arguments about sustainability. This is one of the classics for water conservationists! 


Books for Children

Miss Rumphius
by Barbara Cooney
Puffin Books, 1985
ISBN: 978-0-14-050539-9
As a child Great-aunt Alice Rumphius resolved that when she grew up she would go to faraway places, live by the sea in her old age, and do something to make the world more beautiful--and she does all those things, the last being the most difficult of all.

The Poppy Seeds
by Clyde Robert Bulla
Puffin Books, 1994
ISBN: 978-0140367317
A young boy's attempts to grow poppies in his drought parched village soften the heart of the grouchy old man who has the village's only spring in his back yard. It's a story about the joy of sharing resources.

Welcome to the Neighborwood
by Shawn Sheehy
Candlewick Press, 2015
978-1-7636-6594-4
In this pop-up book meet seven animal builders and see how their unique skills help them to survive -- and to live together in harmony in the neighborwood!

Under Earth: Under Water
by Daniel and Aleksandra Mizielinski
Big Pictures Press, 2016
ISBN: 978-0763689223
Hundreds of fascinating facts are waiting to be unearthed in this latest book from the creative duo behind the best-selling Maps. Dive below the surface and find out what happens under earth and under sea—from early submarines and deep-sea life to burrowing animals and man-made tunnels.  

The A, B, C of the biosphere
by Max Finch and Mary Beath
Biosphere Press, 1993
ISBN: 978-1-882428-11-3
An alphabetical tour of the biosphere--the part of the earth where life can exist--with rhyming commentary on its occupants, from algae to zebrafish.

World without Fish
by Mark Kurlansky
Workman Publishing, 2014
ISBN: 978-0761185000
This book describes how the fish we most commonly eat, including tuna, salmon, cod, swordfish could disappear within fifty years, and the domino effect it would have. It describes the back-and-forth dynamic of fishermen, who are the original environmentalists, and scientists, who not that long ago considered fish an endless resource. 
 

A Drop Around the World
by Barbara Shaw McKinney
Dawn Publications, 1998
ISBN: 1-883220-72-6
This book engagingly leads readers around the world following a drop of water--whether as steam or snow, inside a plant or animal, or underground--teaching the wonders and importance of the water cycle. (There is lots of geography, too.) Four pages of science about the qualities of water are included.

The Tree Lady
by H. Joseph Hopkins
Beach Lane Publications, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-4424-1402-0
The true story of how one tree-loving woman changed a city forever

Plantopedia: A Celebration of Nature’s Greatest Show-offs
by Adrienne Barman
Wide Eyed Editions, The Quarto Group, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-78603-139-6
This is a collection of amazing plants from all over the world, chosen for their unique traits and characteristics, with fun illustrations by Adrienne Barman. Meet the 'evergreens', the 'edibles' and the 'elderly' plants that have outlived the dinosaurs in this alphabetically-ordered encyclopedia. Filled with fascinating flowers, curious crops and wonderful weeds, this book will keep young explorers busy for hours.