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 1838

Genre Essay / Speech, Nonfiction

Themes Natural World: Environment, Values/Ideas: Beauty, Values/Ideas: Religion & Spirituality

Tags Philosophy, Transcendentalism, Religion / Spirituality, American Literature, Philosophy, Classic Fiction


Publication year 2022

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Guilt, Emotions/Behavior: Hate & Anger, Emotions/Behavior: Love, Natural World: Environment, Values/Ideas: Safety & Danger

Tags Horror / Thriller / Suspense Fiction, Mystery / Crime Fiction, Modern Classic Fiction, Romance


Publication year 1985

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Natural World: Animals, Natural World: Environment, Life/Time: Coming of Age

Tags Action / Adventure, Animals, Realistic Fiction, Children's Literature

Dogsong, first published in 1985, is a young adult novel by American author Gary Paulsen, who wrote Dogsong while he was training his dog sled team for his first Iditarod run. It was awarded the Newbery Honor Award in 1986. Paulsen, who was a popular author of young adult and children’s contemporary literature, is best known for books in the coming-of-age genre, often dealing with surviving the wilderness and embracing nature. He authored more than... Read Dogsong Summary


Publication year 2009

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Values/Ideas: Justice & Injustice, Natural World: Animals, Natural World: Environment, Emotions/Behavior: Revenge

Tags Mystery / Crime Fiction, Horror / Thriller / Suspense Fiction, Fairy Tale / Folklore, Satire, Modern Classic Fiction

Olga Tokarczuk is among Poland’s most famous and critically acclaimed contemporary authors. She has received multiple national and international literary awards, including the 2018 Nobel Prize in Literature. Her most well-known novels and their translation dates into English are House of Day, House of Night (2003), Primeval and Other Times (2010), Flights (2018), and The Books of Jacob (2021).Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead was published in Poland in 2009 but didn’t... Read Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead Summary


Publication year 2022

Genre Graphic Memoir , Nonfiction

Themes Life/Time: Coming of Age, Society: Class, Identity: Gender, Emotions/Behavior: Loneliness, Society: Economics, Natural World: Environment, Identity: Femininity, Identity: Masculinity, Relationships: Friendship, Society: Community, Values/Ideas: Safety & Danger

Tags Biography


Publication year 2008

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Emotions/Behavior: Fear, Emotions/Behavior: Grief, Emotions/Behavior: Guilt, Emotions/Behavior: Hate & Anger, Emotions/Behavior: Memory, Emotions/Behavior: Revenge, Identity: Disability, Identity: Language, Identity: Race, Life/Time: Mortality & Death, Natural World: Environment, Natural World: Place, Relationships: Daughters & Sons, Relationships: Fathers, Relationships: Teams, Society: Class, Values/Ideas: Art, Values/Ideas: Beauty, Values/Ideas: Good & Evil, Values/Ideas: Power & Greed

Tags Horror / Thriller / Suspense Fiction, Fantasy, Psychological Fiction, Mystery / Crime Fiction, Religion / Spirituality

Duma Key by Stephen King is a novel in the literary-horror genre, praised for its eerie, spooky atmosphere and suspenseful build-up. Published in 2008, Duma Key is the first novel by King to be set in Florida. The book follows Edgar Freemantle as he moves from Minnesota to the island of Duma (one of the Florida Keys, or small islands) after a life-changing accident. Tormented by phantom-limb pain from his amputation and unable to remember... Read Duma Key Summary


Publication year 1965

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Identity: Gender, Values/Ideas: Religion & Spirituality, Natural World: Environment, Society: Politics & Government, Natural World: Space & The Universe

Tags Science-Fiction / Dystopian Fiction, Fantasy, Action / Adventure, Classic Fiction

Dune is a 1965 science fiction novel by American author Frank Herbert. As the first in a series of novels, Dune introduces Paul Atreides and his gradual emergence as a unifying, powerful figure in a galaxy filled with political intrigue and the threat of religious war. Now considered one of the foremost examples of American science fiction, Dune won numerous prestigious awards and has been adapted several times in films and television series, most recently... Read Dune Summary


