Since 1970, people around the world have celebrated Earth Day on April 22nd. The celebration is meant to highlight the beauty and importance of the Earth, raise awareness of the need to protect the planet, and encourage environmentally-friendly action. From a Christian perspective, taking care of the Earth is all the more important because of the biblical call to responsible stewardship. The importance of contemplating Creation, too, is even more important in light of passages like Psalm 19 or Romans 1:20, which present Creation itself as an important way to understand the Creator.
The Earth has so much wonder and intricacy packed into it that we’ll surely never run out of treasures to discover—certainly not in our lifetimes and maybe ever. This list will highlight just a few books to help you encounter Creation (some of them have really cool pictures!), understand Creation, and steward Creation.
*Book descriptions provided by the publishers via the library catalog unless otherwise indicated.
The Lives of Moths: A Natural History of our Planet’s Moth Life by Andrei Sourakov and Rachel Warren Chadd
Moths are among the most underappreciated insects on the planet, yet they make up the majority of some 180,000 known species of Lepidoptera. Filled with striking images, The Lives of Moths looks at the remarkable world of these amazing and beautiful creatures. While butterflies may get more press than moths, Andrei Sourakov and Rachel Warren Chadd reveal that the lopsided attention is unjust. Moths evolved long before butterflies, and their importance cannot be overestimated. From the tiniest leaf miners to exotic hawk moths that are two hundred to three hundred times larger, these creatures are often crucial pollinators of flowers, including many that bloom at night or in twilight. The authors show that moths and their larvae are the main food source for thousands of animal species, and interact with other insect, plant, and vertebrate communities in ecosystems around the world, from tropical forests and alpine meadows to deserts and wetlands. The authors also explore such topics as evolution, life cycles, methods of communication, and links to humans. A feast of remarkable facts and details, The Lives of Moths will appeal to insect lovers everywhere.
The Lives of Fungi: A Natural History of Our Planet’s Decomposers by Britt Allen Bunyard
A fascinating and richly illustrated exploration of the natural history of fungi. We know fungi are important, for us as well as the environment. But how they live, and what they can do, remains mysterious and surprising. Filled with stunning photographs, The Lives of Fungi presents an inside look into their hidden and extraordinary world. The wonders of fungi are myriad: a mushroom poking up through leaf litter literally overnight, or the sensational hit of umami from truffle shavings. Alexander Fleming cured infections with mold and spiritual guides have long used psychedelic mushrooms to enhance understanding. Then there are the tiny threads of fungi, called hyphae, that create a communications network for the natural world while decomposing organic matter. Combining engaging and accessible text with beautiful images, The Lives of Fungi lays out all the essential facts about fungi for the mycologically curious.
Pilgrim at Tinker Creek by Annie Dillard
Pilgrim at Tinker Creek is the story of a dramatic year in Virginia’s Roanoke Valley. Annie Dillard sets out to see what she can see. What she sees are astonishing incidents of “beauty tangled in a rapture with violence.” Her personal narrative highlights one year’s exploration on foot in the Virginia region through which Tinker Creek runs. In the summer, Dillard stalks muskrats in the creek and contemplates wave mechanics; in the fall, she watches a monarch butterfly migration and dreams of Arctic caribou. She tries to con a coot; she collects pond water and examines it under a microscope. She unties a snake skin, witnesses a flood, and plays King of the Meadow with a field of grasshoppers. The result is an exhilarating tale of nature and its seasons.
For Love of Insects by Thomas Eisner
Beetles that spray boiling liquid as a defense, a walking stick called the “devil’s rider,” millipedes that use microscopic grappling hooks to entangle attackers. For Love of Insects by ecologist Thomas Eisner is an electrifying book about the huge world of small creatures. In addition to being an entomologist and chemical ecologist of the highest caliber, Eisner is also an engaging storyteller, meaning For Love of Insects is not only a highly informative read but a fun read as well. Follow Eisner’s younger self as he studies six-legged wonders across the world (initially while his Jewish family evaded Hitler in the 1930s and later as part of his research interests), collects whip scorpions in the Arizona desert, unlocks the mysteries behind that funny white pattern in the middle of spider webs (called a “stabilimentum”), and collaborates with other premier scientists of his day. The excitement of discovery practically oozes off the page, somehow communicating Eisner and his colleagues’ brilliant experimental design without falling into the drab language some might associate with scientific writing. The many large photographs and illustrations on almost every page help. (Description from this library book review.)
