Montana Books for Kids

What's so great about Montana? Find out the top ten sites to see or things to do in the Treasure State!

Explore Montana's mile-high mountains, gold mines, and wild-west history.

The "Montana by Map" feature shows where you'll find all the places covered in the book.

Numbers and colors are more fun in Montana!

In this dynamic, colorful primer, young readers count from 1 to 10 while learning colors.

They will also discover the places, animals, and other wonderful things that make Montana so unique.

Take an alphabetized field trip around the Treasure State and discover the plants, animals, foods, and places that make it, well, Montana!

With L for Lewis and Clark Trail, G for the Garden of One Thousand Buddhas, and Y for Yellowstone National Park, going from A to Z has never been more fun!

Emerging readers are sure to enjoy these charming paper-cut illustrations depicting some of the most iconic animals, memorable activities, and remarkable geological features found at Yellowstone.

Geysers, vents, hot springs, and out-of-this-world rock formations are all part of a typical day at Yellowstone National Park.

Grizzly cubs are disappearing from Glacier National Park, and the Landon family must figure out why! But for Jack, the real mystery is his sister Ashley's strange behavior.

What was she doing alone in the woods so early in the morning? And why did she lie to their parents?

Jack's efforts to unravel the truth lead to a pulse-pounding adventure that brings the Landon kids face to face with an enraged grizzly—as Jack and his sister suddenly become the hunted.

One reviewer of this book said, "This book is not only exciting but educational too. It teaches you interesting information about the history and ecology of Glacier National Park, how to respect a bears' territory should you ever come close to their homes. It also raises awareness on poaching and the declining population of grizzlies."

In northwest Montana's Glacier National Park, huge, icy glaciers stream the sides of towering mountain peaks. Below, beautiful green forests grow along the shores of sparkling blue lakes.

Readers will get a detailed view of the park as they explore its beautiful natural landscapes and examine its diverse population of plants and animals.

They will also learn about the park's history, what environmental threats it faces today, and more.

Ages 8-12

No grizzly has ever killed a human in Glacier before . . . until tonight.

Eleven-year-old Melody Vega and her family come to Glacier National Park every year, and it's always been a place where she can forget her troubles.

But this year is different. With Mom gone, every moment in the park is a heartbreaking reminder of the past.

Then, Mel comes face-to-face with the mighty grizzly. Now her only thought is one of survival. 

In this fast-paced adventure, the Landons trail a wounded wolf in Yellowstone National Park.

The park is abuzz with rumors of a wolf attack. Unaware of the danger, Jack and Ashley are more concerned about a rebellious teenage foster child, Troy Haverson.

From the opening moments at Old Faithful through 48 action-packed hours, the tension builds: What is lodged in the wolf's radio collar? And what is the meaning of the Native American story of Sin-a-Wavi?

A heady mix of suspense, adventure, and moments of tenderness lure readers into this story of kids discovering the natural world

Wild Montana, featuring award-winning wildlife photographer Donald M. Jones, beautifully showcases wild creatures of his home state.

Whether on two wings or four feet, none are too small for Jones to capture with his camera. He has photographed Montana's wild in the state's three main habitat zones: lush forests, craggy mountains, and open plains.

Humor, threat, glee, concentration, curiosity, inventiveness, and many more moods appear in these rich color images, which span species and seasons in the Northern Rockies.

Jones' informative, and often humorous, captions offer a little natural history along with personal tales that allow the viewer to experience moments in the life of a wildlife photographer.

The snow-covered alpine and spruce trees are called snow ghosts because, during the winter, their trunks and branches are weighted down with snow and ice. With the wind and sun, the trees give the shape of ghosts.

Thrill with the little snow ghost named Blizzard as he meets with Mother Grizzly, Mr. Wolf, and Mr. Eagle.

With their help, Grandfather Olaf rescues the lost snow ghost with "those things" on his feet.

But now, because of those things called skis, people are happily whizzing down mountains while the Rocky Mountain snow ghosts like Blizzard and Grandfather Olaf are carefully watching over them.

From the Grizzly and Wolf Discovery Center to the Ross Creek Cedars and Flathead Lake, these 10 Little Monsters discover some of the most unique and interesting things about Montana and what it has to offer.

Silly, over-the-top fun, and a bit macabre, 10 Little Monsters Visit Montana is the perfect book for every little boy and ghoul!

Good Night Montana celebrates Yellowstone National Park, Museum of the Rockies, Glacier National Park and Red Jammers, Livingston Roundup Rodeo, the strawberry festival, wildlife, the Badlands, cattle drives, hiking, skiing, snowboarding, and more.

