The Best Months and Seasons Books for Kids

I love our resources for the new year! We started our new-year study of the passing of time with a months and seasons unit. At four times during the next year, we’ll have units featuring the current season. In this post, I’m sharing some of my favorite months and seasons books that have a general overview of months and seasons.

With the unit for each season, I’ll have a post with my favorite books for that specific season!

 

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links (at no cost to you).

Just choose books based on your child’s age and what you think will engage your child’s interest. I recommend checking out the “Read Sample” feature on Amazon and reading reviews there. Another place to learn about a book is on YouTube. You can typically see the entire book there. 

Montessori-friendly books use photos or realistic illustrations. They don’t have talking animals or a lot of fantasy. But many books that have fantasy and talking animals are wonderful books, and I love sharing them with children who understand the difference between fantasy and reality. I typically have a majority of Montessori-friendly books for a theme, but I include a variety of books that might not be Montessori-style books but that are simply lots of fun or are classic books that I consider an important part of cultural literacy.

Favorite Months and Seasons Books for Kids

I always have related books available throughout a unit. On the top shelf, Sunshine Makes the Seasons and Weather and the Seasons focus on the science and the seasons.

The Story Orchestra: Four Seasons in One Day is part of a fabulous series of musical books. The child presses musical buttons to hear parts of Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons. All my grandchildren love this series.

I have a book basket beside the shelf with a variety of months and seasons books. Most are Montessori-friendly books.

I typically share some baby/toddler books for each unit. For this unit, I don’t recommend general months and seasons books for babies. Since the general concepts of months and seasons is more abstract, I prefer using only books about the current season with babies. At this time of year in the Northern Hemisphere, I’d have at least one or two winter board books. For babies, I try to have Montessori-friendly books with photographs or realistic images whenever possible. Realistic touch-and-feel books are wonderful!

Favorite Books About Months for Toddlers and Preschoolers

Twelve Hats for Lena: A Book of Months by Karen Katz features each month in a hat Lena creates. There are many vocabulary concepts you can discuss with your toddler or preschooler in this Montessori-friendly book.

I really like The Turning of the Year by Bill Martin Jr. This Montessori-friendly book has one realistic image and poetic sentence for each month.

The Montessori-friendly book The Year at Maple Hill Farm was originally published in 1978. I used it (and loved it) in my Montessori school in the 1980s and with my now-adult kids! This book is perfect for a farm unit, too. We used it for our farm unit in the fall.

Favorite Books About Seasons for Toddlers and Preschoolers

In the Town All Year ‘Round is a super-fun book for Richard Scarry fans and children who love I Spy activities. It isn’t by Richard Scarry, but you’ll see many similarities in this German book about characters in the town engaging in their daily activities throughout the year (which is divided into the four seasons). It’s a Montessori-friendly book with very little text but many opportunities for visual discrimination, discussions, and vocabulary-building. Unfortunately, it’s out of print and difficult to find at a reasonable price.

The Seasons of Arnold’s Apple Tree is a wonderful Montessori-friendly book by Gail Gibbons with information about an apple tree throughout the year in the context of the story of a boy named Arnold. We used it in our apple unit last fall and two falls ago in a mini fall unit. It’s also great for a tree unit.

National Geographic Kids A Tree for all Seasons  shows a maple tree through the seasons with gorgeous photographs. It’s a Montessori-friendly book that’s perfect for a study of the seasons, a mini fall unit (or fall unit), or a tree unit.

During our tree unit, I showed the gorgeous Tree: A Peek-Through Picture Book by Britta Teckentrup with the lovely tree culture card from The Montessori Company that I’m hosting as a free instant download at Living Montessori Now. (Note: You can always access the free tree culture card here.) The book is used in many Montessori schools and is an inviting look at a tree and the animals in and around it through the seasons.

Watching the Seasons, and The Seasons are great Montessori-friendly books for introducing seasons to toddlers and preschoolers.

Favorite Books About Seasons for Both Preschoolers and Older Kids

In addition to Sunshine Makes the Seasons (which I showed on the top shelf in my earlier photo), I really like the Montessori-friendly book The Reasons for Seasons by Gail Gibbons for clear explanations of the seasons for preschoolers through early elementary.

Look here for more months and season books for kids to see new books when they’re published.

Here’s my post with my favorite winter books for kids:

More Months and Seasons Resources

• Free Months and Seasons Printables and Montessori-Inspired Months and Seasons Activities
• Free Seasons Cutting Strips (Montessori-Inspired Instant Download)
• Free Months and Seasons Songs and Educational Videos
• The Best Months and Seasons Books for Kids
• Free Months and Seasons Do-a-Dot Printables (Montessori-Inspired Phonics Instant Download)
• Montessori-Inspired Months and Seasons Work
• Simple Magnetic or Velcro Calendar Activity Using Free Printables
• Enliven Your Homeschool with Some Calendar Fun
• Monthly calendar observances and themed activities for kids.
• Free Back to School Songs and Rhymes for Circle Time (includes songs about days of the week, months, and seasons)
• Free New Year’s Songs and Rhymes for Circle Times (includes songs about months of the year)
• Montessori Birthday Celebration – a Lovely Celebration of Life Ceremony
• Montessori-Inspired Months and Seasons Activities for Hands-on Learning
• Montessori New Year’s Celebration (includes a fun way for young children to understand the science behind months and seasons)
• Free Tree Songs and Educational Videos {Learn about Trees, Apple Trees, and Seasons}
• Free Seasons of an Apple Tree Cutting Strips (Montessori-Inspired Instant Download)

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