The Hidden Universe: Adventures in Biodiversity by Alexandre Antonelli
An unforgettable exploration of the natural world and the concept of biodiversity–what it is, why it matters, and how we as individuals can work to preserve it. We are now living in an environmental emergency. As climate change, habitat loss, and other threats have placed almost one-fifth of all species on Earth at risk of extinction in the coming decades, a deeper understanding of biodiversity has never been more important. Biodiversity encompasses the rich variety of all life on Earth – the building blocks of life that provide invaluable sources of food, medicine, clothing, building materials, and more. Marking the arrival of a bold new voice in popular science, The Hidden Universe shows readers what’s at stake in the fight to protect and restore biodiversity, but also what can and should be done now to protect our planet and ourselves for the future. As director of science at one of the world’s largest research organizations in plant and fungal sciences, Brazilian-born scientist Alexandre Antonelli is ideally suited to reveal the wonders of biodiversity at a genetic, species, and ecosystem level–what biodiversity is, how it works, and why it is the most important tool in our battle against climate change. Antonelli offers recommendations for large-scale political changes, as well as smaller, practical steps that readers can implement in their own lives and homes. With Antonelli as our guide, The Hidden Universe helps us imagine a future where biodiversity is not just preserved but cherished.
What’s Inside a Flower? by Rachel Ignotofsky
In the launch of a new nonfiction picture book series, Rachel Ignotofsky’s distinctive art style and engaging, informative text clearly answers any questions a child (or adult) could have about flowers. Have you ever wondered what’s inside a flower? Ignotofsky explores how flowers bloom from a tiny seed, the ways seeds travel, and much more.
The Insect Crisis: The Fall of the Tiny Empires That Run the World by Oliver Milman
A devastating examination of how collapsing insect populations worldwide threaten everything from wild birds to the food on our plate. From ants scurrying under leaf litter to bees able to fly higher than Mount Kilimanjaro, insects are everywhere. Three out of every four of our planet’s known animal species are insects. In The Insect Crisis, acclaimed journalist Oliver Milman dives into the torrent of recent evidence that suggests this kaleidoscopic group of creatures is suffering the greatest existential crisis in its remarkable 400-million-year history. What is causing the collapse of the insect world? Why does this alarming decline pose such a threat to us? And what can be done to stem the loss of the miniature empires that hold aloft life as we know it? With urgency and great clarity, Milman explores this hidden emergency, arguing that its consequences could even rival climate change. He joins the scientists tracking the decline of insect populations across the globe, including the soaring mountains of Mexico that host an epic, yet dwindling, migration of monarch butterflies; the verdant countryside of England that has been emptied of insect life; the gargantuan fields of U.S. agriculture that have proved a killing ground for bees; and an offbeat experiment in Denmark that shows there aren’t that many bugs splattering into your car windshield these days. These losses not only further tear at the tapestry of life on our degraded planet; they imperil everything we hold dear, from the food on our supermarket shelves to the medicines in our cabinets to the riot of nature that thrills and enlivens us. Even insects we may dread, including the hated cockroach, or the stinging wasp, play crucial ecological roles, and their decline would profoundly shape our own story. By connecting butterfly and bee, moth and beetle from across the globe, the full scope of loss renders a portrait of a crisis that threatens to upend the workings of our collective history. Part warning, part celebration of the incredible variety of insects, The Insect Crisis is a wake-up call for us all.
Wild Design: Nature’s Architects by Kimberly Ridley
Nature is the original architect, designing and building extraordinary structures through more than four billion years of evolution, and in response to the tremendous forces of the Earth. Wild Design celebrates stunning and functional forms in the world of animals, plants, and other organisms, as well as in earth, stone, and water. This illustrated compendium explores structures as intricate as the microscopic jewel-like diatoms, as flamboyant as the festooned leks of bowerbirds, and as mysterious as the underground fungal networks that shape the grand design of forests.
