Children's books and activities
Oceans, Rivers and Ponds
Do you know any kids who are happiest swimming in a freshwater lake, body surfing in the ocean, or launching a homemade boat down a stream? Or kids who are curious about ocean tides, the physics of water, and the amazing variety of aquatic animals?
Try pairing fiction with nonfiction books and exploring different genres (like poetry and biographies) and formats (like graphic novels and audio books). You'll be creating your own "text sets" — collections of texts focused on a specific topic, such as water, oceans, rivers, and ponds. Reading widely in this way helps children build background knowledge, vocabulary, and comprehension skills.
You might also want to explore our River Rangers summer science program, with a free toolkit ready to print and use!
Great Fiction & Nonfiction Books
Age Level: 3-6 years old
Print List
All the Water in the World
By: George Ella Lyon
Age Level: 3-6 years old
Nonfiction
Rich, rhythmic language combines with lush illustration to poetically describe the water cycle...
Bear Came Along
By: Richard T. Morris
Age Level: 3-6 years old
Fiction
Once there was a river flowing through a forest. The river didn't know it was capable of...
Blue Floats Away
By: Travis Jonker
Age Level: 3-6 years old
Concept Book
A little iceberg strikes out on a big journey in this picture book that explores the wonders of...
Crustacean Vacation
By: Brian Benoit
Age Level: 3-6 years old
Deep in the Ocean
By: Lucie Brunellière
Age Level: 3-6 years old
Nonfiction
A little silver submarine maneuvers past masses of busy waterfowl and sea life to plunge from...
Elizabeth, Queen of the Seas
By: Lynne Cox
Age Level: 3-6 years old
Fiction
Most elephant seals live in the ocean but one prefers the Avon River in Christchurch, New...
Have You Seen My Duckling?
By: Nancy Tafuri
Age Level: 3-6 years old
An anxious mother duck leads her brood around the pond as she searches for one missing duckling...
Hello Ocean / Hola Mar
By: Pam Muñoz Ryan
Age Level: 3-6 years old
Here Come the Humpbacks!
By: April Sayre
Age Level: 3-6 years old
Nonfiction
Hey, Water!
By: Antoinette Portis
Age Level: 3-6 years old
Nonfiction
An introduction to the water cycle and water conservation for the youngest readers. Join a young...
If You Want to See a Whale
By: Julie Fogliano
Age Level: 3-6 years old
In the Small, Small Pond
By: Denise Fleming
Age Level: 3-6 years old
Jump into Science: Coral Reefs
By: Sylvia Earle
Age Level: 3-6 years old
Readers explore a coral reef with a snorkeling young swimmer and see what the swimmer sees as...
Kumak's River: A Tale from the Far North
By: Michael Bania
Age Level: 3-6 years old
Spring comes to a remote Alaskan village, and the ice on the frozen river cracks and breaks and...
Leopard & Silkie: One Boy's Quest to Save the Seal Pups
By: Brenda Peterson
Age Level: 3-6 years old
Looking Closely Along the Shore
By: Frank Serafini
Age Level: 3-6 years old
Looking Closely Around the Pond
By: Frank Serafini
Age Level: 3-6 years old
Make Way for Ducklings
By: Robert McCloskey
Age Level: 3-6 years old
Fiction
Mrs. Mallard was sure that the pond in the Boston Public Gardens would be a perfect place for...
Mr. Gumpy's Outing
By: John Burningham
Age Level: 3-6 years old
Fiction
Mr. Gumpy lives by a river. One sunny day he decides to take a ride in his small boat. It is...
On the Way to the Beach
By: Henry Cole
Age Level: 3-6 years old
Young readers are invited to look and listen as they join a girl on a summer morning walk to the...
Out of the Ocean
By: Debra Frasier
Age Level: 3-6 years old
Scaredy Squirrel at the Beach
By: Melanie Watt
Age Level: 3-6 years old
Seashells: Treasures from the Northeast Coast
By: Joanne Roach-Evans
Age Level: 3-6 years old
Swamp Chomp
By: Lola Schaefer
Age Level: 3-6 years old
Nonfiction
As swamp residents move, water ripples and the creatures munch, gulp, swallow and more. Short,...
