A Pathway for Pollinators

by Michelle Schaub, Blanca Gómez (Illustrator)

This bright, read-aloud companion to A Place for Rain inspires readers to build city gardens that connect and support pollinators.


Flitter. Flutter. Buzz. Hum. Come watch a meadow thrum.


But what happens when a meadow meets a metropolis? There’s not much pollen to be found with steel buildings, concrete roads, and primly trimmed lawns. So this classroom plans and builds urban gardens to create an inviting pathway for pollinators to visit.


With lively, lyrical language and beguiling illustrations, A Pathway for Pollinators provides an upbeat and actionable approach to an important environmental issue, empowering readers with the tools to create a habitat for wildlife, grow healthy plants, and support local ecosystems.

Genres: Nature, Science, Picture Books

39 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 5, 2026

About the author

Michelle Schaub is an award-winning children’s author and veteran teacher. Her book Fresh-Picked Poetry: A Day at the Farmers’ Market won the 2018 Growing Good Kids Award and 2019 Northern Lights Book Award. She is the author of Finding Treasure: A Collection of Collections and Dream Big, Little Scientists. Her poems appear in several anthologies, including The Poetry Anthology for Celebrations and Great Morning! Poems for School Leaders to Read Aloud. Michelle speaks at conferences on the power of poetry to boost literacy and shares ways to use poetry in the classroom on her blog POETRY BOOST, www.michelleschaub.blogspot.com.

Reviews

[Jilanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a marvelous introduction that shows how human development has squeezed out pollinators and how to take action to help them return. By finding "nooks and crannies" and planting preferred native species that pollinators need in corridors and parks, a city can transform its pollinator desert into a pollinator oasis. I love how this book offers up so many ways to help! Told in a rhythmic cadence, it should work well as a read aloud, and can be used to inspire kids to green their schoolyard and make their own backyards and window boxes into pollinator paradises. I love the vibrant colors of the illustrations and how the end papers show a variety of different pollinators. It makes it easy to understand why so many different kinds of plants are needed to support them all. And I really appreciate that the author includes nighttime pollinators, too, species that many people don't often think about. Great book!

[Cedar Pruitt · Rating 5 out of 5]

A meadow beckons, bright and cheerful, packed with pollinators. But what happens when we readers arrive in a city? The concrete feels forbidding, at first, for fliers looking to land both day and night, but a determined young class, aided by their teacher, figures out how to create a pollinator pathway for them. Within just a few of Schaub's clean and inviting lines, even the youngest reader gets excited about the opportunities to help create pitstops between meadows. Poetry weaves a journey for these fliers, one we are all on together, and Bianca Gomez's illustrations keep it simple, clear and fun. The accessible backmatter taught me some things, like the importance of adding shrubs and trees to my pollinator-friendly front yard. An excellent illumination of our connection to pollinators and the ways we can help them.

[Martha Meyer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am a huge fan of A Place for Rain where a preschool class sets the city to rights with rain barrels and rain gardens for the overflow. I was so glad to see a follow up, but at first, I was concerned since there are so many books about pollinators for kids, but this is different. Schaub is sharing an important strategy that many adults don't know about, the need for native flower/flowering plant pitstops every 150 meters for native bees and butterflies and other creatures to use. This is a simple simple explanation perfect for younger kids of Doug Tallamy's philosophy behind Home Grown National Park. I love Blanca Gomez' are here to0 -- it also works hard to convince adults and kids how doable some of these critical solutions can be. Brava!

[Katy · Rating 5 out of 5]

It can safely be said that any child (or adult!) who loves butterflies will love this book. BUT this books isn’t only about butterflies. It’s about pollinators—and how we can find ways to help them—and it couldn’t have been done more beautifully! Schaub’s poetic text is a joy to read-aloud and Gómez’s art is a delight for the eyes (the shapes! the colors! the pollinators! those children!). The actionable information shared will prompt and empower readers to get outside and make a difference for pollinators in their own worlds. A perfect story time read-aloud and a wonderful jump-start for teachers, librarians, and parents to help kids create pollinator habitats.

[Jenna Daucunas · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is such a lovely book about pollinators (of which there are many more than just bees!!!) I love the message that “yes, we can take action!” to help these pollinators even if we live in cities and have greatly diminished their habitat. When my daughter and I finished this book we both wanted to hop up and go plant some flowers! The backmatter at the end is perfect for anyone wanting to dig in and understand the issue and what to do. This book would be a fantastic classroom read in springtime or present for any nature-loving family for Earth Day!

[Ann Staats · Rating 5 out of 5]

Told in sparse, beautifully written lyrical text, this is a story of action. It shares how pollinators thrive in open spaces. But when cities take over, pollinators are shut out. Now young readers find a way to incorporate places for these critical pollinators in the ‘steel and stone’ of cities. By creating patches of native plants, they create a path for the pollinators to follow and allow them to thrive even when meadows are overrun by buildings and roads. The wonderfully executed text and illustrations of this book send a powerful message of hope and cooperation with nature.

[Marianne Tabner · Rating 5 out of 5]

Told with beautiful, bright illustrations paired with Schaub’s sparse poetic, read aloud text, A Pathway For Pollinators is a perfect introduction for young readers to learn about pollinators and their habitats in the city. From window boxes to small plots, a preschool class acts with their teacher by planting a path of native flowers to provide much needed food for so many pollinators and to help preserve our planet. Backmatter includes additional STEM ideas of how to plant your own ‘pit stops’ for these important pollinators.

[Katie Furze · Rating 5 out of 5]

This delightful picture book is joyful to look at and has lovely rhyming text that is fun to read out loud. It also holds important information – it explains how with ever growing cities and urban sprawl pollinators need our help and goes on to show readers how to provide a series of pit stops between wild places so pollinators can survive and thrive. Excellent backmatter gives further information on why pollinators are important and other considerations when you’re planning a pathway. Highly recommended.

[Beth Anderson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This interesting approach to learning about pollinators invites kids to be part of a solution and bring nature to cities. Bold bright art accompanies rich STEM text to engage readers and provide a chance to see their world a little differently. This book is good for pollinators AND people! If you’re like me, when you finish the back matter, you’ll be inspired to get your hands dirty and do some planting!

[Katie Reinert · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fun, bouncy book with a great message about ways that we can help pollinators thrive in areas where there aren't a lot of flowering plants. It's a fun read aloud and a great introduction to the importance of pollinators as well as ways that we can help.

[Jacqueline Burrows · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a beautifully written book that highlights the importance of pollinators and the impact of small actions. Highly recommend for any child’s library.