Nature Study

Between global warming, holes in the ozone, and the pollution of our seas and rivers, maybe it is best to keep kids indoors and pacified in front of the television....but probably not. If these aren't real threats then there's nothing to protect our children (or ourselves) from, and if they are real threats—all the more reason to instill a love of nature in the younger generations.

Kids have an inclination toward exploration and learning. Allowing them to do so encourages not only active bodies and active minds, it fosters a healthy imagination and love of beauty. Charlotte Mason understood this over a century ago, and developed a system of education in which nature study played a prominent role. It is in nature, more than in the classroom or the rec room or even the library, that children best learn by observation, and this habit once formed will never disappear.

The often-referenced "childlike wonder" inherent in all of us from a young age (though modern society seems to be stamping it out quicker and more efficiently) isn't just some esoteric feeling of awe. It's literal wonder—kids wonder how birds fly, why their pet dog's fur falls out in summer, where ants go in the winter, why it gets colder and harder to breathe the higher you get. The less contact they have with the natural world, the less wonder they'll have; but the reverse is also true, and kids allowed to roam and explore the outdoors will develop a sense of inquisitiveness that can only help them in the so-called "real world."

Preparation for the Real World of modern myth often takes on peculiar guises. Children are snatched from the fields and streams and placed in front of computer screens or television sets. They are crowded into classrooms and made to feel good about the fact that they are learning nothing at the same rate as everyone around them. They are given plastic toys with supposed educational properties and made to "play" with them under close adult supervision.

Meanwhile, the real real world waits outside the walls and doors and windows with its fresh smells, its colors brighter and more unique than anything on HDTV or Blu-Ray, its real wind, and its endless mysteries. If you don't like answering questions, don't want your kids to grow or exercise, prefer fat and lazy to fit and intelligent offspring, by all means somberly prepare them for a life without questions, and consequently without answers. If you want children who will grown into thoughtful adults with a sense of the loveliness of Earth and their place in it, keeping them inside is possibly the most dangerous choice you can make on their behalf.

Review by C. Hollis Crossman
C. Hollis Crossman used to be a child. Now he's a husband and father who loves church, good food, and weird stuff. He might be a mythical creature, but he's definitely not a centaur. Read more of his reviews here.
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86 Items found Print
Active Filters: Birds, 3rd grade (Ages 8-9)
Adventures of Bob White
Thornton Burgess Peter Cottontail Books #23
by Thornton W. Burgess
Illustrated from Dover Publications
for 2nd-4th grade
in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI)
$5.00
Album of North American Birds
by Vera Dugdale, illustrated by Clark Bronson
from Rand McNally
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Nonfiction (Location: VIN-NFIC)
All About Birds
All About Books #11
by Robert S. Lemmon, illustrated by Fritz Kredel
1955 Edition from Random House
for 3rd-6th grade
in All About Books (Location: VIN-ALL)
Arctic and Antarctic Life - Coloring Book
Dover Coloring Books
by Ruth Soffer
from Dover Publications
for 2nd-6th grade
in Animal Habitat Coloring Books (Location: COL-HAB)
$5.99
Audubon's Birds of America
by John James Audubon
from Macmillan
for Preschool-3rd grade
in Birds (Location: SCI-BIRD)
Audubon's Birds of America - Coloring Book
Dover Coloring Books
by Paul Kennedy
from Dover Publications
for 2nd-6th grade
in Bird Coloring Books (Location: COL-BIRD)
$4.99
Backyard Nature - Coloring Book
Dover Coloring Books
by Dot Barlowe
from Dover Publications
for 2nd-6th grade
in Animal Habitat Coloring Books (Location: COL-HAB)
$4.99
Barn Owls
by Wolfgang Epple, photographs by Manfred Rogl
from Carolrhoda Books, Inc.
