Picture books are an amazing way to learn about the world and can be an invaluable tool for introducing children to scientific skills and concepts. This list of maple syrup books includes 15 titles that can help with your weather units, photosynthesis studies, and your water cycle units. 

By reading some of these books to your students you are supplementing your science instruction with children’s literature. This technique can help generate interest and motivation, provide context, encourage communication, and connect science information in real-world context (Mahzoon-Hagheghi, 2018, 41). Read this list of maple syrup books to get some amazing titles to develop scientific skills in your students!

Maple Syrup Books for the Season

Maple Syrup from the Sugarhouse by Laurie Lazzaro Knowlton

Reading age: Preschool – 3rd grade (4-8 years)

Related Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS): K-LS1-1, K-ESS2-1, 1-LS3-1, 2-ESS2-3, 3-ESS2-1, 4-LS1-1

Knowlton describes the process of making maple syrup with this story about Kelsey and her father. Kelsey and her dad talk about the weather needed for the sap to flow as they head out to tap the trees. After tapping the trees, friends and family come to the sugarbush to help collect the sap to be boiled. Daddy tells Kelsey about the evaporation process, how gravity is used to move the sap into the evaporating pan, and how to use a sugar gauge to tell when the syrup is ready. Everyone works together to bottle the syrup and then they all get to enjoy it together at the end.

(Bonus: Looking for more information about maple syrup in your classroom? Check out my article “How Maple Syrup Season Can Help You Teach Elementary Students” which features this book and accompanying activity ideas for students in kindergarten through 5th grade.)

Maple Syrup Season by Ann Purmell

Reading age: Preschool – 3rd grade (4-8 years)

Related Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS): K-LS1-1, K-ESS2-1, 1-LS3-1, 2-ESS2-3, 3-ESS2-1, 4-LS1-1

Purmell paints the picture of the Brockwell family working together during maple syrup season. Some of the family drills holes in the trees while others clean out the holes with sticks. Then some of the family put in the spouts and others hang the buckets. They work together to collect the sap from the buckets and take it all back to the sugar house to boil. The family boils the sap and uses temperature and sheeting to determine when it’s finished. The back of the book includes maple syrup lore and a glossary of terms.

The Sweetest Season by Elissa Kerr

Reading age: Preschool – 3rd grade (4-8 years)

Related Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS): K-LS1-1, K-ESS2-1, 1-LS3-1, 2-ESS2-3, 3-ESS2-1, 4-LS1-1

Kerr uses rhyme to bring the process of maple sugaring to the ears and attention of early childhood learners. The storyline follows a girl and her father as they identify trees and tap them in their woods. This story does a nice job of showing each step in the syrup making process including maple tree identification, tapping, sap collecting, and boiling in the sugarshack.

Sugaring by Jessie Haas

Reading age: Preschool – 3rd grade (4-8 years)

Related Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS): K-LS1-1, K-ESS2-1, 1-LS3-1, 2-ESS2-3, 3-ESS2-1, 4-LS1-1

Haas shows a family tradition in motion with this fictional story about Nora and her grandfather. Gramp talks to Nora about “sugaring weather”, warm days and cold nights, as they collect sap from the buckets on the trees. They use the traditional method of sap gathering where they empty the buckets into a collection tank pulled by horses. Gramp works an evaporating pan with a fire underneath to boil the sap down to syrup. All of these steps and more are beautifully illustrated by Jos. A. Smith and Haas does a great job enveloping the reader in sensory words of the season.

Sugarbush Spring by Marsha Wilson Chall

Reading age: Preschool – 3rd grade (4-8 years)

Related Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS): K-LS1-1, K-ESS2-1, 1-LS3-1, 2-ESS2-3, 3-ESS2-1, 4-LS1-1, 5-LS1-1, 5-LS2-1

Chall shares the excitement of the sugaring season with this story about a little girl and her grandfather in their sugarbush. Grandpa shares that the sugar found in maple syrup is inside the trees to fuel their growth and the maple sugaring process takes the extra. As they walk around the sugarbush to tap the trees they talk about last year’s taps (bellybuttons), trees that are too old, trees that are too young, and trees that are just right. They tap trees, hang buckets, and wait for the next day’s warm weather to get the sap flowing. Family and friends come over to help collect sap, boil it to syrup, bottle it up, and enjoy syrup on snow. The details in Chall’s writing and the lovely illustrations by Jim Daly help bring the sugaring process to life!

