Green book list for children and young adults

Green book list for children and young adults

All the books are available to read for free online and in libraries.

Tell us what you think of the books on this list and suggest great books you would like to share: contact us libraries247@coventry.gov.uk

Book cover Book title and author Book introduction Websites for more information
Book cover:
Last tree
Book title and author:

Last Tree in the City by Peter Carnavas

Book introduction:

For ages 3+

Edward's city is a place of concrete and cars, a world without colour. Every day, Edward takes himself to a part of the city that is not like the city at all - the last tree in the city. He is happy there, until one day, the tree is gone. Edward (and his duck) eventually figure out a unique way to make the city more beautiful than it ever was before. 

Websites for more information:

Listen to the story.

Book cover:
Cyril lonely cloud
Book title and author: Cyril the Lonely Cloud by Tim Hopgood Book introduction:

For ages 3+ 

This beautiful and poignant story of a cloud called Cyril conveys positive messages about the life and colour that water brings to our world.

Websites for more information:

Watch Tim drawing Frankie from one of his other stories.

Book cover:
Wonders of nature
Book title and author: The Wonders of Nature by Ben Hoare, Angela Rizza and Daniel Long Book introduction:

For ages 7+

This compendium of amazing animals, plants, rocks and minerals, and microorganisms will wow children and many adults, too. With 100 remarkable items from the natural world, from orchids to opals and lichens to lizards, everyone will find something to be captivated by. 

Websites for more information:

Find out more about illustrator Angela Rizza in her studio.

Book cover:
Hope jones
Book title and author: Hope Jones Saves the World by Josh Lacey  Book introduction:

For ages 7+

Hope Jones' New Year's resolution is to give up plastic, and she's inspiring others to do the same with her website hopejonessavestheworld.com. When she realises her local supermarket seems to stock more unnecessary plastic than food, she makes it her mission to do something about it. She may be just one ten-year-old with a homemade banner, but with enough determination, maybe Hope Jones really can save the world. 

Websites for more information:

Listen to Josh read from one of his other Hope Jones books.

Book cover:
Greta s story
Book title and author: Greta’s Story by Valentina Camerini Book introduction:

For ages 9+

Greta Thunberg is the Swedish schoolgirl who dared to stand up to global inaction on climate change. What began as one girl's personal plea for environmental responsibility has now become a worldwide movement, with millions of followers also demanding changes to the ways in which we exploit our planet's natural resources. This book shares Greta's life-affirming story, showing how we can all join her and help to change the world.

Websites for more information:

Find out more about how Greta became famous.

Book cover:
October october
Book title and author: October, October by Katya Balen Book introduction: .

For ages 9+

October and her dad live in the woods. They know the trees and the rocks and the lake and stars like best friends. They live in the woods and they are wild. And that's the way it is.  Until the year October turns eleven. That's the year October rescues a baby owl. It's the year Dad falls out of the biggest tree in their woods. The year the woman who calls herself October's mother comes back. The year everything changes. This book is a feast for the senses, filled with the woodsmoke smell of crisp autumn mornings and the sound of wellies squelching in river mud. And, as October fights to find the space to be wild in the whirling chaos of the world beyond the woods, it is also a feast for the soul.

Websites for more information:

Hear Katya talk about her books.

Book cover:
Green rising
Book title and author: Green Rising by Lauren James Book introduction:

For young adults

Gabrielle is a climate-change activist who shoots to fame when she becomes the first teenager to display a supernatural ability to grow plants from her skin. Hester is the millionaire daughter of an oil tycoon and the face of the family business. Theo comes from a long line of fishermen, but his parents are struggling to make ends meet. On the face of it, the three have very little in common. Yet when Hester and Theo join Gabrielle and legions of other teenagers around the world in developing the strange new 'Greenfingers' power, it becomes clear that to use their ability for good, they'll need to learn to work together.

Websites for more information:

See Lauren talk about Green Rising.