Earth Day

Every April, we honor our planet on Earth Day with a selection of works celebrating the natural world. With titles ranging from stories of wilderness survival to nonfiction works about conservation and sustainability, this Collection features a broad spectrum of ideas regarding nature and our role within it.

Publication year 2008

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Life/Time: Childhood & Youth, Natural World: Environment, Relationships: Teams

Tags Mythology, Fantasy, Coming of Age / Bildungsroman, Animals, Arts / Culture, Climate Change, History: European, American Literature, Children's Literature, Action / Adventure

The Battle of the Labyrinth is a fantasy-adventure novel inspired Greek mythology and written in 2008 by Rick Riordan. It is the fourth in the Percy Jackson series.The novel begins with Percy Jackson is at his freshman orientation at Good High School. Rachel Elizabeth Dare helps him fight two empousai, spectres who were disguised as cheerleaders. Percy flees to Camp Half-Blood, but Rachel remains. Percy is reunited with Annabeth, and they learn Grover is in... Read The Battle of the Labyrinth Summary


Publication year 1942

Genre Short Story, Fiction

Themes Life/Time: Coming of Age, Natural World: Environment, Values/Ideas: Justice & Injustice

Tags Historical Fiction, Coming of Age / Bildungsroman, Animals, Science / Nature, Civil Rights / Jim Crow, Southern Gothic, Reconstruction Era, History: U.S., Southern Literature, American Literature, History: World, Classic Fiction

“The Bear” is a work of short fiction by William Faulkner, first published in The Saturday Evening Post in May 1942. Faulkner subsequently expanded the story and included it in Go Down, Moses, a collection of related short stories sometimes considered a novel, published later that year. An abbreviated version also appears in his 1955 anthology, Big Woods. As historical fiction set in an imagined Mississippi county, “The Bear” traces a young man’s development in... Read The Bear Summary


Publication year 2023

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Relationships: Family, Emotions/Behavior: Guilt, Emotions/Behavior: Loneliness, Emotions/Behavior: Love, Emotions/Behavior: Shame & Pride, Identity: Sexuality, Life/Time: Coming of Age, Life/Time: Midlife, Natural World: Environment, Relationships: Daughters & Sons, Society: Class, Values/Ideas: Safety & Danger, Values/Ideas: Truth & Lies

Tags Horror / Thriller / Suspense Fiction, Drama / Tragedy, Irish Literature, Modern Classic Fiction


Publication year 2009

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Natural World: Environment

Tags Science / Nature, History: U.S., History: World, Politics / Government, Biography

The Big Burn: Teddy Roosevelt and the Fire that Saved America (2009) tells the true story of the Great Fire of 1910, which burned 3 million acres in Idaho, Montana, Washington, and British Columbia, and is believed to be the largest wildfire in United States history. Authored by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Timothy Egan, the book describes the newly created United States Forest Service effort to stop the fire and details President Teddy Roosevelt’s conservation battles... Read The Big Burn Summary


Publication year 2011

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Natural World: Environment

Tags Science / Nature, Climate Change, Education, Education, Business / Economics, History: World, Politics / Government

Author and journalist Charles Fishman published The Big Thirst: The Secret Life and Turbulent Future of Water in 2011. This nonfiction book examines the history and origins of water, the rising concern of water scarcity, and our changed relationship with the substance. Fishman asserts that people generally take water for granted, even though it is crucial to the environment and to society. The book examines how we can repair this dismissive attitude, which Fishman contends... Read The Big Thirst Summary


Publication year 2013

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Natural World: Environment

Tags Journalism, Business / Economics, Sociology, History: World, Social Justice, Politics / Government

The Big Truck That Went By: How the World Came to Save Haiti and Left Behind a Disaster is a nonfiction book published in 2013 by the American journalist Jonathan M. Katz. Katz, a reporter for the Associated Press (AP), gives a detailed, firsthand account of the 2010 earthquake that devastated the Caribbean island nation of Haiti. The book is a journalist's chronicle of the causes and consequences of a natural disaster, how it can... Read The Big Truck That Went By Summary


Publication year 2023

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Determination / Perseverance, Emotions/Behavior: Grief, Emotions/Behavior: Hope, Emotions/Behavior: Love, Identity: Gender, Identity: Indigenous, Natural World: Environment, Natural World: Place, Relationships: Family, Society: Community, Society: Economics


Publication year 1891

Genre Short Story, Fiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Grief, Emotions/Behavior: Fear, Natural World: Environment

Tags Historical Fiction, Horror / Thriller / Suspense Fiction, Western, Grief / Death, Animals, American Literature, Gothic Literature, Mystery / Crime Fiction, History: U.S., Classic Fiction

Not far from Cincinnati in 1830 lies a “great forest” occupied by the scattered homes of early settlers. Among them is an old, neglected cabin with a front door and boarded-up window. For decades, a white-haired man named Murlock has lived there; he looks 70 but is really 50. He lets his yard grow wild and provides for himself by selling animal skins.Murlock is found dead at his cabin, apparently of natural causes. He’s buried... Read The Boarded Window Summary


