Children's books and activities

Oceans, Rivers and Ponds

Do you know any kids who are happiest swimming in a freshwater lake, body surfing in the ocean, or launching a homemade boat down a stream? Or kids who are curious about ocean tides, the physics of water, and the amazing variety of aquatic animals?

Try pairing fiction with nonfiction books and exploring different genres (like poetry and biographies) and formats (like graphic novels and audio books). You'll be creating your own "text sets" — collections of texts focused on a specific topic, such as water, oceans, rivers, and ponds. Reading widely in this way helps children build background knowledge, vocabulary, and comprehension skills.

You might also want to explore our free activity kit: River Rangers.

Oceans, Rivers and Ponds

Great Fiction & Nonfiction Books

Age Level: 3-6 years old

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All the Water in the World

By:
George Ella Lyon
Illustrated by: Katherine Tillotson

Age Level: 3-6 years old

cover of Bear Came Along with illustration showing brown trees and the top of a bear's head.

Bear Came Along

By:
Richard T. Morris
Illustrated by: LeUyen Pham

Age Level: 3-6 years old

Blue Floats Away

By:
Travis Jonker
Illustrated by: Grant Snider

Age Level: 3-6 years old

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Crustacean Vacation

By:
Brian Benoit
Illustrated by: Marty Kelley

Age Level: 3-6 years old

illustrated cover of Deep in the Ocean showing an underwater scene.

Deep in the Ocean

By:
Lucie Brunellière

Age Level: 3-6 years old

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Elizabeth, Queen of the Seas

By:
Lynne Cox
Illustrated by: Brian Floca

Age Level: 3-6 years old

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Have You Seen My Duckling?

By:
Nancy Tafuri

Age Level: 3-6 years old

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Hello Ocean / Hola Mar

By:
Pam Muñoz Ryan
Illustrated by: Mark Astrella

Age Level: 3-6 years old

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Here Come the Humpbacks!

By:
April Sayre
Illustrated by: Jamie Hogan

Age Level: 3-6 years old

illustrated cover of Hey, Water! showing girl in waves of water with snorkel mask on.

Hey, Water!

By:
Antoinette Portis

Age Level: 3-6 years old

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If You Want to See a Whale

By:
Julie Fogliano
Illustrated by: Erin Stead

Age Level: 3-6 years old

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In the Small, Small Pond

By:
Denise Fleming
Illustrated by: Denise Fleming

Age Level: 3-6 years old

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Jump into Science: Coral Reefs

By:
Sylvia Earle
Illustrated by: Bonnie Matthews

Age Level: 3-6 years old

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Kumak's River: A Tale from the Far North

By:
Michael Bania

Age Level: 3-6 years old

Leopard & Silkie: One Boy's Quest to Save the Seal Pups

By:
Brenda Peterson
Illustrated by: Robin Lindsey

Age Level: 3-6 years old

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Looking Closely Along the Shore

By:
Frank Serafini
Illustrated by: Frank Serafini

Age Level: 3-6 years old

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Looking Closely Around the Pond

By:
Frank Serafini
Illustrated by: Frank Serafini

Age Level: 3-6 years old

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Make Way for Ducklings

By:
Robert McCloskey

Age Level: 3-6 years old

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Mr. Gumpy's Outing

By:
John Burningham

Age Level: 3-6 years old

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On the Way to the Beach

By:
Henry Cole

Age Level: 3-6 years old

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Out of the Ocean

By:
Debra Frasier
Illustrated by: Debra Frasier

Age Level: 3-6 years old

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Scaredy Squirrel at the Beach

By:
Melanie Watt
Illustrated by: Melanie Watt

Age Level: 3-6 years old

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Seashells: Treasures from the Northeast Coast

By:
Joanne Roach-Evans

Age Level: 3-6 years old

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Swamp Chomp

By:
Lola Schaefer
Illustrated by: Paul Meisel

Age Level: 3-6 years old

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The Seashore Book

By:
Charlotte Zolotow
Illustrated by: Wendell Minor

Age Level: 3-6 years old

illustrated cover of The Water Walkway showing girl walking through woods holding a stick with a bird's head on top of it.

