Field Guides & Nature Handbooks

The children and nature movement is fueled by this fundamental idea: the child in nature is an endangered species, and the health of children and the health of the Earth are inseparable." —Richard Louv

A boy is running through the woods, his bare feet kicking up dust on the beaten dirt path. In the concrete city the heat is oppressive, but here it is cool and quiet as he slides to a stop in the shade of a tall pine tree. He reaches into his back pocket and pulls out a field guide. Glancing at the bird's nest above, he thumbs through the pages. Is that a finch nest? He makes a mental note to return tomorrow and check its progress.

Just one of the benefits of a field guide over a phone is that it doesn't run out of battery, doesn't need wifi, and is much less distracting. If you want your child to be out in nature, exploring and enjoying all that it has to offer, get them a field guide as a starting point for getting to know the world that God made.

Besides a handful of miscellaneous field guides, we intentionally carry three specific publishers. The Audubon Field Guides come from the well-respected National Audubon Society. These typically have a a full color photograph section in the front and the text-only field guide section in the back. This series is limited to about 20 titles, and are helpful to a broad audience, so we carry most of them. The Peterson field guides, famous for their patternistic identification system, typically have illustrations interspersed inside the book. There are a LOT of Peterson Guides, and they are often very specific, so while we only carry the First Guides (geared toward 1st-4th grade naturalists) and a few of their coloring books, we are more than happy to order full-fledged guides as well. For our local customers, the Timber Press field guides are amazing, featuring insects, animals, flowers, trees and mushrooms of the Pacific Northwest.

