Book Review: Nature School: Planet Earth

Learning about the Earth, its place in the universe, what its made of and the creatures that live on it are all a part of understanding our place in the world and why the planet needs protection. Nature School: Planet Earth by Lauren Giordano, Stephanie Hathaway and Laura Stroup aims to inspire kids to learn about the world and explore and observe things around them.

The book starts with a wide view of the universe and solar system and where Earth fits in it. Each chapter zooms in closer, with information about the composition of the Earth, the hydrosphere, atmosphere and biosphere, aka life on Earth.

The chapters include short sections, fun facts and illustrations to keep kids engaged. Each chapter also includes activities kids can do, some of which involve writing in a nature journal and others that are more hands on. For example the solar system chapter asks kids to research a planet, build a solar system model and try sun printing, among other activities.

The book covers a lot of ground quickly. For example the chapter on the composition of the Earth goes over things like the Earth’s core, different kinds of soil, tectonic plates and how mountains are formed, geological characteristics and topography, different landforms and more, in the span of just a few pages.

Students around ages 6-12 should enjoy learning all about the Earth with this fun and colorful book, exploring the activities and engaging in their own investigations in the world around them. This book could supplement homeschool science learning materials or be used in the science center or library of the classroom as a reference book. Teachers could also pull activities from the book when learning about these topics in their regular science curriculum.

In addition to this book there is a companion workbook with more than 100 different activities and includes readings, puzzles, games and touches on art, reading, geography, science and more.

About the book: 144 pages, paperback. Published 2025 by Quarry Books. Suggested retail price $19.99

Growing Up Ladybug and How to Become a Butterfly are both by Stepanka Sekaninova and illustrated by Linh Dao, and they came out at the same time and are on similar themes, so let’s look at them together.

Growing Up Ladybug is narrated by Mariella, a seven-spot ladybug. She talks about the parts of a ladybug, where they live, different kinds of ladybugs, why humans love them, their defenses against predators and the life cycle of a ladybug.

The drawings are cute if not always scientifically accurate, it’s not in such a way that’s likely to confuse kids (who probably already know that ladybug mamas don’t push their larval babies around in strollers, for instance.

It’s a good general description of the life cycle of a lady bug and why we like having them around.

About the book: 32 pages, hardcover. Published 2026 by Albatross Media. Suggested retail price $16.95.

Similarly, How to Become a Butterfly covers the life cycle of a butterfly, starting with caterpillars eating burning nettle leaves. (Here Amanda is the narrator.) The book talks about a few of the more than 18,000 daytime butterflies in the world as well as other creatures that live in the meadow (there’s that ladybug again, along with crickets, bees and other bugs).

It also covers some of the enemies of caterpillars like wasps and spiders, and the defenses that caterpillars use to try to prevent being eaten. It illustrates how caterpillars grow and change as they molt and prepare to pupate, and what a caterpillar looks like before and while it is forming its chrysalis. And while the book uses the word metamorphasis it doesn’t really talk about what happens between the caterpillar forming a chrysalis and the butterfly hatching.

This butterfly is a peacock butterfly, and once it hatches the book covers the parts of a butterfly and the life cycle. It also talks about nocturnal moths (though it says nocturnal butterflies are “usually called moths” when moths are actually a different species) and what butterflies do at night.

I’m maybe a little hard on this book because my daughter is a butterfly expert from way back, but it is still cute and good for the very basic basics of the butterfly life cycle.

Both books would be fun additions to your bookshelf for younger kids starting to learn about different animals or who have an interest in insects.

About the book: 32 pages, hardcover. Published 2026 by Albatross Media. Suggested retail price $16.95.

Have you read?

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