Beasts at Bedtime by Liam Heneghan
Talking lions, philosophical bears, very hungry caterpillars, wise spiders, altruistic trees, companionable moles, urbane elephants: this is the magnificent menagerie that delights our children at bedtime. Within the entertaining pages of many children’s books, however, also lie profound teachings about the natural world that can help children develop an educated and engaged appreciation of the dynamic environment they inhabit. In Beasts at Bedtime, scientist (and father) Liam Heneghan examines the environmental underpinnings of children’s stories. From Beatrix Potter to Harry Potter, Heneghan unearths the universal insights into our inextricable relationship with nature that underlie so many classic children’s stories. Some of the largest environmental challenges in coming years–from climate instability, the extinction crisis, freshwater depletion, and deforestation–are likely to become even more severe as this generation of children grows up. Though today’s young readers will bear the brunt of these environmental calamities, they will also be able to contribute to environmental solutions if prepared properly. And all it takes is an attentive eye: Heneghan shows how the nature curriculum is already embedded in bedtime stories, from the earliest board books like The Rainbow Fish to contemporary young adult classics like The Hunger Games. Beasts at Bedtime is an awakening to the vital environmental education children’s stories can provide–from the misadventures of The Runaway Bunny to more overt tales like The Lorax. Heneghan serves as our guide, drawing richly upon his own adolescent and parental experiences, as well as his travels in landscapes both experienced and imagined. Organized into thematic sections, the work winds its way through literary forests, colorful characters, and global environments. This book enthralls as it engages. Heneghan as a guide is as charming as he is insightful, showing how kids (and adults) can start to experience the natural world in incredible ways from the comfort of their own rooms. Beasts at Bedtime will help parents, teachers, and guardians extend those cozy times curled up together with a good book into a lifetime of caring for our planet.
The Deep by Claire Nouvian
In the oceans, living space has both vertical and horizontal dimensions: with an average depth of 3800 meters, the oceans offer 99% of the space where life can develop. And the deep sea, immersed in total darkness since the dawn of time, occupies 85% of ocean space, the planet’s largest habitat. Yet the deep sea is mostly uncharted–only about 5% of the seafloor has been mapped with any reasonable degree of detail–and we know very little about the creatures that call it home. Current estimates about the number of species yet to be found vary between ten and thirty million. The deep sea is without doubt Earth’s largest reservoir of life. Combining the latest scientific discoveries with astonishing color imagery, this book takes readers on a voyage into these dark realms, with more than two hundred color photographs of sea monsters, living fossils, and ethereal bioluminescent creatures.
The Life of the Cave by Charles E. Mohr
Color photographs and text examine living things that inhabit caves, their environment, adaptations for survival, food supply, and habits. Includes descriptions of cave formations, a glossary of terms, and a list of caves to be visited and explored.
Rebugging the Planet by Vicki Hird
Meet the intelligent insects, marvelous minibeasts, and inspirational invertebrates that help shape our planet—and discover how you can help them help us by rebugging your attitude today! Remember when there were bugs on your windshield? Ever wonder where they went? We need to act now if we are to help the insects survive. Robin Wall Kimmerer, David Attenborough, and Elizabeth Kolbert are but a few voices championing the rewilding of our world. Rebugging the Planet explains how we are headed toward “insectageddon” with a rate of insect extinction eight times faster than that of mammals or birds, and gives us crucial information to help all those essential creepy-crawlies flourish once more. Author Vicki Hird passionately demonstrates how insects and invertebrates are the cornerstone of our global ecosystem. They pollinate plants, feed birds, support and defend our food crops, and clean our water systems. They are also beautiful, inventive, and economically invaluable—bees, for example, contribute an estimated $235 to $577 billion to the US economy annually, according to Forbes. Rebugging the Planet shows us small changes we can make to have a big impact on our littlest allies: Learn how to rewild parks, schools, sidewalks, roadsides, and other green spaces. Leave your garden to grow a little wild and plant weedkiller-free, wildlife-friendly plants. Take your kids on a minibeast treasure hunt and learn how to build bug palaces. Make bug-friendly choices with your food and support good farming practices. Begin to understand how reducing inequality and poverty will help nature and wildlife too—it’s all connected. So do your part and start rebugging today! The bees, ants, earthworms, butterflies, beetles, grasshoppers, ladybugs, snails, and slugs will thank you-and our planet will thank you too.
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