21 Best Picture Books About Weather For Your Homeschool
This post shares 21 fantastic picture books about weather, as well as reasons why weather makes a perfect topic for your homeschool nature study, and how we go about using these picture books!
Our science book for the year is focusing on earth science, and our current chapter is all about weather. In reading through the chapter we’ve had many good discussions, and of course the next logical step was to go to the library and check out EVERY BOOK THEY OWN about weather. Because that is what one does, right??
The more I have thought about it, the more I am convinced that weather is a fabulous topic for nature study – for everyone, no matter their age or location!
When it comes to homeschool nature study with kids, simple is better than complex. In my experience, complicated plans rarely bear fruit – mostly because I get overwhelmed, run out of time, and just cannot do them! If you are looking for a simple way to begin your nature study, may I humbly suggest that you begin by looking… up?
Why Study the Weather?
Weather is a fantastic place to begin with your nature study for two simple reasons: 1) everyone has it and 2) you don’t have to leave your house to observe it.
Not everyone has easy access to forests, large bodies of water, or fantastic zoos. Those who live in a big city might have a hard time getting out to an expansive wilderness. Those of us here in Wisconsin can only dream about tide pools and ocean life. However, whether you live in the middle of New York City, in a mountain cottage in Colorado, or in the middle of Antarctica, everyone has weather, every single day.
Paying attention to the weather requires no special tools or training. You barely even have to leave your house (though you might get a better view by stepping outside)! Furthermore, the weather (usually) changes throughout the year, which means that you will have the opportunity to observe and learn about many different types of weather without once leaving your yard.
How to Begin Studying the Weather
Again, let’s keep it simple. Most of our nature study happens by reading about it and observing it. We do not usually do complicated projects, elaborate field trips, or all-day excursions. We check out a lot of books from the library, read the ones that pique our interest (not always all of them), and head outside to observe it for ourselves!
Weather fits perfectly into this model. You could check out a pile of books from the library, ask your kids which ones look interesting to them, read them aloud, and talk about it a little bit. Then, the next time you’re outside, simply take a minute to look up and notice what you see. Notice what you feel! Rinse and repeat, and boom – there’s your nature study.
Some of these books are more of a story, some are more a collection of facts. Some are geared towards younger kids, and some towards older kids. I tried to gather a good variety of different styles of picture books, but they are all books that drew us in and made us want to read more. Happy reading!
Best Picture Books About Weather
- Sometimes Rain by Meg Fleming
- On the Same Day in March by Marilyn Singer
- Rain School by James Rumford
- Water is Water by Miranda Paul (because so much of weather is related to the water cycle!)
- The Cloud Book by Tomie dePaola
- Snowflake Bentley by Jacqueline Martin
- Over and Under the Snow by Kate Messner (plus the others in this series)
- Thunder Cake by Patricia Polacco
- Hurricane by Jason Chin
- The Magic School Bus Inside a Hurricane by Joanna Cole
- Raindrops Roll by April Sayre
- When the Sky Glows by Nell Beckerman
- Feel the Fog by April Sayre
- Eyewitness Weather by DK Publishing
- Eyewitness Hurricane and Tornado by DK Publishing
- The Secret Life of a Snowflake by Kenneth Libbrecht
- Look at the Weather by Britta Teckentrup
- It’s Raining by Gail Gibbons
- Everything Weather by National Geographic
- The Storm Book by Charlotte Zolotow
- The Kids’ Book of Weather Forecasting by Mark Breen
Conclusion
Happy cloud-gazing, storm-hunting, and weather-watching! And as always, let me know in the comments if there are any books I missed. Have you read any of these already? Are any of your kids interested in watching the weather? Are YOU interested in watching the weather?
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