Review by Lauren Shearer
Lauren Shearer writes words for fun and profit. She also makes films, but everyone knows you can't make a profit doing that. Her other hobby is consistently volunteering way too much of her time. You can read more of her reviews here.
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Field Guides & Nature Handbooks
49 Items found Print
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Birds of the Pacific Northwest
by John Shewey & Tim Blount, edited by Hendrik Herlyn
from Timber Press, Inc.
for 5th-Adult
in Field Guides & Nature Handbooks (Location: NAT-FIELD)
$27.95
Farm Anatomy
by Julia Rothman
1st edition from Storey Publishing
for 6th-Adult
in Self-Sufficiency (Location: SS-Self)
$18.99
Forager's Harvest
by Samuel Thayer
from Forager's Harvest
for 9th-Adult
in Field Guides & Nature Handbooks (Location: NAT-FIELD)
$27.95
Kaufman Field Guide to Insects of North America
from Houghton Mifflin
in Field Guides & Nature Handbooks (Location: NAT-FIELD)
$25.00
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
Mushrooms of the Pacific Northwest
by Joe Ammirati, Steve Trudell
1st edition from Timber Press, Inc.
for 7th-12th grade
in Field Guides & Nature Handbooks (Location: NAT-FIELD)
$29.99
National Audubon Society Field Guide to Birds: Eastern Region
2nd edition from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
for 7th-Adult
in Field Guides & Nature Handbooks (Location: NAT-FIELD)
$23.95
National Audubon Society Field Guide to Birds: Western Region
National Audubon Society Field Guides
Revised from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
for 8th-Adult
in Field Guides & Nature Handbooks (Location: NAT-FIELD)
$26.00
National Audubon Society Field Guide to Butterflies
by Robert Michael Pyle
Chanticleer Press ed from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
for 7th-Adult
in Field Guides & Nature Handbooks (Location: NAT-FIELD)
$24.95 $12.00 (1 in stock)
National Audubon Society Field Guide to Insects & Spiders
by Lorus and Margery Milne
Later Printing from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
for 7th-Adult
in Field Guides & Nature Handbooks (Location: NAT-FIELD)
$25.95
National Audubon Society Field Guide to Mammals
by John O. Whitaker
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
for 5th-10th grade
in Field Guides & Nature Handbooks (Location: NAT-FIELD)
$26.00
National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Mushrooms
by Gary H. Lincoff
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
for 4th-Adult
in Field Guides & Nature Handbooks (Location: NAT-FIELD)
$26.00
National Audubon Society Field Guide to Rocks and Minerals
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
for 4th-Adult
in Field Guides & Nature Handbooks (Location: NAT-FIELD)
$25.95
National Audubon Society Field Guide to Seashore Creatures
by Norman A Meinkoth
First Edition from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
for 4th-Adult
in Field Guides & Nature Handbooks (Location: NAT-FIELD)
$27.00
National Audubon Society Field Guide to Shells
Reprint from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
for 4th-Adult
in Field Guides & Nature Handbooks (Location: NAT-FIELD)
$24.95
National Audubon Society Field Guide to the Night Sky
First Edition from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
for 7th-Adult
in Field Guides & Nature Handbooks (Location: NAT-FIELD)
$24.95
National Audubon Society Field Guide to the Pacific Northwest
National Audubon Society Field Guide
by Peter Alden & Dennis Paulson
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
for 9th-Adult
in Field Guides & Nature Handbooks (Location: NAT-FIELD)
$27.95
National Audubon Society Field Guide to Trees: Eastern Region
Chanticleer Press Ed from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
for 4th-Adult
in Field Guides & Nature Handbooks (Location: NAT-FIELD)
$23.95
National Audubon Society Field Guide to Trees: Western Region
by Elbert L. Little
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
for 4th-Adult
in Field Guides & Nature Handbooks (Location: NAT-FIELD)
$26.00
National Audubon Society Field Guide to Weather
National Audubon Society Field Guides
by David Ludlum
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
for 7th-12th grade
in Field Guides & Nature Handbooks (Location: NAT-FIELD)
$25.95
National Audubon Society Field Guide to Wildflowers: Eastern Region
2nd edition from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
for 7th-Adult
in Field Guides & Nature Handbooks (Location: NAT-FIELD)
$24.95
National Audubon Society Field Guide to Wildflowers: Western Region
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
for 7th-Adult
in Field Guides & Nature Handbooks (Location: NAT-FIELD)
$24.95
One Small Square: Cactus Desert
One Small Square