Sugar White Snow and Evergreens by Felicia Sanzari Chernesky

Reading age: Preschool – 3rd grade (4-8 years)

Related Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS): K-LS1-1, K-ESS2-1, 1-LS3-1, 2-ESS2-3, 3-ESS2-1, 4-LS1-1

Chernesky explores the maple syrup season with a different angle than the other books on this list. Written in rhyme and rhythm, this story is about a family who visits a local syrup farm. While searching for winter’s hidden gold, aka maple syrup, they notice the different colors of winter along the way. This book is also a great way to include characters of minority in your classroom.

At Grandpa’s Sugar Bush by Margaret Carney

Reading age: Preschool – 3rd (4-8 years)

Related Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS): K-LS1-1, K-ESS2-1, 1-LS3-1, 2-ESS2-3, 3-ESS2-1, 4-LS1-1

Carney shares a spring break story about a young boy and his grandfather. Thanks to the February weather, the boy and his grandfather spend the week tapping trees, collecting sap, and boiling it down into syrup. The boy notices signs of spring such as birds getting ready for nesting and snow fleas gathering in their tracks. They work together to boil the sap to syrup in their outdoor evaporating pan. Overnight their syrup is completed and they eat pancakes with their batch.

Almost Time by Gary D. Schmidt

Reading age: Preschool – 3rd grade (4-8 years)

Related Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS): K-LS1-1, K-ESS2-1, 1-LS3-1, 2-ESS2-3, 3-ESS2-1, 4-LS1-1

Schmidt tells a tale of the patience required for maple syrup season in this story about Ethan. He notices that he doesn’t have maple syrup to put on his pancakes so maple syrup season must be soon. He is told that he needs to wait until the days get warmer, the nights get shorter, and for his tooth to fall out. Throughout the story he waits and waits and waits until finally his tooth falls out which coincides with the sap flowing from his trees.

How to Tap a Maple! by Stephanie Mulligan

Reading age: 2nd grade – 6th grade (8-12 years)

Related Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS): K-LS1-1, K-ESS2-1, 1-LS3-1, 2-ESS2-3, 3-ESS2-1, 4-LS1-1, 5-LS1-1, 5-LS2-1

Mulligan uses rhyme and rhythm to share a story about Grampy teaching Luke and Layla how to tap maple trees. Grampy describes the weather required for sap flow and then he breaks down the steps for tapping a maple including: drilling 2 inches into the tree, selecting large maple trees, using clean spiles (or taps), hanging buckets with lids, visiting every two days to collect sap, boiling the sap, checking the thickness, straining the syrup, and bottling the liquid gold. The back of the book contains “sugar slang” or vocabulary words that are special to the maple sugaring process.

Maple Sugaring Non-fiction Books

From Maple Tree to Syrup by Melanie Mitchell

Reading age: Kindergarten – 3rd Grade (5-9 years)

Related Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS): K-LS1-1, K-ESS2-1, 1-LS3-1, 2-ESS2-3, 3-ESS2-1, 4-LS1-1, 5-LS1-1, 5-LS2-1

Mitchell shares the process of maple syruping from maple tree to syrup in this non-fiction start to finish book. Beginning with workers planting a bunch of sugar maples together to grow a sugarbush, Mitchell moves the reader step by step including an easy to understand explanation of sap and its role for the trees. Drilling, tapping, collecting, boiling, and eating are all described and shown with real pictures.

The Maple Syrup Book by Marilyn Linton

Reading age: 2nd grade – 6th grade (8-12 years)

Related Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS): K-LS1-1, K-ESS2-1, 1-LS3-1, 2-ESS2-3, 3-ESS2-1, 4-LS1-1, 5-LS1-1, 5-LS2-1

Linton provides excellent information in this non-fiction book about maple sugaring. Geared towards older students, this book provides background information about how trees make sap and what they use it for. She goes on to explain different ways that people throughout time collected and processed sap to make syrup. Linton also shares different ways that people can make syrup today and she includes activities, trivia, facts, and recipes for use by the readers.

