StoryWalks® offer a creative way to promote early literacy by combining the joy of reading with outdoor exploration. Featuring moveable stands with laminated pages from storybooks, StoryWalks® can be set up in parks, schools, libraries, or nature trails, enabling families to enjoy a story together while learning about nature and building reading skills essential for learning and school readiness.
PVAS offers StoryWalks® focused on nature themes which are available for free for local libraries, schools, educational events, nature festivals, and other non-profit organizations in the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia and Washington County, Maryland.
Potomac Valley Audubon is able to offer the StoryWalk® program for free. This is due to the generosity of volunteers, as well as initial funding from the Nora Roberts Foundation for supplies.
Below is a list of publicly-accessible Storywalk® events organized by PVAS or partner organizations!
Displays can usually be dropped off at your location at least one day before your event, and retrieved in the days immediately following. Individual arrangements can also be made as needed.
Our book selections are thoughtfully chosen for their authors’ and illustrators’ connections to nature and are organized by season to inspire seasonal exploration. However, these books are available year-round—consider the seasonal arrangement as a helpful suggestion!
Not sure which book to pick? We’re happy to recommend a title that aligns with your event and audience!
Scroll below to view our list of available books.
StoryWalk® displays are designed to be installed along outdoor walking trails, providing an engaging way to combine reading and nature exploration. Each story page is mounted on lightweight signposts that can be easily inserted into the ground. The spacing between signs is flexible and can be adjusted to suit your trail, as long as it’s clear where readers should go to find the next page. The pages are laminated for durability, making them resistant to wet weather; however, high winds may pose a challenge.
The StoryWalk® concept was created by Anne Ferguson of Montpelier, VT and was developed with the help of Rachel Senechal, Kellogg-Hubbard Library. Go to the official webpage of the StoryWalk® movement to learn more.
Click here to complete our StoryWalk® Request Form. After you submit your request from this form, you will receive an email notification confirming your request and connecting you to our volunteer StoryWalk® coordinator.
It is okay if you are not sure what books you want to request! In the questions where we ask for your first and second choice books, you have the option to select “I would like help with recommendations/suggestions.”
Book List
On Meadowview Street
Written and Illustrated by Henry Cole
Caroline lives on Meadowview street. But where’s the meadow? Where’s the view? There’s nothing growing in her front yard except grass. Then she spots a flower. And a butterfly. And a wren. And Caroline realizes that with her help, maybe meadowview street can have a meadow after all.
Miss Rumphius
Written and Illustrated by Barbara Cooney
Alice made a promise to make the world a more beautiful place, then a seed of an idea is planted and blossoms into a beautiful plan. This beloved classic and celebration of nature—written by a beloved Caldecott winner—is lovelier than ever!
Fletcher and the Springtime Blossoms
Written by Julia Rawlison
Illustrated by Tiphanie Beeke
Fletcher enjoys the sunny weather and the warmth of spring. But when he stumbles across snowy flakes gently floating to the ground, he spreads the news of winter’s return to all his friends. But spring is full of wonderful surprises for Fletcher and his friends.
How Groundhog’s Garden Grew
Written and Illustrated by Lynne Cherry
Little Groundhog, in trouble for stealing from his friends’ gardens, is taught by Squirrel to grow his very own. From seed-gathering to planting, harvesting, and eating home-grown fruits and vegetables, children join Little Groundhog in learning about the gardening process. At the end, Little Groundhog invites his animal friends to a Thanksgiving harvest feast.
The Curious Garden
Written and Illustrated by Peter Brown
While out exploring one day, a little boy named Liam discovers a struggling garden and decides to take care of it. As time passes, the garden spreads throughout the dark, gray city, transforming it into a lush, green world.
Animal Lives
The Frog
Written by Sally Togholm
Illustrated by Bert Kitchen
Superbly detailed drawings capture the elusive frog in its watery realm, as it captures its prey with a sticky tongue, feeds its young, and leaps from place to place to escape from predators. The carefully crafted text integrates facts about various aspects of the frog’s life cycle into a narrative that informs and entertains.
North Country Spring
Written by Reeve Lindbergh
Illustrated by Liz Sivertson
The running of rivers, the wild geese returning, the bear cubs stepping out, and the peepers singing – this is the arrival of spring in the north country. Join all manner of north country animals as they respond in their own unique ways to the slow vanishing of the cold, dark winter.