The Seashore Book
By: Charlotte Zolotow
Age Level: 3-6 years old
The Water Walker
By: Joanne Robertson
Age Level: 3-6 years old
Fiction
The determined story of an Ojibwe grandmother (nokomis), Josephine Mandamin, and her great love...
Trout Are Made of Trees
By: April Sayre
Age Level: 3-6 years old
Nonfiction
Undersea Animals: A Dramatic Dimensional Visit to Strange Underwater Realms
By: Jane Buxton
Age Level: 3-6 years old
Water Is Water
By: Miranda Paul
Age Level: 3-6 years old
Nonfiction
Lyrical language and handsome, realistic watercolors present water in its many forms, from...
Wave
By: Suzy Lee
Age Level: 3-6 years old
We Are Water Protectors
By: Carole Lindstrom
Age Level: 3-6 years old
Fiction
An Ojibwe girl confronts a grave situation by channeling age-old wisdom. The “black snake” of an...
Where the River Begins
By: Thomas Locker
Age Level: 3-6 years old
Fiction
Wow! Ocean
By: Robert Neubecker
Age Level: 3-6 years old
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Print List
A Drop of Water
By: Walter Wick
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Nonfiction
Filled with stop-action and close-up photography, this book features images like a single...
A River
By: Marc Martin
Age Level: 6-9 years old
There's a river outside my window. Where will it take me? So begins the imaginary journey of a...
A River Ran Wild: An Environmental History
By: Lynne Cherry
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Nonfiction
Learn how the modern-day descendants of the Nashua Indians and European settlers were able to...
Along the Tapajós
By: Fernando Vilela
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Fiction
Cauã and Inaê are a brother and sister who live in a small community along the Tapajós River in...
At the Sea Floor Cafe: Odd Ocean Critter Poems
By: Leslie Bulion
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Poems introduce sea creatures and their habitats using different poetic forms (e.g., concrete,...
Beavers
By: Gail Gibbons
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Nonfiction
Beavers are fascinating animals. They build their own homes and live in family groups. They keep...
Bowhead Whale
By: Joanasie Karpik
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Meet bowhead whales in this slim but fact-filled volume. Dramatic illustrations add detail and...
Coral Reefs
By: Jason Chin
Age Level: 6-9 years old
A girl is transported from the library to an underwater world where she observes coral reefs and...
Deep Sea Floor
By: Sneed Collard
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Rich, realistic illustrations accompany clear text as readers explore what lives in the ocean,...
Dolphins
By: Penelope Arlon
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Splendid photographs are used along with a crisp, easier to read narrative to introduce dolphins...
Droughts
By: Melissa Stewart
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Nonfiction
Where do droughts happen? How do we know that we are in a drought? Why is rainfall important?...
Everglades
By: Jean Craighead George
Age Level: 6-9 years old
As an Indian storyteller guides a boat of children down the sea of grass, he reveals the story...
Explore Rivers and Ponds!
By: Carla Mooney
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Nonfiction
From puddles to lakes, streams to rivers, and bogs to swamps, each body of water contains an...
Face to Face with Manatees
By: Brian Skerry
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Face to Face with Sharks
By: David Doubilet, Jennifer Hayes
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Underwater photographers, Hayes & Doubilet, provide basic information about their work as...
Flotsam
By: David Wiesner
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Follow the Moon Home: A Tale of One Idea, Twenty Kids, and a Hundred Sea Turtles
By: Philippe Cousteau, Deborah Hopkinson
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Nonfiction
To help baby loggerhead turtles find their way back to the sea, a group of children involve the...
Follow the Water from Brook to Ocean
By: Arthur Dorros
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Nonfiction
Galápagos Girl / Galapagueña
By: Marsha Diane Arnold
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Nonfiction
As a Galápagueña, Valentina spends her days observing the natural world around her. This...