The Water Walker

By:
Joanne Robertson

Age Level: 3-6 years old

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Trout Are Made of Trees

By:
April Sayre
Illustrated by: Kate Endle

Age Level: 3-6 years old

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Undersea Animals: A Dramatic Dimensional Visit to Strange Underwater Realms

By:
Jane Buxton
Illustrated by: Jerry Pinkney

Age Level: 3-6 years old

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Water Is Water

By:
Miranda Paul
Illustrated by: Jason Chin

Age Level: 3-6 years old

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Wave

By:
Suzy Lee

Age Level: 3-6 years old

We Are Water Protectors

By:
Carole Lindstrom
Illustrated by: Michaela Goade

Age Level: 3-6 years old

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Where the River Begins

By:
Thomas Locker
Illustrated by: Thomas Locker

Age Level: 3-6 years old

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Wow! Ocean

By:
Robert Neubecker

Age Level: 3-6 years old

Age Level: 6-9 years old

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A Drop of Water

By:
Walter Wick

Age Level: 6-9 years old

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A River

By:
Marc Martin

Age Level: 6-9 years old

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A River Ran Wild: An Environmental History

By:
Lynne Cherry

Age Level: 6-9 years old

Along the Tapajós

By:
Fernando Vilela

Age Level: 6-9 years old

At the Sea Floor Cafe: Odd Ocean Critter Poems

By:
Leslie Bulion
Illustrated by: Leslie Evans

Age Level: 6-9 years old

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Beavers

By:
Gail Gibbons

Age Level: 6-9 years old

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Bowhead Whale

By:
Joanasie Karpik
Illustrated by: Sho Uehara

Age Level: 6-9 years old

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Coral Reefs

By:
Jason Chin

Age Level: 6-9 years old

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Deep Sea Floor

By:
Sneed Collard
Illustrated by: Gregory Wenzel

Age Level: 6-9 years old

Dolphins

By:
Penelope Arlon
Illustrated by: Tory Gordon-Harris

Age Level: 6-9 years old

illustrated cover of Droughts showing a girl and a dog sitting at a receding lake.

Droughts

By:
Melissa Stewart
Illustrated by: Andre Ceolin

Age Level: 6-9 years old

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Everglades

By:
Jean Craighead George
Illustrated by: Wendell Minor

Age Level: 6-9 years old

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Explore Rivers and Ponds!

By:
Carla Mooney
Illustrated by: Bryan Stone

Age Level: 6-9 years old

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Face to Face with Manatees

By:
Brian Skerry

Age Level: 6-9 years old

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Face to Face with Sharks

By:
David Doubilet
, Jennifer Hayes

Age Level: 6-9 years old

cover of "Flotsam" showing a fish's eye

Flotsam

By:
David Wiesner

Age Level: 6-9 years old

Follow the Moon Home: A Tale of One Idea, Twenty Kids, and a Hundred Sea Turtles

By:
Philippe Cousteau
, Deborah Hopkinson
Illustrated by: Meilo So

Age Level: 6-9 years old

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Follow the Water from Brook to Ocean

By:
Arthur Dorros
Illustrated by: Arthur Dorros

Age Level: 6-9 years old

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Galápagos Girl / Galapagueña

By:
Marsha Diane Arnold
Illustrated by: Angela Dominguez

Age Level: 6-9 years old

Home for a Penquin, Home for a Whale book cover showing swimming penquins and sea creatures underwater

Home for a Penguin, Home for a Whale

By:
Brenda Williams
Illustrated by: Annalisa Beghelli

Age Level: 6-9 years old

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I Know the River Loves Me / Yo se que el rio me ama

By:
Maya Christina Gonzalez

Age Level: 6-9 years old

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Lotus and Feather

By:
Ji-li Jiang

Age Level: 6-9 years old

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Marshes and Swamps

By:
Gail Gibbons

Age Level: 6-9 years old

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McElligot's Pool

By:
Dr. Seuss

Age Level: 6-9 years old

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Meadowlands: A Wetlands Survival Story

By:
Thomas R. Yezerski

Age Level: 6-9 years old

Nya's Long Walk: A Step at a Time

By:
Linda Sue Park
Illustrated by: Brian Pinkney

Age Level: 6-9 years old

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Ocean Soup: Tide-Pool Poems

By:
Stephen Swinburne
Illustrated by: Mary Peterson

Age Level: 6-9 years old

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Oceans

By:
Seymour Simon

Age Level: 6-9 years old

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Oil Spill

By:
Melvin Berger
Illustrated by: Paul Mirocha

Age Level: 6-9 years old

Olivia's Birds: Saving the Gulf

By:
Olivia Bouler

Age Level: 6-9 years old

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Otters Love to Play

By:
Jonathan London
Illustrated by: Meilo So

Age Level: 6-9 years old

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Over and Under the Pond

By:
Kate Messner
Illustrated by: Christopher Silas Neal

Age Level: 6-9 years old

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Pond and River

By:
Steve Parker

Age Level: 6-9 years old

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River

By:
Debby Atwell

Age Level: 6-9 years old

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River Wild: An Activity Guide to North American Rivers

By:
Nancy F. Castaldo

Age Level: 6-9 years old

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Rivers of Sunlight

By:
Molly Bang
Illustrated by: Penny Chisholm

Age Level: 6-9 years old

illustrated cover of Seashells, More Than a Home with several different shells laid out on the sand.

