Children’s Library Corner: Spring Books for Kids

Bookshelf with children's books and toys. Text: "Children's Library Corner"

Everything is coming alive with the new spring season. As nature wakes up and the earth begins to warm, celebrate the season with books about spring. We have a list of our favorites by local authors and illustrators, as well as some classic favorites, to add to your library order.

Spring Book Themes

Seasonal Changes

Another spring treasure is In Like a Lion, Out Like a Lamb by Minnesota author Marion Dane Bauer, who understands the longing for warmer weather. The month of March, personified at first by a lion, prances through the main character’s home leaving a trail of snow and ice in his wake. But soon, the rhythmic text builds anticipation and brings forth March as the gentle lamb, who emerges as a little ball of fluff, leaving a trail flowers, sunshine, and green shoots in her wake. We can only hope this March will take a cue from Bauer’s lovely book and leave us enjoying the gentle sun of a warm spring day!

More Books About The Changing Season

    • Goodbye Winter, Hello Spring by Kenard Pak
    • Wind by Marion Dane Bauer
    • Snowman – Cold = Puddle: Spring Equations Laura Purdie Salas
    • A Little Book About Spring by Leo Lionni

Out and About

We love Como Park & Zoo for exploring all the seasons, but we love the beauty of spring at the park so much that we’ve created a checklist of family fun ideas: Family Fun: Como Park Zoo: Conservatory Spring Checklist.

Kids playing near the "Frog Pond" at Como Regional Park in St. Paul, Minnesota
A Busy Spring Afternoon at the Como Frog Pond

Mud, Dirt & Water

First, how can you think about Spring without thinking of mud? The book Mud to be exact, by Mary Lyn Ray and illustrated by the Twins Cities’ own Lauren Stringer. This book celebrates the change of winter’s cold ice into spring’s gloppy mess and kids will love to see the main character revel in the goopy, gloppy mess. Just keep in mind that your kids may remember this book as the puddles emerge, so beware, and please don’t blame us for any muddy footprints you might find!

More Books About Mud, Dirt & Water

    • Ten Beautiful Things by Molly Beth Griffin — One of the 10 beautiful things is the smell of mud.
    • Outdoor Science Lab for Kids: 52 Family-Friendly Experiments for the Yard, Garden, Playground, and Park
      Liz Lee Heinecke
    • Harry the Dirty Dog by Gene Zion
    • Water Is Water: A Book about the Water Cycle by Miranda Paul
    • Worm Weather by Jean Taft
    • Up in the Garden and Down in the Dirt by Kate Messner

Out and About

After reading this book. Go out and get muddy. Some of our favorite places to get muddy are Nature Playgrounds in the Twin Cities.

Kids playing in the sand at Springbrook Nature Center
Young girls dig in the mud at Springbrook Nature Center

Baby Animals

Last, we have Gossie by Oliver Dunrea. Not so much a book about the change in seasons, but how can a person think about warmer weather and not think about adorable baby animals? Gossie, our small protagonist, is a gosling who wears her red boots all day, every day. She is horrified when one day she finds they are missing from the barnyard, and stops at nothing to find them. Sure, it’s a simple story, but the illustrations are lovely and extremely appealing to kids, especially those who have a favorite item they can’t do without.

More Books About Baby Animals

    • Little Quack by Lauren Thompson (Illustrated by Derek Anderson)
    • A Baby Like You by Catherine Thimmesh
    • ABC Bunny by Wanda Gag – This book was recently released as a board book by Minnesota Historical Press. Read my review at the link.

Out and About

Hand holding three yellow chicks.
Little Hands Holding Baby Chicks

Life Cycles and Migrating Birds

Spring is an exciting time to study life cycles of animals and plants in the natural world. Tadpoles are hatching, migrating birds and monarch butterflies are returning from their southern sojourns, gardens are starting to sprout forth, and of course the babies are being born. Hungry Coyote by Cheryl Blackford follows an urban coyote and its family through the seasons and demonstrates how all animals have life cycles and seasonal rotations.

More Books About Birds

    • A House for Every Bird Megan Maynor
    • Hello, Mandarin Duck! by Bao Phi
    • The Very Hungry Caterpillar and/or The Tiny Seed by Eric Carle
    • Fletcher and the Springtime Blossoms by Julia Rawlinson

Out and About

Robin feeding its young.
Mother robin feeding her baby birds

We hope you can add some of these reads to your library book box this spring. Leave us a comment to let us know what you think of the books you check out and if you have a favorite spring-themed book that needs to be on this list, let us know about that, too! Happy Spring Reading to All!


Note: This article includes affiliate links to Bookshop.org, an online bookstore with a mission to financially support local, independent bookstores. Family Fun Twin Cities receives a small commission on books ordered through our link. If you want to find a specific local bookstore to support, find them on this map and they’ll receive the full profit off your order. Otherwise, your order will contribute to an earnings pool that will be evenly distributed among independent bookstores (even those that don’t use Bookshop). Learn more here.


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