Home for a Penguin, Home for a Whale
By: Brenda Williams
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Nonfiction
With lyrical rhymes, readers explore a dazzling underwater menagerie. Each rhyming couplet gives...
I Know the River Loves Me / Yo se que el rio me ama
By: Maya Christina Gonzalez
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Fiction
Whenever Maya visits the river, the river jumps up to greet her. It cools her when the summer...
Lotus and Feather
By: Ji-li Jiang
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Inspired by the true story of a crane that rescued a Chinese village. One day, when a village...
Marshes and Swamps
By: Gail Gibbons
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Nonfiction
Get an introduction to the concept of wetlands (swamps have trees, and marshes do not) and learn...
McElligot's Pool
By: Dr. Seuss
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Fiction
A small boy is fishing in the tiny, unpromising McElligot's Pool, a puddle that is nothing but a...
Meadowlands: A Wetlands Survival Story
By: Thomas R. Yezerski
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Nonfiction
The 20,000 acres of wetlands in New Jersey now known as the Meadowlands were once home to...
Nya's Long Walk: A Step at a Time
By: Linda Sue Park
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Fiction
With compassion, the creators present younger readers with a portrait of a life in which...
Ocean Soup: Tide-Pool Poems
By: Stephen Swinburne
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Meet a sea anemone, sea urchin, a sculpin and other inhabitants of a tide pool through poems (in...
Oceans
By: Seymour Simon
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Oil Spill
By: Melvin Berger
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Nonfiction
Did you know that an oil spill occurs somewhere in the world almost every day of the year? This...
Olivia's Birds: Saving the Gulf
By: Olivia Bouler
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Nonfiction
One 11 year-old girl can make a difference, as young ornithologist and artist Olivia Bouler has...
Otters Love to Play
By: Jonathan London
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Nonfiction
Head to the river, where a frolicsome bunch of otters plays all year round. Follow the baby...
Over and Under the Pond
By: Kate Messner
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Discover the plants and animals that make up the rich, interconnected ecosystem of a mountain...
Pond and River
By: Steve Parker
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Nonfiction
River
By: Debby Atwell
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Explore the changes that occur through the centuries along a riverbank, from the arrival of the...
River Wild: An Activity Guide to North American Rivers
By: Nancy F. Castaldo
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Nonfiction
Learn about the formation of rivers, the water cycle, and the variety of habitats that exist...
Rivers of Sunlight
By: Molly Bang
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Nonfiction
How does the sun keep ocean currents moving and lift fresh water from the seas? What can we do...
Seashells: More Than a Home
By: Melissa Stewart
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Nonfiction
Young naturalists discover thirteen seashells in this elegant introduction to the remarkable...
Song of the Water Boatman and Other Pond Poems
By: Joyce Sidman
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Nonfiction
From spring’s first thaw to autumn’s chill, the world of the pond is a dramatic place. Though...
The Big Rivers: the Missouri, the Mississippi, and the Ohio
By: Bruce Hiscock
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Nonfiction
The Boxcar Children: Houseboat Mystery
By: Gertrude Chandler Warner
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Henry, Jessie, Violet, and Benny used to live alone in a boxcar. Now they have a home with heir...
The Magic School Bus on the Ocean Floor
By: Joanna Cole
Age Level: 6-9 years old
The Open Ocean
By: Francesco Pittau, Bernadette Gervais
Age Level: 6-9 years old
The Raft
By: Jim LaMarche
Age Level: 6-9 years old
The Ultimate Book of Water
By: Anne-Sophie Baumann
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Nonfiction
Discover the fascinating world of water! From a tiny drop to an enormous ocean, one of Earth's...
The Vast Wonder of the World: Biologist Ernest Everett Just
By: Mélina Mangal
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Nonfiction
Ernest Everett Just was not like other scientists of his time. His keen observations of sea...