by Donald Silver & Patricia Wynne
from McGraw-Hill
for 1st-3rd grade
in One Small Square (Location: SCI-1SS)
$13.00
One Small Square: Coral Reef
One Small Square
by Donald Silver
from McGraw-Hill
for 1st-3rd grade
in One Small Square (Location: SCI-1SS)
$13.00
One Small Square: Swamp
One Small Square
by Donald Silver, Patricia Wynne
from McGraw-Hill
for 1st-3rd grade
in One Small Square (Location: SCI-1SS)
$11.00
One Small Square: Tropical Rain Forest
One Small Square
by Donald Silver, Patricia Wynne
from McGraw-Hill
for 1st-3rd grade
in One Small Square (Location: SCI-1SS)
$13.00
Pacific Northwest Foraging
by Douglas Deur
from Timber Press, Inc.
for 8th-Adult
in Field Guides & Nature Handbooks (Location: NAT-FIELD)
$24.95
Pacific Northwest Insects
Timber Press Field Guides
by Judy Haggard, Peter Haggard
from Seattle Audubon Society
for 7th-Adult
in Field Guides & Nature Handbooks (Location: NAT-FIELD)
$34.95
Pacific Northwest Medicinal Plants
by Scott Kloos
2022 printing from Timber Press, Inc.
for 11th-Adult
in Field Guides & Nature Handbooks (Location: NAT-FIELD)
$27.99
Peterson Field Guide: Birds - Coloring Book
Peterson Field Guide Color-In Books
by Peter C. Alden & Roger Tory Peterson
from Houghton Mifflin
for 9th-Adult
in Birds (Location: SCI-BIRD)
$11.99
Peterson First Guide to Astronomy
Peterson First Guide
by Jay M. Pasachoff
2nd edition from Houghton Mifflin
for 1st-4th grade
in Field Guides & Nature Handbooks (Location: NAT-FIELD)
$7.95
Peterson First Guide to Birds of North America
by Roger Tory Peterson
2nd edition from Houghton Mifflin
for 4th-8th grade
in Field Guides & Nature Handbooks (Location: NAT-FIELD)
$9.99
Peterson First Guide to Butterflies and Moths
by Paul A. Opler
2nd edition from Houghton Mifflin
for 5th-12th grade
in Field Guides & Nature Handbooks (Location: NAT-FIELD)
$7.95
Peterson First Guide to Caterpillars of North America
by Amy Bartlett Wright
2nd edition from Houghton Mifflin
for 1st-4th grade
in Field Guides & Nature Handbooks (Location: NAT-FIELD)
$7.95
Peterson First Guide to Clouds and Weather
by Roger Tory Peterson, Vincent J. Schaefer
from Houghton Mifflin
for 1st-4th grade
in Field Guides & Nature Handbooks (Location: NAT-FIELD)
$8.99
Peterson First Guide to Fishes of North America
Peterson First Guide
by Michael Filisky
2nd edition from Houghton Mifflin
for 1st-4th grade
in Field Guides & Nature Handbooks (Location: NAT-FIELD)
$8.99
Peterson First Guide to Insects
Peterson First Guide
by Christopher Leahy
2nd edition from Houghton Mifflin
for 4th-8th grade
in Field Guides & Nature Handbooks (Location: NAT-FIELD)
$9.99
Peterson First Guide to Mammals of North America
by Peter Alden
3rd edition from Houghton Mifflin
for 3rd-6th grade
in Field Guides & Nature Handbooks (Location: NAT-FIELD)
$8.99
Peterson First Guide to Reptiles and Amphibians
Peterson First Guide
by Joseph T. Collins, Robert C. Stebbins, Roger Conant
from Houghton Mifflin
for 1st-4th grade
in Field Guides & Nature Handbooks (Location: NAT-FIELD)
$9.99
Peterson First Guide to Rocks and Minerals
by Frederick H. Pough
from Houghton Mifflin
for 5th-8th grade
in Field Guides & Nature Handbooks (Location: NAT-FIELD)
$7.95
Peterson First Guide to Shells of North America
by Jackie Leatherbury Douglass
2nd edition from Houghton Mifflin
for 1st-4th grade
in Field Guides & Nature Handbooks (Location: NAT-FIELD)
$11.99 $6.00 (1 in stock)
Peterson First Guide to Trees
by George A. Petrides
2nd edition from Houghton Mifflin
for Kindergarten-4th grade
in Field Guides & Nature Handbooks (Location: NAT-FIELD)
$8.99
Peterson First Guide to Urban Wildlife
Peterson First Guide
by Sarah B. Landry
Reissue from Houghton Mifflin
for 1st-4th grade
in Field Guides & Nature Handbooks (Location: NAT-FIELD)
$8.99
Tree Book for Kids and Their Grown-Ups
by Gina Ingoglia
from Brooklyn Botanic Garden
for Kindergarten-Adult
in Botany & Mycology (Location: SCI-BOT)
$15.95
Trees and Shrubs of the Pacific Northwest
Timber Press Field Guides
by Ellen Kuhlmann, Mark Turner
from Timber Press, Inc.
for 4th-Adult
in Field Guides & Nature Handbooks (Location: NAT-FIELD)
$29.95
What's That Bird?
by Joseph Choiniere & Claire Mowbray Golding
from Storey Publishing
for 4th-6th grade
in Field Guides & Nature Handbooks (Location: NAT-FIELD)
$14.95
Wild in the City
by Michael C. Houck, M. J. Cody
2nd ed. from Oregon State University Press
for Adult
in Pacific States (Location: HISV-PNW)
$22.50
Wildflowers of the Pacific Northwest
Timber Press Field Guides
by Mark Turner, Phyllis Gustafson
from Timber Press, Inc.
for 4th-Adult
in Field Guides & Nature Handbooks (Location: NAT-FIELD)
$29.95
Wildlife of the Pacific Northwest
Timber Press Field Guides
by David Moskowitz
from Timber Press, Inc.
for 4th-Adult
in Field Guides & Nature Handbooks (Location: NAT-FIELD)
$29.99