for 2nd-5th grade
in Birds (Location: SCI-BIRD)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Bird Watchers and Bird Feeders
by Glenn O. Blough, illustrated by Jeanne Bendick
2022nd edition from Purple House Press
for 2nd-6th grade
in Living Science (Location: SCI-CMLS)
$12.99
Birds - Coloring Book
Educational Read & Color Books
by Peter & Linda Spizzirri
from Spizzirri Press
for 2nd-5th grade
in Bird Coloring Books (Location: COL-BIRD)
Birds at Home
by Marguerite Henry, illustrated by Jacob Bates Abbott
from M. A. Donohue & Company
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Nonfiction (Location: VIN-NFIC)
Birds Do the Strangest Things
by Leonora and Arthur Hornblow
from Random House
for Preschool-3rd grade
in Step Up Books (Location: VIN-STEP)
Birds Every Child Should Know
by Neltje Blanchan
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Science & Math (Location: VIN-SCI)
Birds of Prey - Coloring Book
Dover Coloring Books
by John Green
from Dover Publications
for 2nd-6th grade
in Bird Coloring Books (Location: COL-BIRD)
$4.99
Birds of the Air
Eyes and No Eyes #4
by Arabella B. Buckley
from Yesterday's Classics
for 2nd-5th grade
in Living Science (Location: SCI-CMLS)
$15.95
Birds of the Air
Eyes and No Eyes #4
by Arabella B. Buckley
from Living Book Press
for 2nd-5th grade
in Living Science (Location: SCI-CMLS)
$8.99
Birds of the Puget Sound Region
by Dennis Paulson
from R. W. Morse Company
for 3rd-Adult
in Field Guides & Nature Handbooks (Location: NAT-FIELD)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
Birds, Nests and Eggs
Take-Along Guide
by Mel Boring
from Northword Press
for 2nd-4th grade
in Birds (Location: SCI-BIRD)
Birds: Nature's Magnificent Flying Machines
by Caroline Arnold
from Charlesbridge
for 3rd-6th grade
in Birds (Location: SCI-BIRD)
$7.95
Bluebirds and Their Neighbors
by Wayne Northey
from Pacific Press
for 3rd-6th grade
in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Bluebirds Seven
by R. Bruce Horsfall
1st edition
for 3rd-6th grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Book of Eagles
by Helen Roney Sattler, illustrated by Jean Day Zallinger
from Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Books
for 3rd-6th grade
in Birds (Location: SCI-BIRD)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Boy Who Drew Birds
by Jacqueline Davies
New title from Houghton Mifflin
for 1st-3rd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$17.99
Breathtaking Birds
Marvels of Creation
by Buddy & Kay Davis
from Master Books
for 2nd-6th grade
in Birds (Location: SCI-BIRD)
$10.39
Bubo: The Great Horned Owl
by John L. and Jean George, illustrated by Jean George
from E.P. Dutton & Co.
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Burgess Bird Book for Children
by Thornton W. Burgess
from Dover Publications
in Living Science (Location: SCI-CMLS)
$12.95
Burgess Bird Book for Children
by Thornton W. Burgess
from Yesterday's Classics
for 1st-4th grade
in Living Science (Location: SCI-CMLS)
$15.95
Burgess Bird Book for Children
by Thornton W. Burgess
Color Edition from Living Book Press
in Living Science (Location: SCI-CMLS)
$19.99
Burgess Bird Book for Children
by Thornton W. Burgess
from Living Book Press
in Living Science (Location: SCI-CMLS)
$18.99
Burgess Bird Book for Children
by Thornton W. Burgess
from Living Book Press
in Living Science (Location: SCI-CMLS)
$28.99
Colly's Barn
by Michael Morpurgo
New Ed from Mammoth
for 3rd-5th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
Desperate Adventures of Zeno and Alya
by Jane Kelly
from Square Fish Publishing
for 3rd-6th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
Draw 50 Birds
by Lee Ames & Tony D'Adamo
from Watson-Guptill Publications
for 3rd-8th grade
in Draw 50 (Location: ELE-ARTD50)
$9.99
Eagles - Coloring Book
Educational Read & Color Books
by Peter & Linda Spizzirri
from Spizzirri Press
for 2nd-5th grade
in Bird Coloring Books (Location: COL-BIRD)
$3.95
Endangered Birds - Coloring Book