Howdy, little cowboys and cowgirls, it's time to saddle up and hit the open range.

Little ones are invited to explore all the sights and attractions Big Sky Country has to offer.

Join the Parkers, an intrepid family of four, as they head north to Montana’s beautiful Glacier National Park.

The family enjoys views of cascading waterfalls, uniquely sculpted mountains, glimmering glaciers, and beautifully colored waters.

But Glacier’s alpine scenery is under threat due to climate change, persistent summer fires, and area drought. Will smoke and flames thwart the family’s vacation plans?

"Finally the group reached the top. Straight ahead was a remnant Arctic scene. Grinnell Glacier was full of cracks and large chunks of ice. Some icebergs were floating in a small lake. A waterfall splashed down from Salamander Glacier above it . . ."

Recorded by Assiniboine storytellers and illustrated by Indian artists from the Fort Peck and Fort Belknap reservations in northern Montana, these Assiniboine stories were originally intended to help educate young tribal members about their history and culture.

Enter into the legendary world of the Assiniboine of long ago through six traditional tales.

A book in the Indian Reading Series, How the Summer Season Came offers authentic Indian stories, created in cooperation with tribal culture committees.

Written at an elementary reading level, these stories provide insights into tribal culture that will be appreciated by both children and adults.

Recorded by Kootenai elders and illustrated by Kootenai artists from the Flathead Indian Reservation in western Montana, these Kootenai stories were originally intended to help educate young tribal members about their history and culture.

For centuries, Kootenai children and adults gathered on cold, dark winter nights to listen and learn from stories like these. In this story, Marten learns a hard lesson in obedience during a run-in with a bear that leaves his fur spotted.

Next Christmas in Girouette is the first in a series of novels set in a ghost town on the eastern porch of the Montana Rocky Mountains.

This book will appeal to people of all ages—nine to ninety-nine—who want to share a classic, heart-warming literary adventure at Christmastime.

The book reveals the solitary beauty of winter in Big Sky Country, the enduring wisdom of the elderly citizens of Girouette, the excitement of frontier history coming to life, the inspiration of a family healing itself, and the magic of an old-fashioned western Christmas.

From the grit of Fannie Sperry Steele and the Greenough sisters to the thrilling tenacity of Evel Knievel, Courageous People from Montana Who Changed the World is a young child’s first introduction to the amazing and brave people from Montana who made a difference.

Simple text and adorable illustrations tell the contributions of more than a dozen courageous Montanans.

Horner takes kids along on the dig, explaining step by step how fossils are formed, the best places to find them, what it takes to get them out of the ground, and what the fossils tell us about the dinosaurs that roamed the Rocky Mountain states and the Dakotas.

We even get to look back in time at what the region looked like during the Mesozoic Era and what dinosaurs ruled in what are now Montana, Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, Idaho, North Dakota, and South Dakota.

Boneheaded, duck-billed, and armored―what a display of dinosaur types!

These animals lived in forests that are now the dry plains of Montana. Dig up facts about how these animals lived in prehistoric times.

In Missoula, Montana, the scientists have been following ospreys for six years, collecting data on the number of contaminants found on their feathers and in their blood.

The rivers and streams in Western Montana are still suffering effects from inappropriate mining activities performed more than a hundred years ago. 

This historical novel follows eleven-year-old Joe Henry Grummond and his Pa on an often perilous journey to find gold.

When they board a steamboat to go up the “Big Muddy” Missouri River to Fort Benton, Montana, in 1862, they hope to escape the desperation of the Civil War in their home state of Kentucky and make money in the gold fields of Montana to take back to the family they leave behind.

Little does Joe Henry know that this river trip will lead him to untamed wild places where ambush, robberies, claim jumpers, lawless towns, and back-breaking work are the everyday stuff of life in the Bannack, Montana, gold camp.

With careful explanations and descriptions, this book gives young readers a glimpse into one of the largest environmental catastrophes in the United States' history.

Times couldn’t have been better for the folks in Libby, Montana. Job security in the mines put food on the table for many people like Les Skramstad in the 1960s.

Little did anyone know, that Libby’s mill and mines were an eco-disaster in the making.

In the 1800s people were mining for things like silver and gold, but there were undiscovered riches in Montana’s Rocky Mountain range.

Sacagawea was only sixteen when she made one of the most remarkable journeys in American history, traveling 4500 miles by foot, canoe, and horse-all while carrying a baby on her back!

Without her, the Lewis and Clark expedition might have failed!

Through this engaging book, kids will understand the reasons that today, 200 years later, she is still remembered and immortalized on a golden dollar coin.