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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88 Items found Print
Active Filters: In-Stock Books & Materials
1000 Hours Outside
by Ginny Yurich
First Printing from Sunflower House Books
for Adult
in Hiking & Outdoor Adventures (Location: NAT-HIKE)
$6.40 (1 in stock)
Amphibians and Reptiles of the Pacific States
by Gayle Pickwell
from Stanford University Press
for 10th-Adult
in Vintage Science & Math (Location: VIN-SCI)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
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: Birds (Location: NAT-FG01)
$3.20 (1 in stock)
Backyard Birds
by Jonathan Latimer, Karen Stray Nolting
from HMH Books for Young Readers
for 2nd-6th grade
in Field Guides: Birds (Location: NAT-FG01)
$3.20 (1 in stock)
Backyard Wilderness
National Geographic My First Pocket Guide
by Catherine Herbert Howell
from National Geographic
for 2nd-4th grade
in Field Guides: Animals (general) (Location: NAT-FG03)
$2.80 (1 in stock)
Birds of the Pacific Northwest
by John Shewey & Tim Blount, edited by Hendrik Herlyn
from Timber Press, Inc.
for 5th-Adult
in Field Guides: Birds (Location: NAT-FG01)
$25.49
Birds of the Puget Sound Region
by Dennis Paulson
from R. W. Morse Company
for 3rd-Adult
in Field Guides: Birds (Location: NAT-FG01)
$7.20 (1 in stock)
Birds, Nests and Eggs
Take-Along Guide
by Mel Boring
from Northword Press
for 2nd-4th grade
in Field Guides: Birds (Location: NAT-FG01)
$6.76 $4.00 (1 in stock)
Book of Birds Volumes I & II
by Gilbert Grosvenor & Alexander Wetmore (editors), illustrated by Major Allan Brooks
from National Geographic
for Adult
in Vintage Science & Math (Location: VIN-SCI)
$14.40 (1 in stock)
Collins Guide to Bird Watching
2nd edition from William Collins
in Field Guides: Birds (Location: NAT-FG01)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Compact Guide to Wildflowers of the Rockies
by C. Dana Bush
from Lone Pine Publishing
for 6th-Adult
in Field Guides: Plants & Fungi (Location: NAT-FG08)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Discover Nature in Water & Wetlands
by Elizabeth P. Lawlor, illustrated by Pat Archer
from Stackpole Books
for 9th-Adult
in Nature Study & Journaling (Location: NAT-GEN)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Edible Wild Plants
Wild Food Adventure Series
by John Kallas
from Gibbs Smith
for 9th-Adult
in Field Guides: Plants & Fungi (Location: NAT-FG08)
$14.00 (1 in stock)
Familiar Seashore Creatures: North America
Audubon Society Pocket Guides
by Stephen H. Amos
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
for 3rd-8th grade
in Field Guides: Fish & Water Life (Location: NAT-FG02)
$4.80 (1 in stock)
Farm Anatomy
by Julia Rothman
1st edition from Storey Publishing
for 6th-Adult
in Self-Sufficiency (Location: SS-Self)
$16.14
Field Guide to Mexican Birds
Peterson Field Guide Series
by Roger Tory Peterson and Edward L. Chalif
from Houghton Mifflin
for Adult
in Vintage Science & Math (Location: VIN-SCI)
$6.40 (1 in stock)
Field Guide to Rocks and Minerals
Peterson Field Guide Series
by Frederick H. Pough
3rd edition from Houghton Mifflin
for 7th-12th grade
in Vintage Science & Math (Location: VIN-SCI)
$6.40 (1 in stock)
Field Guide to Trees and Shrubs
Peterson Field Guide Series
by George A. Petrides, illustrated by the author and Roger Tory Peterson
First Printing from Houghton Mifflin
for 9th-Adult
in Vintage Science & Math (Location: VIN-SCI)
$6.40 (1 in stock)
Forager's Harvest
by Samuel Thayer
from Forager's Harvest
for 9th-Adult
in Field Guides: Plants & Fungi (Location: NAT-FG08)
$23.76
Foraging with Kids
by Adele Nozedar
from Nourish
for Adult