A Kid’s Guide to Maple Tapping by Julie Fryer

Reading age: 2nd grade – 6th grade (8-12 years)

Related Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS): K-LS1-1, K-ESS2-1, 1-LS3-1, 2-ESS2-3, 3-ESS2-1, 4-LS1-1, 5-LS1-1, 5-LS2-1

Fryer simplifies the maple syrup process for kids and their adults to do at home in this non-fiction book (it could also work for teachers to use with students in the classroom 😉). Intentional with her language and the use of real photos, Fryer provides kids with information about which trees to tap, how to collect the sap, how to make syrup, and the science behind the whole process. To help adults feel supported, she includes a section with step-by-step instructions on maple sugaring at home (or in the classroom 😎).

Historical Content Maple Syrup Book

Maple Moon by Connie Brummel Crook

Reading age: 1st grade – 5th grade (7-10 years)

Related Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS): K-LS1-1, K-ESS2-1, 1-LS3-1, 2-ESS2-3, 3-ESS2-1, 4-LS1-1

Crook shares a tale of how indigenous people may have discovered maple syrup. As addressed by her author’s historical note at the back of the book, this is an adaptation of one of the many tales that have been told of a squirrel and a woman. In this version of the maple discovery, a little boy named Rides the Wind is unable to dance with the other children due to a limp so he heads into the forest in early spring. While under a tree he notices a squirrel chewing on a tree branch and then drinking from the chewed spot. Rides the Wind tries some of the liquid and finds that it was sweet. The story goes on to suggest one way that the sap may have been processed at the beginning of the maple sugaring of indigenous people.

Sugar Snow by Laura Ingalls Wilder

Reading age: Preschool – 1st grade (2-6 years)

Related Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS): K-LS1-1, K-ESS2-1, 1-LS3-1, 2-ESS2-3, 3-ESS2-1, 4-LS1-1

Wilder shares her experience learning about maple sugaring from her father’s stories. She begins by explaining signs of spring that she witnessed one day but then how cold she felt that night. The following day there was snow on the ground and her father called it a “sugar snow”. Her father left for the day but then brought home some maple syrup and sugar to the family. He explained that night how him and their grandpa spent the day collecting sap and boiling it to make maple syrup and sugar.

The Sugaring Off Party by Johnathan London

Reading age: Kindergarten – 3rd grade (5-8 years)

Related Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS): K-LS1-1, K-ESS2-1, 1-LS3-1, 2-ESS2-3, 3-ESS2-1, 4-LS1-1

London weaves a wonderful tale of the French-Canadian tradition of a sugaring off party. In this story, Paul asks his Grand-mere (grandma) to tell him about her first sugaring off party 60 years ago. She reminisces about her fun family traditions including collecting sap and watching it boil, snowball fights, dancing, feasting, and sleigh rides. The illustrations by Gilles Pelletier are wonderful works of folk art that speak to the recollection of days of old. This book includes a glossary of French-Canadian terms as well pronunciations at the back.

In a nutshell

Hopefully after reading this list of maple syrup books you’ve found a wonderful book (or two or three…) to read with your class this syrup season. If you’re looking for engaging activities to accompany your maple syrup books, check out my “Maple Syrup and Water Cycle Mini Unit for 2nd Grade” with 3 ELA activities, 1 math activity and 5 science activities. Enjoy this wonderful season with tree tapping, sap flowing, and syrup boiling; it’s sure to be one of your students’ favorite times of the year!

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Bibliography

Mahzoon-Hagheghi, M.; Yebra, R.; Johnson, R. (2018). Fostering a Greater Understanding of Science in the Classroom Through Children’s Literature. Texas Journal of Literacy Education, 6(1), 41-50. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1183979.pdf

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Have amazing children’s maple syrup books that weren’t listed? Include your favorites in the comments!

Looking for more information about maple syrup in your classroom? Check out my article “How Maple Syrup Season Can Help You Teach Elementary Students”