Climate Education
The Life Changing Properties of Books
December 8, 2025
Let’s take a deep dive back into your childhood. Whether that was 10 or 60 years ago, can you recall the moment you read your favorite childhood book?
Perhaps you checked it out at a local library, maybe it was a birthday gift from your grandparents, or a parent took you to a bookstore. For me, that book was Winter’s Tail: How One Little Dolphin Learned to Swim Again, later adapted into the better-known 2011 film Dolphin Tale. My mom purchased this book for me when I was 7, and I fell in love with this mighty dolphin who learned to survive without her tail. I was so enthralled with this tale that I reread it until it fell apart at the spine. Her heartwarming story eventually inspired me to pursue wildlife biology.
Books are the quiet unsung heroes of our lives, especially when we are children. Every child deserves to read great books and here are five reasons why encouraging kids to read and love books can help create people with empathy, and even inspire future environmental enthusiasts.
1) Hear it, Read it
Bedtime stories are more impactful than you might think. Reading to your child can increase areas of the brain that allow humans to speak and write.
Books expose children to new vocabulary that they may not regularly hear. In fact, incoming kindergarteners who read one book a day hear 290,000 more words than kids who aren’t being read to, better preparing them to learn to read by themselves.
So grab a book and read your kid a story!
The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.
Dr. Seuss
2) Turning Pages, Turning Attention
While urbanization and technology has led to many advancements in the world, it has also resulted in a disconnection with the natural world. More than half of American adults report spending less than 5 hours a week outside, and modern-day toddlers spend an average of 2 hours a day with access to screens.
Though this is increasingly the norm, it is not beneficial to our wellbeing. Nature nurtures our mental health in many ways, curating better self-control, reducing stress, and improving our mood. The good news is you can feel connected to nature without having to be physically outside.
I love to escape to wild places — forests, mountains, rivers or the sea. If that’s not possible, I flee into books; vicarious travel is rejuvenating.
Jane Wilson‑Howarth, British physician, zoologist, and author
One way to foster this connection is by reading physical books, especially those rich in natural imagery or immersive storytelling, which allow the mind to explore new worlds. Unlike e-books and tablets, physically turning the pages of a book creates a “mental map” making the tales we read more real. By reading books families can engage in less screen time and find more meaningful ways to re-engage with the environment.
3) Borrowed Books = Responsibility
Local libraries are a bookworm’s dream. It’s a cozy, quiet space to escape from the outside world for an hour or two. However, people are using libraries less due to the accessibility of the internet. Compared to 2003, there is a 60% drop in registered library users worldwide.
That’s sad because community books and return deadlines help children and teens gain responsibility for communal items, which can translate into other aspects of their world- be it being nicer to their siblings and sharing toys to taking responsibility to care for our planet.
Reading should not be presented to children as a chore, a duty. It should be offered as a gift.
Kate DiCamillo, author of Because of Winn-Dixie
4) Read Anything. Care About Everything.
Children are especially influenced by indirect experiences, and research shows that they remember fiction books more than other types of reading
Fiction often includes anthropomorphism, fantasy or adventure narratives, and opportunities for incidental learning. By engaging with great stories, it is easier for children to develop meaningful conversations about the world around them and the environment.
We know that children experience climate anxiety, which is a feeling of anxiousness regarding climate change and its impact on human existence. Reading can help children be more optimistic and hear different narratives about how things can be improved.
If children don’t grow up knowing about nature and appreciating it, they will not understand it, and if they don’t understand it, they won’t protect it. And if they don’t protect it, who will?
Sir David Attenborough, British broadcaster, biologist, natural historian and writer
5) The Plot Thickens… and so Does Your Heart
There is a correlation between reading and increased empathy. That is because books represent different experiences that encourage reflection in our own lives. They allow us to connect to the broader human experiences.
Just as books can broaden our understanding by exposing us to experiences beyond our own, we must also recognize the realities faced by others—even for example, when the consequences are not immediately visible to us. So for example while countries in the South often pollute the least, they are frequently the most impacted by the pollution of the North. To combat this we need more climate empathy and one powerful way to cultivate it, is through reading. Books illuminate the challenges and solutions of our changing world and can inspire action and understanding.
Books are a vital part of our education system and climate literacy should be too; it is the foundation of mitigation, adaptation, and resilience and teaching the next generation about climate change is in itself a form of climate action. If you agree there is an urgent need for all nations to incorporate climate education in their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) as part of their climate plans, please add your name to our Climate Literacy Petition to pledge your support.
You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.
A.A. Milne (Winnie-the-Pooh)
To start your climate awareness why not check out Watt’s In a Book: 4 Energizing Reads on Renewable Power and 5 Books to Read to Save the Planet. Plus, here are free climate education resources for you to explore.
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