Educational Read & Color Books
by Peter & Linda Spizzirri
from Spizzirri Press
for 2nd-5th grade
in Bird Coloring Books (Location: COL-BIRD)
$3.95
Exploring Creation With Zoology 1
Young Explorer Series
by Jeannie Fulbright
2nd edition from Apologia Educational Ministries
for 3rd-6th grade
in Apologia Young Explorer (Location: SCICUR-AEM)
$39.20
Exploring Creation With Zoology 1 (old)
Young Explorer Series
by Jeannie Fulbright
from Apologia Educational Ministries
for 3rd-6th grade
in Apologia Science (Old Versions only) (Location: OSCI-AEM)
$31.50
Exploring Creation With Zoology 1 - MP3 CD Audio Book
Young Explorer Series
by Jeannie Fulbright
from Apologia Educational Ministries
for 3rd-6th grade
in Apologia Young Explorer (Location: SCICUR-AEM)
$24.00
Exploring Creation With Zoology 1 - MP3 CD Audio Book (old)
Young Explorer Series
by Jeannie Fulbright
from Apologia Educational Ministries
for 3rd-6th grade
in Apologia Science (Old Versions only) (Location: OSCI-AEM)
$20.30
Exploring Creation With Zoology 1 - Notebooking Journal
Young Explorer Series
by Jeannie Fulbright
from Apologia Educational Ministries
for 3rd-6th grade
in Apologia Young Explorer (Location: SCICUR-AEM)
$27.20
Exploring Creation With Zoology 1 - Notebooking Journal (old)
Young Explorer Series
by Jeannie Fulbright
from Apologia Educational Ministries
for 3rd-6th grade
in Apologia Science (Old Versions only) (Location: OSCI-AEM)
$22.40
Exploring Creation With Zoology 2 - MP3 CD Audio Book
Young Explorer Series
by Jeannie Fulbright
from Apologia Educational Ministries
for 3rd-6th grade
in Apologia Science (Old Versions only) (Location: OSCI-AEM)
$21.00
Exploring Creation With Zoology 3 - MP3 CD Audio Book
Young Explorer Series
by Jeannie Fulbright
from Apologia Educational Ministries
for 3rd-6th grade
in Apologia Young Explorer (Location: SCICUR-AEM)
$24.00 $18.00 (1 in stock)
Fifty Favorite Birds - Coloring Book
Dover Coloring Books
by Lisa Bonforte
from Dover Publications
for 2nd-6th grade
in Bird Coloring Books (Location: COL-BIRD)
$5.99
First Book of Birds
by Olive Thorne Miller
School Edition from Houghton Mifflin
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Nonfiction (Location: VIN-NFIC)
First Book of Birds
by Margaret Williamson
from Living Book Press
for 2nd-5th grade
in Living Science (Location: SCI-CMLS)
$10.99
First Look at Owls, Eagles, and Other Hunters of the Sky
by Millicent E. Selsam, illustrated by Joyce Hunt
from Walker Publishing, Inc.
for 1st-3rd grade
in Birds (Location: SCI-BIRD)
$18.00 (1 in stock)
Forest Animals - Coloring Book
Dover Coloring Books
by Diane Gaspas-Ettl
from Dover Publications
for 2nd-6th grade
in Animal Habitat Coloring Books (Location: COL-HAB)
$5.99
Harry's Mad
by Dick King-Smith
from Yearling
for 2nd-3rd grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$6.99
Have You Ever Heard of a Kangaroo Bird?
by Barbara Brenner, illustrated by Irene Brady
from Coward, McCann & Geoghegan, Inc.
for 3rd-6th grade
in Birds (Location: SCI-BIRD)
$15.00 (1 in stock)
How Do Birds Find Their Way?
by Roma Gans
from HarperCollins
for 1st-3rd grade
in Birds (Location: SCI-BIRD)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Kiya the Gull
by Fen H. Lasell
from Addison Wesley
for 1st-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Learning About Birds with Thornton Burgess
by Sonya Shafer
from Simply Charlotte Mason
for 1st-6th grade
in Living Science (Location: SCI-CMLS)
Lizards for Lunch
by Conrad J. Storad
from Bobolink Media Inc.
for Preschool-3rd grade
in Birds (Location: SCI-BIRD)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Look Up!
by Annette LeBlanc Cate
2nd edition from Candlewick Press
for 2nd-6th grade
2014 Robert F. Sibert Honor Book
in Birds (Location: SCI-BIRD)
$8.99
Mother's Journey
by Sandra Markle
Reprint from Charlesbridge
for 1st-3rd grade
in Birds (Location: SCI-BIRD)
National Audubon Society First Field Guide: Birds
by Scott Weindensaul
from Scholastic Inc.