The Water Princess
By: Susan Verde, Georgie Badiel
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Fiction
Princess Gie Gie’s kingdom is a beautiful land. But clean drinking water is scarce and she...
Three Days on a River in a Red Canoe
By: Vera B. Williams
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Water Rolls, Water Rises/El agua rueda, el agua sube
By: Pat Mora
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Poetry
Evocative watercolors and short, lyrical poems take readers on a trip, “Around our round world”...
Water Sings Blue: Ocean Poems
By: Kate Coombs
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Translucent watercolors and short, varied poems take readers on a trip to the sea. There they...
Water Sources
By: Rebecca Olien
Age Level: 6-9 years old
How much water is on Earth? This title introduces readers to the different places on Earth water...
Water Wonders: The Curious Adventures of Sydney & Symon / Las Maravillas del agua
By: Peter H. Reynolds, Paul A. Reynolds
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Fiction
In this bilingual book, two young scientists, Sydney and Symon Starr, a sister and brother team...
Age Level: 9-12 years old
Print List
A River of Words: The Story of William Carlos Williams
By: Jen Bryant
Age Level: 9-12 years old
When he wrote poems, he felt as free as the Passaic River as it rushed to the falls. Willie’s...
Caught in the Rapids (Science to the Rescue)
By: Felicia Law
Age Level: 9-12 years old
During a trip to survey a river, Dr. Bea and Joe are suddenly swept into the water, and must use...
Encantado: Pink Dolphin of the Amazon
By: Sy Montgomery
Age Level: 9-12 years old
Flush
By: Carl Hiaasen
Age Level: 9-12 years old
Noah's dad is sure that the owner of the Coral Queen casino boat is flushing raw sewage into the...
Make a Splash! A Kid’s Guide to Protecting Our Oceans, Lakes, Rivers and Wetlands
By: Cathryn Berger Kaye, Philippe Cousteau
Age Level: 9-12 years old
Nonfiction
This book teaches elementary kids about the earth’s water crisis and empowers them to do...
Muddy Max: The Mystery of Marsh Creek
By: Elizabeth Rusch
Age Level: 9-12 years old
Max and his soil scientist parents live in a marsh where Max discovers mud’s special properties...
One Well: The Story of Water on Earth
By: Rochelle Strauss
Age Level: 9-12 years old
Nonfiction
All water is connected. Every raindrop, lake, underground river and glacier is part of a single...
Paddle-to-the-Sea
By: Holling Clancy Holling
Age Level: 9-12 years old
River of Words: Young Poets and Artists on the Nature of Things
By: Pamela Michael
Age Level: 9-12 years old
The California-based River of Words trains teachers, park naturalists, and others to incorporate...
Rivers: A Visual History from River to Sea
By: Peter Goes
Age Level: 9-12 years old
Nonfiction
Our seas and rivers tell a compelling story about our planet. Take a journey along the most...
Science Comics: Sharks: Nature's Perfect Hunter
By: Joe Flood
Age Level: 9-12 years old
Sharks often get a bad reputation from movies and television but they’re crucial to a healthy...
Slickety Quick: Poems About Sharks
By: Skila Brown
Age Level: 9-12 years old
A poem about the well-known Great White begins this handsomely illustrated collection of poems...
The Aquarium Book
By: George Ancona
Age Level: 9-12 years old
Nonfiction
The Negro Speaks of Rivers
By: Langston Hughes
Age Level: 9-12 years old
Poetry
Dazzling watercolors turn Hughes' short poem into an unforgettable glimpse of African...
The Next Wave: The Quest to Harness the Power of the Oceans
By: Elizabeth Rusch
Age Level: 9-12 years old
Journey to the wave-battered coast of the Pacific Northwest to meet some of the engineers and...
Water: A Deep Dive of Discovery
By: Christy Mihaly
Age Level: 9-12 years old
Concept Book
A friendly water droplet character guides children through topics ranging from melting and...
