Children’s picture books: biomes of the world
We recently completed a biomes study for geography, and my children really enjoyed it! Each week we explored a different biome, and we recorded them on our colour-in maps of the world. A week didn’t really feel long enough for each biome, and I think we could actually have extended this project over a full year. It was a lot of fun!
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Core biomes resources
World Map colour-in wrapping paper (eatsleepdoodle)
Our central ‘spine’ for this project was locating the different biomes and colouring them in on maps of the world. For this we used the eatsleepdoodle World Map colour-in wrapping paper, which comes in packs of three sheets, and was inexpensive. I had considered buying their colour-in tablecloth instead, but then we would have needed to share one map.
The maps worked pretty well for our purposes, but the animals were sometimes in the way of where we wanted to draw in different biomes. I think it would have been good to think a bit about the colour ‘key’ before starting. For example, we began with polar regions, which would ideally have been white, but the children were eager to colour them ‘something’, so some went for light blue and others for purple, but those colours were also in demand for tundra. Planning and making sure you have a good range of colours available is a help!
First Geography Encyclopedia (DK)
To aid us in drawing the biomes on the map, we used the First Geography Encyclopedia from Dorling Kindersley which was also a helpful resource for many of our biomes.
We also began our project by looking at climate using a lesson from Mystery Science called Why are some places always hot? I don’t think I would recommend getting a Mystery Science subscription just for this one lesson, but they often have good trials available, and some of you may already subscribe.
This was a good project for getting us thinking about key vocabulary and concepts such as ‘climate’, and how weather patterns can vary in different regions of the world.
It is also helpful if children have some basic understanding about the earth’s rotation and tilt, and why we have seasons. I would recommend The Reason for the Seasons by Gail Gibbons, accompanied by an inflatable globe and a torch.
Polar Regions
I have a post with a larger range of suggestions for studying the polar regions here.
First Animal Encyclopedia: Polar Animals
This is very much an information book, but it has lovely pictures and lots of useful information. It has pages on topics such as animal adaptations for the arctic climate, seals and sea lions, food chains, and the migration of whales. It is also useful for the Tundra biome.
Frozen Planet (BBC television series)
I really enjoyed this David Attenborough wildlife series from the BBC, which gives a good flavour for life in the polar regions, including the tundra. However, there are some gory moments!
There is now a Frozen Planet II available. You can get a feel for the series here.
Tundra
We continued to use the First Animal Encyclopedia: Polar Animals book listed above, looking at pages 12-15. There is also a specific Frozen Planet II episode on Tundra and Taiga. If I were doing this study again, I would try to get a tundra specific book if possible. One Small Square: Arctic Tundra by Donald Silver is a possibility.
Arctic Lights, Arctic Nights
Debbie S. Miller
One possibility for Tundra and Taiga biomes is this beautiful book about Alaska from Debbie Miller. The book charts a year in Alaska, explaining how the daylight changes from month to month, and how this affects the local wildlife. The pictures are beautiful and very evocative. I actually purchased this book for a project on seasons, but I think it could be a good fit here.
Desert
It is helpful to clarify for children that not all deserts are hot. The definition of a desert is based on its precipitation levels (rainfall). For example, Antarctica is actually the largest desert in the world.
The desert is a great biome for looking at animal and plant adaptations to their environment. For example, cacti and camels have several obvious adaptations to help them to thrive in difficult locations.
Cactus Hotel
Brenda Guiberson
We really enjoyed this picture book about the life cycle of a Saguaro cactus, and the birds and animals which depend on it.
Life in the Gobi Desert (Penguin Young Readers)
Ginger Clarke
This book is designed for children to read themselves. The Gobi desert isn’t one which is typically studied (e.g. I know far more about the Sahara), and I enjoyed looking at the regions and wildlife of the Gobi with my children, through this fairly simple little book. I had come across Pallas’s cat, but I hadn’t realised that the naturalist Peter Simon Pallas featured in the names of so many animals and birds!
Quite simple text, but some nice pictures.
Grasslands
It was helpful to start our study by drawing in the grasslands on our world maps. We noticed that grasslands are often right next to desert regions. This led to a discussion about rainfall levels in grasslands, which are high enough to sustain grasses, but not trees.
We also enjoyed learning about the names for grasslands in different parts of the world, such as prairie, savanna and steppe.
How to be an Elephant
Katherine Roy
There is a lot of detailed information in this picture book about a baby elephant growing up on the African savanna! I was surprised by the length of the book and the complexity of the vocabulary. Probably a better choice for older children, or those who are really interested in this theme.
I particularly liked the page called ‘Common Ground’ which has a lovely visual about how many other animals are able to live in the same space need to support one African Elephant. It tied in with other conversations we had been having about food chains and populations.
Rainforest
My children loved making a rainforest diorama to reinforce our learning about the layers of the rainforest. We used this model on TPT to simplify the process.
The Great Kapok Tree
Lynne Cherry
A wonderful story book about the various animals who depend on a single Kapok tree in the Amazon rainforest. My children were captivated by this book.
Oceans
The oceans biome is so vast and so varied, that is really several biomes, and I wish we could have given it significantly more time in order to do the oceans justice. We chose to particularly focus on coral reefs, as it was a topic we didn’t know much about.
The Brilliant Deep: Rebuilding the World’s Coral Reefs
Kate Messner and Matthew Forsythe
This beautifully illustrated picture book tells the story of a gentleman called Ken Nedimyer who has worked to restore coral reefs in the Florida Keys. It is quite a specific theme, and I think we would have got more out of the book if we had researched coral more generally first, and understood more about what coral is, and how it reproduces.
I think this book would probably be better read as part of a larger project on coral reefs, rather than as a single book study on the theme.
What next?
There are many biomes that we didn’t even begin to explore, such as taiga, saltmarshes, temperate forest and caves. Do you have a favourite biome, or book about a biome? Let me know in the comments below!
