A Winter Reading List to Prepare for 2023

Winter is a quiet time for pollinators and humans alike. Plants have gone dormant, pollinators are safely tucked away, and we spend the short winter days dreaming about spring. Puttering away in the garden might not be an option right now, but we can definitely start planning for the next growing season! We have curated a selection of books for all ages to explore this winter. Learn how to identify different bee species, dive into the world of oaks, or read a fun story to kids.
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General Knowledge & Guides
Take a deep dive into the world of native plants and pollinators with these books. Some act as guides to help establish or extend your pollinator garden, while others take a broader approach to examine the interconnectivity of native species and the environment.

• Nature's Best Hope by Douglas W. Tallamy
• Bringing Nature Home, Updated and Expanded by Douglas W. Tallamy
• The Nature of Oaks by Douglas W. Tallamy
• Prairie Up by Benjamin Vogt
• A New Garden Ethic by Benjamin Vogt
• 100 Easy-to-Grow Native Plants for Canadian Gardens, Revised 3rd Edition by Lorraine Johnson
• A Garden for the Rusty-Patched Bumblebee by Lorraine Johnson
• 100 Plants to Feed the Monarch: Create a Healthy Habitat to Sustain North America's Most Beloved Butterfly by The Xerces Society
• 100 Plants to Feed the Bees: Provide a Healthy Habitat to Help Pollinators Thrive by The Xerces Society
• Pollinators of Native Plants by Heather Holm
• Bees: An Identification and Native Plant Forage Guide by Heather Holm
• Growing Trees from Seed by Henry Kock

Identification
Want to know who’s who in your pollinator garden? Identification guides will help you reveal those mysterious garden visitors. Not sure where to start? Pick a type of pollinator (bees, butterflies, flies, etc.) or plant (wildflowers, trees, etc.) that interests you and grab one of the ID guides below. Spend some time over the winter familiarizing yourself with the book’s layout, identification keys, and important ID features.

We recommend using a camera with decent zoom abilities to photograph your garden visitors, then compare your photos to the ID guide – much easier than chasing a bee around the garden with a book in hand! You can upload your photos to iNaturalist or Bumble Bee Watch, where experts and community scientists can help identify the species.

Bees, Bumble Bees & Wasps

• Common Bees of Eastern North America by Olivia Messinger Carril and Joseph S. Wilson
• Bumble Bees of North America: An Identification Guide by P. Williams, R. Thorp, L. Richardson, and S. Colla
• Wasps: A Guide for Eastern North America by Heather Holm

Butterflies & Moths

• ROM Field Guide to Butterflies of Ontario by the ROM
• Peterson Field Guide to Moths of Northeastern North America by David Beadle and Seabrooke Leckie
• Caterpillars of Eastern North America by David L. Wagner
• Moths & Caterpillars of the North Woods by Jim Sogaard

Other Pollinators

• Field Guide to the Flower Flies of Northeastern North America by Jeffrey H. Skevington et al.
• Beetles of Eastern North America by Arthur V. Evans

Plants

• Newcomb's Wildflower Guide by Lawrence Newcomb
• Trees in Canada by John Laird Farrar
• Michigan Trees, Revised and Updated by Burton V. Barnes and Warren H. Wagner Jr

Children’s Books
Of course, we can’t forget the budding naturalists! Help kids connect with nature and science through engaging stories and illustrations. See how they apply the stories to their own lives and backyards.

• Senorita Mariposa by Ben Gundersheimer
• Seeds Move! by By Robin Page
• The Book of Brilliant Bugs by Jess French
• The Backyard Bug Book for Kids by Lauren Davidson
• POLLEN: Darwin's 130-Year Prediction by Darcy Pattison
• The Boy Who Grew a Forest: The True Story of Jadav Payeng by Sophia Gholz
• Evelyn the Adventurous Entomologist: The True Story of a World-Traveling Bug Hunter by Christine Evans
• Trees, Leaves, Flowers, and Seeds by the Smithsonian Institution