White Water! National Geographic Kids
By: Brenna Maloney
Age Level: 9-12 years old
From hippo attacks on the Okavango River to Chitina headwaters in Alaska, this chapter book is...
Wild River
By: P.J. Petersen
Age Level: 9-12 years old
Twelve-year-old Ryan goes kayaking and fishing on a California river with his older brother,...
Hands-on Activities
Build on what you're learning together through books with these family-friendly activities, experiments, and crafts.
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5 Homemade Boats
Craftulate -
Blow Fish Toy
Made by Joel -
Build a Dam and Explore Water Flow
PBS Parents -
Build a Watershed
PBS KIDS Plum Landing -
Build an Aqueduct
PBS Parents -
Cardboard Ships
Ikat Bag -
Craft a Craft
Start with a Book -
Daily Water Log
Waterways -
Deep Sea Diver
PBS Sci Girls -
Design a Rain Garden
Start with a Book -
Is There Kelp in Your Cupboard?
Monterrey Bay Aquarium -
Little Drifters
Makezine -
Make a Water Filter
Start with a Book -
Ocean in a Bottle
The Imagination Tree -
Oil Slick
San Diego Zoo -
Oil Spill Challenge
Start with a Book -
Pond Dipping
Woodland Trust -
Pond Dwellers
National Wildlife Federation -
Race Sticks Down a Stream
National Wildlife Federation -
River Music
Start with a Book -
Roman Aqueduct
Bright Hub Education -
Salt Dough Fossils
The Imagination Tree -
Soap-Powered Model Boat
Science Bob -
Stuff to Do Outside
Discover the Forest -
Tidepool Aquascope
Monterrey Bay Aquarium -
Wall Porthole
KiwiCo -
Water Conservation at Home
Project Learning Tree -
Water Detective
Start with a Book -
Water Scope
National Wildlife Federation -
Water Strider
Science Buddies -
Water Wall
Babble Dabble Do -
Water Wheel
Green Kid Crafts -
Water, Ice and Steam
Start with a Book
Summer Writing
Give kids a chance to flex their writing muscles all summer long. Try one of these prompts, selected from our writing contest archives and other literacy organizations.
Great Websites for Kids
Dive deeper into topics of interest with these media-rich and interactive sites.
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Brain Pop: Earth Systems
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Brain Pop: Our Fragile Environment
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Build a Fish
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California Academy of Sciences: Live Webcams
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Conservation in the Deep Sea
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Discover Water
-
EcoKids
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Gizmos: Earth's Oceans and Water Effects
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How's My Waterway? (EPA)
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Humpback Whale Migration Game
-
Kids Recycling Guide
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Lakes and Ponds
-
Monterey Bay Aquarium Games
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My Submarine Explorer: Creatures and Features
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National Aquarium
-
National Geographic Kids
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Nature Find: Find Parks, Trails, and Other Nature Sites Near You
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Ocean Adventures: Shark Protector
-
Ocean Adventures: Whale Watcher
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Oil Spill
-
PBS Kids: Plum Landing
-
Sea and Sky
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Sortify: Continents and Oceans Game
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Water Cycle Game: The Blue Traveler
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Whale Sounds
Great Podcasts for Kids
Listen and learn with these podcasts especially for kids. These podcasts are free and easy to listen to from any device via Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, or Stitcher — or from Listen Notes, a podcast search engine.
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Curious About Oceans
Curious Kid Podcast
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Fun Kids Science Weekly
Fun Kids
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Ocean of Life
Aaron's World (Season 3)
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The Big Melt
Earth Rangers / Gen-Z Media
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The Journey to the Deepest Part of the Ocean
Tumble Science Podcast
-
The Voyage of the Ocean Trash
Tumble Science Podcast
Educational Apps
Educational apps recommended by Common Sense Media and other trusted reviewers.
More Themed Resources
Growing Readers Tip Sheets
Simple activities for parents and kids to do together to build reading, writing, and critical thinking skills. Read online or print the PDF.
