My Account Wish List Shopping Cart Log In
Store Location

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.
Did you find this review helpful?
Parent Categories
Nature Study
Subcategories
64 Items found Print
Filter
Active Filters: Fiction by Genre, 5th grade (Ages 10-11)
Another Field Guide to Little Known and Seldom-Seen Birds of North America
by Ben, Cathryn, and John Sill
from Peachtree Publishers, Ltd.
in Field Guides & Nature Handbooks (Location: NAT-FIELD)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Avenging the Owl
by Melissa Hart
from Sky Pony Press
for 4th-7th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Biography of a Grizzly
Thrushwood Book
by Earnest Thompson Seton
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
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)
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
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
Burgess Flower Book for Children
by Thornton W. Burgess
from Living Book Press
in Living Science (Location: SCI-CMLS)
$19.99
Burgess Flower Book for Children
by Thornton W. Burgess
from Living Book Press
in Living Science (Location: SCI-CMLS)
$28.99
By Pond and River
Eyes and No Eyes #2
by Arabella B. Buckley
from Yesterday's Classics
for 2nd-5th grade
in Living Science (Location: SCI-CMLS)
$13.95
By Pond and River
Eyes and No Eyes #2
by Arabella B. Buckley
from Living Book Press
for 2nd-5th grade
in Living Science (Location: SCI-CMLS)
$7.99
By Pond and River
Eyes and No Eyes #2
by Arabella B. Buckley
from Cassell
for 2nd-5th grade
in Vintage Readers & Textbooks (Location: VIN-READ)
$25.00 (1 in stock)
Colly's Barn
by Michael Morpurgo
New Ed from Mammoth
for 3rd-5th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
Curious World of Calpurnia Tate
by Jacqueline Kelly
Reprint from Square Fish Publishing
for 4th-8th grade
2010 Newbery Honor
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$7.99
Dan and the Miranda
by Wilson Gage, illustrated by Glen Rounds
from World Publishing Company
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Danger in the Desert
by Roger Cohen
from Sterling Publishing Co.
for 5th-9th grade
in 20th Century Exploration (Location: HISW-20EXP)
Danny Dunn and the Fossil Cave
by Jay Williams & Raymond Abrashkin, Illustrated by Brinton Turkle
from McGraw-Hill
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Desperate Adventures of Zeno and Alya
by Jane Kelly
from Square Fish Publishing
for 3rd-6th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
Dinotopia
by James Gurney
from Scholastic Inc.
for 4th-6th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Dinotopia: The World Beneath
by James Gurney
2012nd edition from Calla Editions
for 3rd-6th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
Dolphin Adventure
by Wayne Grover
from HarperTrophy
for 3rd-7th grade
in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI)
$5.99 $3.50 (4 in stock)
Dolphin Treasure
by Wayne Grover
from HarperTrophy
for Ages 8-12
in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI)
$5.99 $3.50 (2 in stock)
Double Trouble in Bugland
by William Kozwinkle
from David R. Godine
for 3rd-8th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
Ereth's Birthday
Poppy Stories #4
by Avi
from HarperCollins
for 4th-6th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$9.99
Evolution of Calpurnia Tate
by Jacqueline Kelly
from Henry Holt and Company
for 4th-7th grade
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
Evolution of Calpurnia Tate
by Jacqueline Kelly
Reprint from Square Fish Publishing
for 4th-8th grade
2010 Newbery Honor
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$8.99
Gay-Neck: The Story of a Pigeon
by Dhan Gopal Mukerji
from Dutton Juvenile
for 4th-9th grade
1928 Newbery Medal winner
in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI)
$14.00 (2 in stock)
Journey with Jonah
by Madeleine L'Engle
from Farrar, Straus and Giroux
for 1st-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
Little Brother to the Bear
by William J. Long
from Yesterday's Classics
for 4th-6th grade
in Living Science (Location: SCI-CMLS)
$13.95
Little Brother to the Bear
by William J. Long
from Yesterday's Classics
for 4th-6th grade
in Living Science (Location: SCI-CMLS)
Lone Muskrat
by Glen Rounds
from Holiday House
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Minn of the Mississippi
by Holling C. Holling
from Houghton Mifflin
Realistic fiction for 3rd-8th grade
1952 Newbery Honor Book
in BFB Holling Geography (Location: HISCUR-BFG)
$12.99
Moby-Dick (retold)
