13 Picture Books About Composting & Soil Health

Compost Stew: An A to Z Recipe for the Earth by Mary McKenna Siddals

Written in the form of a poem, this book is about all the things that can go into a compost bin and how to care for it. I love that it helps kids (and me!) learn about the extensive list of items that can rot and turn into nourishing soil instead of continuing to fill our landfills. This book also has really great, colorful pictures.

Ages 3-7 | Pages 40

The Great Compost Heap by Renaee Smith

This book encourages children to reduce, reuse, and recycle by composting. It shows readers have they can use composting to create a cleaner environment and take better care of the Earth.

Ages 5-18 | Pages 34

Green Machine: The Slightly Gross Truth about Turning Your Food Scraps into Green Energy by Rebecca Donnelly

Composting is cool! Celebrate the innovation and science that help turn food waste into green energy. This book shows readers how food scraps are composted, collected, and processed, transforming trash into biogas and electricity. It’s a green machine.

Ages 4-8 | Pages 32

Way To Grow! Gardening Composting by Rebecca Pettiford

This is a really great non-fiction book for early readers and those just learning about composting. The book is part of a larger series that strives to teach kids about various aspects of gardening while also helping them learn how to use non-fiction books with headings, labels, “did you know” sections, and a table of contents.

Ages 7-11 | Pages 24

The Good Garden: How One Family Went From Hunger To Having Enough by Katie Smith Milway 

One family living in a small village does not have enough food or money, so the father must leave to go find work. The family gets much of their food from a small piece of land next to their home.

At school, a new teacher arrives and teaches the older daughter about composting and other practices to increase the health of their soil and the output of their land. These new practices greatly increase the health and wealth of the garden, even giving them enough food to sell some extra items at the market.

The money from the extra food is enough that her father no longer has to leave for work and they get plenty of food from their own garden to feed their family. A small change in teaching the local villagers more sustainable farming methods transform the prosperity of their family. 

Ages 8-12 | Pages 32

Compost! Growing Gardens From Your Garbage by Linda Glaser

This is a really simple book that follows two young children who walk the reader step-by-step through how they make and use their compost. They discuss all the different things from around their home (like different types of food scraps and yard waste) that they put into their compost. Then they ultimately show how they use the compost in their garden once it’s finished. This is a great introduction to composting that doesn’t dig into the science or complexities of composting.

Ages 4-8 | Pages 32

The Simple Science of Dirt by Emily James

This is a really great beginner non-fiction book that introduces the basics of dirt. Kids (and adults) learn what dirt is, different parts of dirt, and why it’s so important in our lives. It has great photos to support the learning, and I learned plenty of things myself.

Ages 4-8 | Pages 32

You Wouldn’t Want To Live Without Soil! by Ian Graham

Starting with the history of soil from four billion years ago, this illustrated book is a fun way to understand how our soil came to be, how we should take care of it, and the myriad ways it’s important to us today. Even though it’s a light introduction, it’s a great way to reinforce with our children why we need to take good care of our soil and what actions we can take today and in the future to protect this precious resource.

Ages 8-11 | Pages 40

Composting: Nature’s Recyclers by Robin Michal Koontz

This simple book highlights many of the things that one can add to a compost bin. From dead leaves and food scraps to grass clippings and lunch leftovers, tons of small animals and organisms turn this pile of trash into wonderful vitamins for your garden.

Ages 5-10 | Pages 24

Casey’s Compost by Bonnie Bright

Follow a young boy named Casey as he learns about composting, how it provides nutrition to plants, and how it keeps garbage out of landfills. Supportive adults in his life recognize his passion and help him to make composting a city-wide policy.

Ages 4-9 | Pages 43

Save the Scraps by Bethany Stahl

This book tells the story of two children who learn how to compost with the help of their wiggly worm friend. With charming illustrations, adults will love reading this book with their kids as readers learn about the benefits of compost.

Ages 3-8 | Pages 16

Compost: A Family Guide to Making Soil from Scraps by Ben Raskin

Teach your kids that composting is fun with this funky guide that takes you from the nitty-gritty of compost composition and care to Worms and Ladders, a fresh take on a traditional board game.

Find out the rules for setting up your very own Worm Lovers’ Society, learn all about the garden-to-plate cycle together, and get your family’s feet firmly set on the road to a planet-friendly lifestyle. The book includes information on both kitchen and garden composting. This is a bit more interactive than some of the other books which are non-fiction resources and stories.

Ages 3-7 | Pages 48

What’s Sprouting In My Trash: A Book About Composting by Esther Porter

Filled with helpful photographs of the various steps involved in composting, this book offers kids an inside look at the basic science of composting. The book highlights why it’s important, how composting happens, the importance of the microorganisms that do the work, and how it helps our environment.

Ages 4-8 | Pages 32