During our research for SEED we looked at lots of different books to inspire our themes and ideas. So that you can enjoy them too, we have created a list of some of those books under five different headings:
- Growing - beginning with a seed
- Noticing the world around us - curiosity
- Changes in nature e.g. seasons and life cycles
- Nature and community
- Nature is precious
GROWING - beginning with a seed
We knew that all our performances would begin with the arrival of a mysterious seed, so we wanted to start our reading adventure by looking at books about seeds and growing…
- One Little Seed by Elaine Greenstein (2-4 years)
- That's MY Flower by Alice Hemming (3-6 years)
- Pip and Egg by Alex Latimer (3-6 years)
- One Little Egg by Becky Davies (3-6 years)
- Stay, Little Seed by Cristiana Valentini (3-8 years)
- One Little Seed by Becky Davis (3-6 years)
- The Tiny Seed by Eric Carle (4-8 years)
- The Weed by Quentin Blake (5-7 years)
- The Amazing Plant Life Cycle Story by Kay Barnham (5-7 years)
- 21 Things to Do With a Tree by Jane Wilsher (6-8 years)
NOTICING THE WORLD AROUND US - CURIOSITY
One of our favourite things is to use our dance performances to encourage you to look more closely and more curiously at the world around you…
- Toddler Take-Along Nature by Becky Davies (0-3 years)
- Alfie in the Woods by Debi Gliori (0-5 years)
- Nature Trail by Benjamin Zephaniah (2-4 years)
- Rainforest by Julia Groves (3-6 years)
- Who Owns the Woods? By Emily Hibbs (3-6 years)
- Little Why by Johnny Lambert (3-6 years)
- A Happy Place by Britta Teckentrup (3-6 years)
- A Way with Wild Things by Larissa Theule (3-6 years)
- Into the Wild by Robert Vescio (3-6 years)
- Grow, Tree, Grow! by Dom Conlon (3-7 years)
- 5 Minute Nature Stories by Gabby Dawnay (4+ years)
- Betsy Buglove Saves the Bees by Catherine Jacob (4-5 years)
- I Am the Seed That Grew the Tree - National Trust Poetry Collection (6-9 years)
CHANGES IN NATURE - SEASONS AND LIFE CYCLES
We learnt very early on when we were doing our research for the SEED project that our youngest audiences were delighted to read about and to see things changing and transforming…
- The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle (1-3 years)
- Change Starts With Us (It's Cool to be Kind) by Sophie Beer (1-5 years)
- Tree: Seasons Come, Seasons Go by Patricia Hegarty (1-4 years)
- Little Bear's Spring by Elli Woollard (2-4 years)
- The Leaf Thief by Alice Hemming (2-5 years)
- My Butterfly Bouquet by Nicola Davies (5-7 years)
NATURE AND COMMUNITY
We wanted to read more about how nature is diverse and astounding and brilliant, and also about the ways that it is at the heart of our communities, and has the power to bring us all together…
- The Extraordinary Gardener by Sam Boughton (3-9 years)
- The Oak Tree by Julia Donaldson (3-6 years)
- The Tree Next Door by Charlie Moyler (3-6 ages)
- We are Family by Lucy Reynolds (5+ years)
- Bloom: Hope in a Scary World by Anne Booth(5-7 years)
NATURE IS PRECIOUS
We completed our research for the SEED project by reminding ourselves of how precious nature is, and the ways in which we all wanted to work together to conserve and protect our most precious resources…
- If I Were the World by Mark Sperring (0-5 years)
- Maybe You Might by Imogen Foxell (2+ years)
- The Secret Sky Garden by Linda Sarah (2+ years)
- The Lonely Giant by Sophie Ambrose (3-5 years)
- Clean Up! By Nathan Bryon (3-6 years)
- Tidy by Emily Gravett (3-6 years)
- Dear Earth by Isobel Otter (3-6 years)
- There's a Rang-Tan in My Bedroom by James Sellick (3-6 years)
- The Planet in a Pickle Jar by Martin Stanev (3-7 years)
- Greta and the Giants by Zoë Tucker (4-7 years)
- The Whale Who Ate Plastic by Stephanie O'Connor (4-8 years)
- Bloom by Julia Seal (4-8 years)
You can access our book recommendations as a pdf resource by clicking here.
The SEED project is supported by the National Lottery through Arts Council England, co-commissioned by Surrey Libraries and Active Surrey. Pilot performances will be supported by Surrey Libraries, Medway Libraries/Applause Touring and Northamptonshire Libraries/Library Plus. Our research for the project was also supported by The Hive in Guildford and Ruislip Manor Library (Hillingdon Libraries).