Spring Song
Written by Barbara Seuling
Illustrated by Greg Newbold
When new leaves sprout, buds appear, cocoons burst open, and other signs announce the coming of spring, various animals from bears to bullfrogs respond to the warmth of the season
Fairy Dusters and Blazing Stars
Exploring Wildflowers with Children
Written by Suzanne M. Samson
Illustrated by Preston Neel
The literal interpretations of the common names of wildflowers introduce kids to the basics of plant identification.
Flute’s Journey
The Life of a Wood Thrush
Written and Illustrated by Lynne Cherry
This is a reverent environmental story of a wood thrush’s first year and his arduous first migration–across thousands of miles–from his nesting ground in the Belt Woods in Maryland to his winter home in Costa Rica, and back again. During his journey Flute encounters many perils, including natural predators and devastating habitat loss.
Just Ducks!
Written by Nicola Davies
Illustrated by Salvatore Rubbino
The young girl in this story may live in the city, but outside her window there’s a river full of mallard ducks! She hears them as soon as she wakes up, and on the way to school she sees them upside down bobbing for food. Interspersed with fun facts, her enthusiastic commentary about her feathered neighbors — what they look like, how they behave, where they nest, where they sleep — pairs swimmingly with cheerful watercolor illustrations.
Over in the Meadow
Written by Olive A. Wadsworth
Illustrated by Anna Vojtech
“Over in the Meadow
in the sand in the sun
Lived an old mother turtle
and her little turtle one.”
So begins this classic nursery poem, written by Olive A. Wadsworth in the late 19th century, a favorite counting rhyme for generations of children. Anna Vojtech’s sweet illustrations depict a sun-drenched meadow filled with loving animal families-from mother turtle with her one baby to ten little beavers embraced by their doting mother. There are lots to count in the cleverly designed pictures, and sharp-eyed youngsters will delight in finding a corresponding number of background details on each spread.
Little Skink’s Tail
Written by Janet Halfmann
Illustrated by Laurie Allen Klein
While Little Skink hunts yummy ants for breakfast, she is suddenly attacked by a crow! But she has a trick to escape – she snaps off her tail, and it keeps on wiggling! Little Skink is happy to be alive, but she misses her bright blue tail. Readers will enjoy pretending with her, trying on tail after tail.
Forest Bright, Forest Night
Written by Jennifer Ward
Illustrated by Jamichael Henterly
Learn about the animals that make the forest their home by day and at night. This creative approach of looking at animal habitats in the forest puts readers close up to deer, bear, quail, crickets, mice, foxes, and more.
Box Turtle at Long Pond
Written by William T. George
Illustrated by Lindsay Barrett George
“A day in the life of a box turtle is rendered carefully in words and lifelike illustrations with a text that respects its subject….Superior.”–School Library Journal. “Will delight the young viewer. An excellent introduction to pond ecology, and a strikingly beautiful book.”–Kirkus Reviews.
It is dawn at Long Pond. Box Turtle’s red eyes look out from his shelter within a crumbling tree, and his day begins …
Step Gently Out
Written and Illustrated by
Helen Frost and Rick Leider
What would happen if you walked very, very quietly and looked ever so carefully at the natural world outside? You might see a cricket leap, a moth spread her wings, or a spider step across a silken web. In simple, evocative language, Helen Frost offers a hint at the many tiny creatures around us. And in astonishing close-up photographs, Rick Lieder captures the glint of a katydid’s eye, the glow of a firefly, and many more living wonders just awaiting discovery.
The Big Storm
A Very Soggy Counting Book
Written and Illustrated by Nancy Tafuri
As clouds amass overhead and rain starts to pour, ten little woodland animals hurry to find shelter. Count from one to ten as Bird, Mouse, Squirrel, and their friends run for cover in a cozy hollow. The animals are all safe for the night, but who else is hiding in the cave with them? They’ll find out in the morning—and readers can count from ten to one as the animals scurry out of the hollow and into a big, beautiful day.
Hurry and the Monarch
Written by Antoine O’Flatharta
Illustrated by Meilo So
When the beautiful orange Monarch on her fall migration route from Canada to Mexico stops to rest at Wichita Falls, Texas, she makes friends with an old tortoise called Hurry. She tells him, “Maybe one day you’ll break out of that shell, grow wings, and fly away,” and then she is off again with millions of other Monarchs. In the spring, she stops again at Hurry’s garden just long enough to lay her eggs and head north to Canada. Embedded in this lyrical and tender fictional presentation are the fascinating facts about the amazing 2,000-mile migration and the life cycle of butterflies.