Publication year 2013

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Life/Time: The Future, Natural World: Animals, Natural World: Climate, Natural World: Environment, Natural World: Flora/plants, Natural World: Place, Relationships: Teams, Society: Community, Society: Education, Society: Politics & Government, Values/Ideas: Religion & Spirituality, Values/Ideas: Safety & Danger, Values/Ideas: Science & Technology, Values/Ideas: Truth & Lies

Tags Science-Fiction / Dystopian Fiction, Fantasy


Publication year 1923

Genre Poem, Fiction

Themes Natural World: Environment, Identity: Mental Health, Natural World: Appearance & Reality, Natural World: Flora/plants

Tags Lyric Poem, Science / Nature


Publication year 2009

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Natural World: Environment

Tags Food, Philosophy, Animals, Health / Medicine, Science / Nature, Philosophy

Eating Animals is a nonfiction book written by Jonathan Safran Foer and published originally in 2009. Foer is an accomplished novelist, and Eating Animals is his first foray into long-form nonfiction writing. The book fits into a genre of criticism of the food industry, specifically factory farming and animal welfare. Eating Animals is a New York Times bestseller, though it met with mixed reviews regarding both the content and style of Foer’s writing. In 2018... Read Eating Animals Summary


Publication year 1986

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Society: Colonialism, Natural World: Environment

Tags History: European, Science / Nature, Anthropology, Animals, Agriculture, History: World, Anthropology


Publication year 1999

Genre Autobiography / Memoir, Nonfiction

Themes Natural World: Environment

Tags Business / Economics, Science / Nature, Southern Literature, History: World, Biography

In the memoir, Ecology of a Cracker Childhood, Janisse Ray describes growing up amidst her family’s junkyard in rural south Georgia. She structures the book in a series of short chapters, each of which focuses on a different aspect of her family life. Between these chapters, Ray also writes descriptions of the longleaf pine forests–an ecosystem that once covered the south Georgia landscape and has been largely destroyed by logging.  Ray is born in Baxley... Read Ecology of a Cracker Childhood Summary


Publication year 1975

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Natural World: Environment

Tags Science-Fiction / Dystopian Fiction, Education, Education, Science / Nature, Fantasy, Politics / Government

Ecotopia is a novel set in an alternative historical timeline, one in which Washington, Oregon, and Northern California have seceded from the United States to form a new country: Ecotopia. After independence, the two countries have severed all diplomatic relations and have existed side-by-side with virtually no communication, though there is plenty of mutual distrust, even after twenty years. Enter the novel’s protagonist, William Weston, “top international affairs reporter” for the Times-Post newspaper, who has... Read Ecotopia Summary


Publication year 2017

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Natural World: Environment, Values/Ideas: Art, Values/Ideas: Justice & Injustice, Values/Ideas: Equality

Tags Politics / Government, Self Help, Gender / Feminism, Philosophy, Leadership/Organization/Management, Social Justice, Philosophy, Religion / Spirituality


Publication year 2023

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Apathy, Natural World: Environment, Society: Community

Tags Fantasy, Romance, Historical Fiction, Fairy Tale / Folklore, Mystery / Crime Fiction, History: World


Publication year 2024

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Love, Natural World: Appearance & Reality, Natural World: Environment, Self Discovery, Society: Community, Values/Ideas: Trust & Doubt

Tags Mystery / Crime Fiction, History: World, Fantasy, Romance, Historical Fiction, Fairy Tale / Folklore


Publication year 1971

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Conflict, Emotions/Behavior: Determination / Perseverance, Natural World: Animals, Natural World: Climate, Natural World: Environment, Natural World: Flora/plants, Natural World: Place, Society: Community, Society: Economics, Society: Nation, Values/Ideas: Beauty, Values/Ideas: Science & Technology, Values/Ideas: Win & Lose

Tags Science / Nature, History: World, Biography


Publication year 1995

Genre Poem, Fiction

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


Publication year 2020

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Natural World: Environment, Natural World: Appearance & Reality, Natural World: Flora/plants, Natural World: Place, Natural World: Climate, Values/Ideas: Science & Technology

Tags Science / Nature, Creative Nonfiction, Climate Change, Agriculture, History: World


Publication year 2024

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Natural World: Environment, Values/Ideas: Safety & Danger

Tags Science-Fiction / Dystopian Fiction, Horror / Thriller / Suspense Fiction, Mystery / Crime Fiction, Action / Adventure