in Birds (Location: SCI-BIRD)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
National Life Federation World of Birds
by Kim Kurki
from Black Dog & Leventhal
for 3rd-6th grade
in Birds (Location: SCI-BIRD)
Nest Full of Eggs
by Priscilla Belz Jenkins
from HarperCollins
for Preschool-3rd grade
in Birds (Location: SCI-BIRD)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
New True Book of Bald Eagles
by Emilie U. Lepthien
from Children's Press
for 1st-3rd grade
in Birds (Location: SCI-BIRD)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
North American Ducks, Geese and Swans - Coloring Book
Dover Coloring Books
by Ruth Soffer
from Dover Publications
for 2nd-6th grade
in Bird Coloring Books (Location: COL-BIRD)
$4.99
Oliver Pete is a Bird
by Carroll Lane Fenton and Dorothy Constance Pallas
from The John Day Company
for 1st-3rd grade
in Vintage Science & Math (Location: VIN-SCI)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Ookpik
by Bruce Hiscock
First Edition from Boyds Mill Press
for 3rd-5th grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Original Water-Color Paintings by John James Audubon for Birds of America
by John James Audubon
1985 edition from American Heritage Publishing Co.
for Preschool-3rd grade
in Oversized Science Books (Location: SCI-OVER)
$35.00 (1 in stock)
Ospreys
by Dorothy Hinshaw Patent, photos by William Munoz
from Clarion Books
for 3rd-6th grade
in Birds (Location: SCI-BIRD)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Ostriches
by Herbert S. Zim, illustrated by Russell Francis Peterson.
from Purple House Press
for Kindergarten-4th grade
in Birds (Location: SCI-BIRD)
$7.99
Owl Babies
by Martin Waddell
from Candlewick Press
for 1st-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$6.99
Penguin Chick
Lets-Read-and-Find-Out Science
by Betty Tatham
from HarperCollins
for 1st-4th grade
in Arctic & Tundra (Location: SCI-ECO)
Penguins
by Seymour Simon
1 Reprint from HarperCollins
for 3rd-5th grade
in Birds (Location: SCI-BIRD)
Penguins - Coloring Book
Educational Read & Color Books
by Peter & Linda Spizzirri
from Spizzirri Press
for 2nd-5th grade
in Bird Coloring Books (Location: COL-BIRD)
$3.95
Pocket Naturalist Guide: Portland Birds
from Waterford Press
for 3rd-Adult
in Field Guides & Nature Handbooks (Location: NAT-FIELD)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Rain Forest Birds - Coloring Book
Educational Read & Color Books
by Peter & Linda Spizzirri
from Spizzirri Press
for 2nd-5th grade
in Bird Coloring Books (Location: COL-BIRD)
Rain Forest Tree Life - Coloring Book
Educational Read & Color Books
by Peter & Linda Spizzirri
from Spizzirri Press
for 2nd-5th grade
in Animal Habitat Coloring Books (Location: COL-HAB)
$3.95
Real Thief
by William Steig
from Houghton Mifflin
for 3rd-5th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$2.50 (1 in stock)
Sea and Shore Birds - Coloring Book
Dover Coloring Books
by Ruth Soffer
from Dover Publications
for 2nd-6th grade
in Bird Coloring Books (Location: COL-BIRD)
$5.99
State Birds - Coloring Book
Educational Read & Color Books
by Peter & Linda Spizzirri
from Spizzirri Press
for 2nd-5th grade
in Bird Coloring Books (Location: COL-BIRD)
State Birds and Flowers - Coloring Book
Dover Coloring Books
by Annika Bernhard
from Dover Publications
for 2nd-6th grade
in History of America Coloring Books (Location: COL-HISA)
$5.99
The Birds
Life Nature Library
by Roger Tory Peterson
from Time-Life Books
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Science & Math (Location: VIN-SCI)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Tony's Birds
by Millicent E. Selsam
from Unknown Publisher
for 1st-3rd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Tropical Birds - Coloring Book
by Lucia de Leiris
from Dover Publications
for 2nd-6th grade
in Bird Coloring Books (Location: COL-BIRD)
$4.99
True Book: Birds
A True Book
by Melissa Stewart
from Children's Press
for 2nd-4th grade
in Birds (Location: SCI-BIRD)
Usborne Book of Bird Facts
from EDC Publishing
for 3rd-6th grade
in Birds (Location: SCI-BIRD)
Vulcan
by Robert M. McClung
from William Morrow & Company
for 2nd-5th grade
in Vintage Science & Math (Location: VIN-SCI)
What Bird is It?
by Anna Pistorius
from Follett
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Vintage Picture Books (Location: VIN-PIC)
Who Lives at the Seashore? (2024)
by Glenn O. Blough, illustrated by Jeanne Bendick
from Purple House Press
for Preschool-3rd grade
in Living Science (Location: SCI-CMLS)
Who Lives in This Meadow?
by Glenn O. Blough, illustrated by Jeanne Bendick
from Purple House Press
for Preschool-3rd grade
in Living Science (Location: SCI-CMLS)
$12.99