by Herman Melville, presented by Jane Needle, illustrated by Patrick Benson
1st edition from Candlewick Press
for 4th-8th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
Moby-Dick (retold)
by Herman Melville, presented by Jane Needle, illustrated by Patrick Benson
1st edition from Candlewick Press
for 4th-8th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
Pagoo
by Holling C. Holling
from Houghton Mifflin
Realistic fiction for 3rd-8th grade
in BFB Holling Geography (Location: HISCUR-BFG)
$12.99
Parables from Nature
by Mrs. Alfred Gatty
from Yesterday's Classics
for 4th-6th grade
in Living Science (Location: SCI-CMLS)
$17.95
Parables from Nature
by Mrs. Alfred Gatty
from Feather Trail Press
for 4th-6th grade
in Living Science (Location: SCI-CMLS)
Peak
by Roland Smith
1st edition from Harcourt Children's Books
for 4th-7th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$8.99
Real Thief
by William Steig
from Houghton Mifflin
for 3rd-5th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$2.50 (1 in stock)
Salmon Creek
by Annette LeBox
Reprint from Groundwood Books
for 3rd-5th grade
in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI)
Scrub Dog of Alaska
by Walt Morey
New edition
for 4th-6th grade
in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI)
Secrets of the Woods
by William J. Long
from Yesterday's Classics
for 3rd-8th grade
in Living Science (Location: SCI-CMLS)
$11.95
Secrets of the Woods
by William J. Long
from Living Book Press
for 3rd-8th grade
in Living Science (Location: SCI-CMLS)
Shy Stegosaurus of Cricket Creek
by Evelyn Sibley Lampman, illustrated by Herbert Buel
from Purple House Press
for 3rd-6th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
$12.00
Shy Stegosaurus of Cricket Creek
by Evelyn Sibley Lampman
from Scholastic Inc.
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Shy Stegosaurus of Cricket Creek
by Evelyn Sibley Lampman, illustrated by Herbert Buel
from Purple House Press
for 3rd-6th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
Shy Stegosaurus of Indian Springs
by Evelyn Sibley Lampman, illustrated by Herbert Buel
from Purple House Press
for 3rd-6th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
Songbird
by Nancy Lohr
from Bob Jones University Press
for 5th-6th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$6.99 $4.50 (3 in stock)
Story Book of Science
by Jean Henri Fabre, translated by Florence Constable Bicknell
from Yesterday's Classics
for 4th-6th grade
in Living Science (Location: SCI-CMLS)
$16.95
Story Book of Science
by Jean Henri Fabre
from Living Book Press
for 4th-6th grade
in Living Science (Location: SCI-CMLS)
$12.99
That Quail, Robert
by Margaret A. Stanger
Eighth Printing, August 1966 from J.B. Lippincott Co.
for 5th-8th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
The Defender
by Nicholas Kalashnikoff
Dover 2017 from Dover Publications
for 4th-8th grade
1952 Newbery Honor Book
in Realistic Fiction (Location: FIC-REA)
$5.95
Tikta'Liktak
by James Houston
from Harcourt
for 3rd-6th grade
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$6.00 (4 in stock)
Tommysaurus Rex
by Doug TenNapel, with color by Katherine Garner
from Graphix
for 2nd-6th grade
in Comic Books & Graphic Novels (Location: FIC-COMIC)
Tree in the Trail
by Holling C. Holling
from Houghton Mifflin
Realistic fiction for 3rd-8th grade
in BFB Holling Geography (Location: HISCUR-BFG)
$12.99
Trouble in Bugland
by William Kozwinkle
from David R. Godine
for 3rd-8th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
Trumpet of the Swan
by E. B. White
from HarperCollins
for 4th-6th grade
in Fantasy Fiction (Location: FIC-FAN)
Walt Disney's Odyssey of an Otter
Walt Disney's Animal Adventures
by Rutherford Montgomery, Illustrated by Hamilton Greene
from Golden Press
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$26.00 (1 in stock)
Ways of Wood Folk
by William Joseph Long
from CreateSpace
for 2nd-6th grade
in Living Science (Location: SCI-CMLS)
$11.99
Ways of Wood Folk
by William Joseph Long
from Living Book Press
for 2nd-6th grade
in Living Science (Location: SCI-CMLS)
Wild Animals I Have Known
by Ernest Thompson Seton
from Yesterday's Classics
for 5th-8th grade
in Living Science (Location: SCI-CMLS)
$13.95
Wild Animals I Have Known
by Ernest Thompson Seton
from Living Book Press
for 5th-8th grade
in Living Science (Location: SCI-CMLS)
$10.99
Sign Up!

Shop

Support

Hours & Directions

Learn more about our store location and hours

Connect

503.655.1951

hello@exodusbooks.com

19146 Molalla Ave,
Oregon City, OR 97045