Sweep Up The Sun
Written by Helen Frost
Illustrated by Rick Leider
Baby robins, open-beaked in their nest. Mallards winging to a new clime. Whether chickadees or cardinals, sparrows or starlings, here are commonly seen birds in their natural settings, captured in photographs of rare beauty and grace. In perfect synchrony, a lyrical narrative evokes images of play and flight, perseverance and trust.
Fireflies, Fireflies, Light My Way
Written by Jonathan London
Illustrated by Linda Messier
A lively rhyming text that features fireflies, beavers, turtles, and other animals celebrates the interconnectedness of the natural world.
Fletcher and the Falling Leaves
Written by Julia Rawlison
Illustrated by Tiphanie Beeke
As the leaves fall from his favorite tree, Fletcher worries that something is terribly wrong. But then winter comes, and with it a wonderful surprise. Do you know what it is? Join Fletcher and find out. . . .
In November
Written by Cynthia Rylant
Illustrated by Jill Kastner
In November, the air grows cold and the earth and all of its creatures prepare for winter.
Animals seek food and shelter. And people gather together to celebrate their blessings with family and friends.
Cynthia Rylant’s lyrical language and Jill Kastner’s rich, cozy paintings capture the cherished moments of this autumn month–the moments we spend together and the ones we witness in the world around us.
How Does the Wind Walk?
Written by Nancy White Carlstrom
Illustrated by Deborah Kogan Ray
A little boy watches the wind through the four seasons of the year
A Whiff of Pine, a Hint of Skunk
A Forest of Poems
Written by Deborah Ruddell
Illustrated by Joan Rankin
Take a lighthearted romp through four seasons in the forest with these whimsical poems. Marvel at the overachieving beaver, applaud the race-winning snail and its perfect trail of slime, or head off to be pampered at a squirrel spa.
The Happy Owls
Written and Illustrated by Celestino Piatti
Why are these owls so happy? That’s just what the chickens, ducks, and geese want to know. But when they send a peacock over to find out why, they’re incredulous at the reply. How could anyone be happy simply to see the rain and sunshine? What could be so joyful about the flowers and butterflies?
Possum’s Harvest Moon
Written and Illustrated by Anne Hunter
When Possum wakes up one evening and sees the full harvest moon, he decides to throw one last party before the long winter. But everyone is too busy preparing for winter and it looks as if nobody will…
When Possum wakes up one evening and sees the full harvest moon, he decides to throw one last party before the long winter. But everyone is too busy preparing for winter and it looks as if nobody will come to Possum’s party.
Count Down to Fall
Written by Fran Hawk
Illustrated by Sherry Neidligh
Count backwards from 10 to one during one of the most colorful times of year: fall. Learn about the bright, colorful leaves and the trees from which they fall: aspen, birch, maple, oak, chestnut, linden, pine, beech, dogwood, and sweet gum. Watch the animals frolicking in the crisp, autumn air as they get ready for the approaching cold winter.
No Two Alike
Written and Illustrated by Keith Baker
No two snowflakes are alike,
almost, almost . . .
but not quite.
Follow a pair of birds on a snowflake-filled journey though a gorgeous winter landscape to explore how everything everywhere is wonderfully unique—from branches and leaves to forests and trees to friends and loved ones.
Owl Moon
Written by Jane Yolen
Illustrated by John Schoenherr
Late one winter night a little girl and her father go owling. The trees stand still as statues and the world is silent as a dream. Whoo-whoo-whoo, the father calls to the mysterious nighttime bird.
But there is no answer.
Wordlessly the two companions walk along, for when you go owling you don’t need words. You don’t need anything but hope. Sometimes there isn’t an owl, but sometimes there is.
Written by Robert Frost
Illustrated by Susan Jeffers
Robert Frost’s iconic poem evoking the quiet delights of winter is brought to life through the richly detailed, subtly colored art of award-winning illustrator Susan Jeffers. Sweeping landscapes, treasures to find among the trees, snowflakes and a kindly narrator invite readers to discover the beauty and silent wonder of a snowy evening.
The Longest Night
Written by Marion Dane Bauer
Illustrated by Ted Lewin
It is the longest night of the year, and the snow lies deep. All through the forest, animals long for dawn’s warmth. Strong and clever creatures boast that only they can bring back the sun. But the wind knows better. The wind calls Chickadee, whose simple song wakes the sun. In this lyrical story from Marion Dane Bauer with breathtaking watercolors by Ted Lewin, it will take a tiny and gentle creature to summon a new day.