Seashells: More Than a Home

By:
Melissa Stewart
Illustrated by: Sarah S. Brannen

Age Level: 6-9 years old

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Song of the Water Boatman and Other Pond Poems

By:
Joyce Sidman
Illustrated by: Beckie Prange

Age Level: 6-9 years old

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The Big Rivers: the Missouri, the Mississippi, and the Ohio

By:
Bruce Hiscock
Illustrated by: Bruce Hiscock

Age Level: 6-9 years old

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The Boxcar Children: Houseboat Mystery

By:
Gertrude Chandler Warner

Age Level: 6-9 years old

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The Magic School Bus on the Ocean Floor

By:
Joanna Cole
Illustrated by: Bruce Degen

Age Level: 6-9 years old

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The Open Ocean

By:
Francesco Pittau
, Bernadette Gervais

Age Level: 6-9 years old

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The Raft

By:
Jim LaMarche
Illustrated by: Jim LaMarche

Age Level: 6-9 years old

The Ultimate Book of Water

The Ultimate Book of Water

By:
Anne-Sophie Baumann
Illustrated by: Vanessa Robidou

Age Level: 6-9 years old

The Vast Wonder of the World: Biologist Ernest Everett Just

By:
Mélina Mangal
Illustrated by: Luisa Uribe

Age Level: 6-9 years old

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The Water Princess

By:
Susan Verde
, Georgie Badiel
Illustrated by: Peter H. Reynolds

Age Level: 6-9 years old

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Three Days on a River in a Red Canoe

By:
Vera B. Williams
Illustrated by: Vera B. Williams

Age Level: 6-9 years old

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Water Rolls, Water Rises/El agua rueda, el agua sube

By:
Pat Mora
Illustrated by: Meilo So

Age Level: 6-9 years old

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Water Sings Blue: Ocean Poems

By:
Kate Coombs
Illustrated by: Meilo So

Age Level: 6-9 years old

""

Water Sources

By:
Rebecca Olien

Age Level: 6-9 years old

illustrated cover of Water Wonders showing a water pipe, a mouse with a magnifying glass, and a mouse with a jar of dirt.

Water Wonders: The Curious Adventures of Sydney & Symon / Las Maravillas del agua

By:
Peter H. Reynolds
, Paul A. Reynolds
Illustrated by: Renee Kurilla

Age Level: 6-9 years old

Age Level: 9-12 years old

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""

A River of Words: The Story of William Carlos Williams

By:
Jen Bryant
Illustrated by: Melissa Sweet

Age Level: 9-12 years old

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Caught in the Rapids (Science to the Rescue)

By:
Felicia Law

Age Level: 9-12 years old

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Encantado: Pink Dolphin of the Amazon

By:
Sy Montgomery

Age Level: 9-12 years old

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Flush

By:
Carl Hiaasen

Age Level: 9-12 years old

""

Make a Splash! A Kid’s Guide to Protecting Our Oceans, Lakes, Rivers and Wetlands

By:
Cathryn Berger Kaye
, Philippe Cousteau

Age Level: 9-12 years old

cover of "Muddy Max" showing a boy half covered in mud. The muddy side has large muscles

Muddy Max: The Mystery of Marsh Creek

By:
Elizabeth Rusch
Illustrated by: Mike Lawrence

Age Level: 9-12 years old

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One Well: The Story of Water on Earth

By:
Rochelle Strauss
Illustrated by: Rosemary Woods

Age Level: 9-12 years old

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Paddle-to-the-Sea

By:
Holling Clancy Holling
Illustrated by: Holling Clancy Holling

Age Level: 9-12 years old

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River of Words: Young Poets and Artists on the Nature of Things

By:
Pamela Michael

Age Level: 9-12 years old

illustrated cover of Rivers showing a person in a canoe going down river opening to ocean.

Rivers: A Visual History from River to Sea

By:
Peter Goes

Age Level: 9-12 years old

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Science Comics: Sharks: Nature's Perfect Hunter

By:
Joe Flood

Age Level: 9-12 years old

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Slickety Quick: Poems About Sharks

By:
Skila Brown
Illustrated by: Bob Kolar

Age Level: 9-12 years old

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The Aquarium Book

By:
George Ancona

Age Level: 9-12 years old

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The Negro Speaks of Rivers

By:
Langston Hughes
Illustrated by: E.B Lewis

Age Level: 9-12 years old

photo cover of "The Next Wave" showing waves hitting rocks

The Next Wave: The Quest to Harness the Power of the Oceans

By:
Elizabeth Rusch

Age Level: 9-12 years old

Water: A Deep Dive of Discovery

By:
Christy Mihaly
Illustrated by: Mariona Cabassa

Age Level: 9-12 years old

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White Water! National Geographic Kids

By:
Brenna Maloney

Age Level: 9-12 years old

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Wild River

By:
P.J. Petersen

Age Level: 9-12 years old