Arbor Day is celebrated at various times throughout the United States based on when tree-planting is in season. However, since Arbor Day was first celebrated in 1872 in Nebraska, some say the Nebraska date — the last Friday in April — is THE date to celebrate the tree-planting holiday. To that end, you may enjoy another free eBook in the Our American Holidays series, Arbor Day: Its History, Observance, Spirit and Significance; With Practical Selections on Tree-Planting and Conservation, and a Nature Anthology edited by Robert Haven Schauffler.
When originally published, then President Theodore Roosevelt wrote the introduction explaining the holiday:
Arbor Day (which means simply “Tree Day”) is now observed in every state in our Union — and mainly in the schools. At various times, from January to December, but chiefly in this month of April, you give a day or part of a day to special exercises and perhaps to actual tree planting, in recognition of the importance of trees to us as a Nation, and of what they yield in adornment, comfort, and useful products to the communities in which you live….
If your Arbor Day exercises help you to realize what benefits each one of you receives from the forests, and how by your assistance these benefits may continue, they will serve a good end.
As with other books in the series, after a brief introduction to the history of Arbor Day, the editor includes a selection of readings, categorized by:
- Holiday and observance.
- Spirit and significance.
- Practical suggestions.
- The season.
- Trees.
- Flowers and leaves of grass.
- Conservation.
- Exercises.
Contributors include:
- Washington Irving.
- Oliver Wendell Holmes.
- William Cullen Bryant.
- John Ruskin.
- Henry van Dyke.
- Horace Greeley.
- Robert Browning.
- Alfred Tennyson.
- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.
- John Milton.
- Andrew Lang.
- Charles Dickens.
- Hans Christian Andersen.
- Ralph Waldo Emerson.
- Shakespeare.
- Walt Whitman.
- Sir Walter Scott.
- Alexander Pope.
- Many, many other names you will recognize.
This is a great free title that can stand alone as you celebrate a fun and unique holiday. Or you can use the readings in the book to complement our free nature studies series!
Free eBook
Additional Resources
150 Ways to Celebrate Trees on Arbor Day
You’ll surely find something you and your family will enjoy!
Arbor Day Dates Across America
Find out when your state celebrates Arbor Day at the Arbor Day Foundation site.
Arbor Day Kids Page
Arbor Day games and resources including a leaf identification interactive.
What is Arbor Day?
From the Arbor Day Foundation.
Free Nature Studies: Trees
Resources in our free nature study series.
Free Nature Studies: Fruit Trees and Forests
Resources in our free nature study series.
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