Publication year 2021

Genre Autobiography / Memoir, Nonfiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Hope, Natural World: Environment, Natural World: Animals, Emotions/Behavior: Determination / Perseverance, Life/Time: The Future, Natural World: Climate, Society: Community

Tags Science / Nature, Philosophy, Self Help, Animals, Philosophy, Biography


Publication year 2001

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Natural World: Environment

Tags Food, Science / Nature, History: World, Arts / Culture

Michael Pollan’s 2001 nonfiction book, The Botany of Desire: A Plant’s-Eye View of the World, asks the reader to stop considering only the human point of view of nature and to take the perspective of the plants themselves. He writes about how humans have affected the evolution of plants and in turn plants have affected our evolution as well. To Pollan, humans are much like the bumblebee in that we rely on plants as much... Read The Botany Of Desire Summary


Publication year 2024

Genre Short Story Collection, Fiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Determination / Perseverance, Emotions/Behavior: Fear, Emotions/Behavior: Hate & Anger, Emotions/Behavior: Love, Emotions/Behavior: Revenge, Emotions/Behavior: Shame & Pride, Identity: Mental Health, Life/Time: Mortality & Death, Natural World: Environment, Natural World: Flora/plants, Values/Ideas: Good & Evil, Values/Ideas: Power & Greed, Values/Ideas: Safety & Danger

Tags Horror / Thriller / Suspense Fiction, Mystery / Crime Fiction


Publication year 1993

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Values/Ideas: Religion & Spirituality, Life/Time: The Future, Natural World: Environment, Self Discovery

Tags Religion / Spirituality, Philosophy, Inspirational, Fantasy, Philosophy, Self Help, Action / Adventure

The Celestine Prophecy: An Adventure is a 1993 novel by James Redfield. A bestseller, the novel is a compilation of New Age philosophical and spiritual concepts, which Redfield labels as insights, that are loosely connected by a plot that follows the narrator’s search for them in the Peruvian jungle. An ancient manuscript is rumored to have been discovered, and the insights in the Manuscript claim that the end of the 20th century will witness a... Read The Celestine Prophecy Summary


Publication year 1964

Genre Poem, Fiction

Themes Values/Ideas: Order & Chaos, Life/Time: Childhood & Youth, Natural World: Environment

Tags Poetry: Dramatic Poem, Relationships


Publication year 2022

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Natural World: Environment, Natural World: Climate, Society: Politics & Government, Values/Ideas: Justice & Injustice, Values/Ideas: Power & Greed

Tags Science / Nature, Climate Change, Politics / Government, History: World


Publication year 2014

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Life/Time: The Future, Natural World: Climate, Society: Economics, Values/Ideas: Order & Chaos, Values/Ideas: Power & Greed, Values/Ideas: Safety & Danger, Values/Ideas: Science & Technology, Natural World: Environment

Tags Science-Fiction / Dystopian Fiction, Climate Change, Science / Nature, Business / Economics, History: World, Politics / Government


Publication year 1972

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Natural World: Environment, Society: Globalization, Society: Colonialism, Natural World: Flora/plants, Society: Economics, Identity: Indigenous

Tags History: World, Science / Nature, Anthropology, History: U.S., Anthropology, Business / Economics


Publication year 1989

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Natural World: Nurture v. Nature, Natural World: Environment

Tags Science / Nature, History: World

The Control of Nature by John McPhee was published in 1989 and includes three essays/articles reported from different geographic locales that reflect one common theme: man attempting to control nature. McPhee got his start in journalism writing for Time magazine. He has written for The New Yorker for several decades and has published 30 books, including Annals of the Former World, for which he received the Pulitzer Prize. He has also taught writing at Princeton... Read The Control of Nature Summary


Publication year 2017

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Life/Time: The Past, Natural World: Environment

Tags Science / Nature, Climate Change, History: World

The Death and Life of the Great Lakes is a nonfiction book of science journalism delving into key past and present issues surrounding the ecology, politics, and commerce of the Great Lakes. The book was published in 2017 and was the recipient of the J. Anthony Lukas Award as well as a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. Author Dan Egan is a reporter who covers the Great Lakes for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. He is... Read The Death and Life of the Great Lakes Summary


Publication year 1942

Genre Essay / Speech, Fiction

Themes Life/Time: Mortality & Death, Natural World: Animals, Natural World: Environment, Emotions/Behavior: Determination / Perseverance

Tags Grief / Death, Animals, Women's Studies (Nonfiction), British Literature, Gender / Feminism, Philosophy, Philosophy, Classic Fiction


Publication year 2008

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Life/Time: The Future, Natural World: Environment, Relationships: Friendship, Society: Community, Values/Ideas: Science & Technology

Tags Science-Fiction / Dystopian Fiction, Action / Adventure, Children's Literature