in Field Guides: Plants & Fungi (Location: NAT-FG08)
$9.50 (1 in stock)
Glow in the Dark Constellations
by C.E. Thompson
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 1st-4th grade
in Astronomy (Space) (Location: SCI-AST)
$2.00 (1 in stock)
Golden Guide: Geology
by Frank H.T. Rhodes, illustrated by Raymond Perlman
from Golden Books
for 2nd-7th grade
in Vintage Science & Math (Location: VIN-SCI)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Golden Guide: Pond Life
by George K. Reid
from Golden Books
for 4th-8th grade
in Field Guides: Animals (general) (Location: NAT-FG03)
$7.64
Golden Guide: Trees
by Herbert S. Zim and Alexander C. Martin, illustrated by Dorothea and Sy Barlowe
from Golden Press
for 4th-8th grade
in Field Guides: Plants & Fungi (Location: NAT-FG08)
$2.40 (1 in stock)
Golden Guide: Yosemite
Golden Guides
by Douglass H. Hubbard, Herbert Spencer Zim (series editor), illustrated by Rebecca Merrilees and George Sandstrom
from Golden Books
for 6th-9th grade
in Vintage Science & Math (Location: VIN-SCI)
$2.40 (1 in stock)
Into the Field Guide: A Walk in the Woods
by Emily Laber-Warren
from Downtown Bookworks
for 1st-5th grade
in Nature Study & Journaling (Location: NAT-GEN)
$4.80 (1 in stock)
Kaufman Field Guide to Insects of North America
by Eric R. Eaton & Kenn Kaufman
from Houghton Mifflin
for 8th-Adult
in Field Guides: Insects & Arachnids (Location: NAT-FG04)
$21.25
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)
$7.64
Mushrooms of the Pacific Northwest
by Joe Ammirati, Steve Trudell
1st edition from Timber Press, Inc.
for 7th-12th grade
in Field Guides: Plants & Fungi (Location: NAT-FG08)
$25.49
National Audubon Society Birdfeeder Handbook
by Robert Burton
from Covent Garden Books
in Field Guides: Birds (Location: NAT-FG01)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Fishes, Whales & Dolphins
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
for 4th-Adult
in Field Guides: Fish & Water Life (Location: NAT-FG02)
$9.60 (1 in stock)
National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Mushrooms
by Gary H. Lincoff
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
for 4th-Adult
in Field Guides: Plants & Fungi (Location: NAT-FG08)
$22.10
National Audubon Society Field Guide to Rocks and Minerals OSI
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
for 4th-Adult
in Field Guides: Rocks & Minerals (Location: NAT-FG09)
$9.60 (1 in stock)
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: Fish & Water Life (Location: NAT-FG02)
$22.95 $12.00 (1 in stock)
National Audubon Society Field Guide to Shells
Reprint from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
for 4th-Adult
in Field Guides: Fish & Water Life (Location: NAT-FG02)
$21.21
National Audubon Society Field Guide to the Night Sky
First Edition from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
for 7th-Adult
in Field Guides: Weather & Astronomy (Location: NAT-FG10)
$22.10 $11.20 (1 in stock)
National Audubon Society Field Guide to the Pacific Northwest OSI
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-FG07)
$23.76
National Audubon Society Field Guide to Trees: Eastern Region
Chanticleer Press Ed from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
for 4th-Adult
in Field Guides: Plants & Fungi (Location: NAT-FG08)
$20.36
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: Weather & Astronomy (Location: NAT-FG10)
$22.06
National Audubon Society Field Guide to Wildflowers: Eastern Region
2nd edition from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
for 7th-Adult
in Field Guides: Plants & Fungi (Location: NAT-FG08)
$21.21
National Audubon Society First Field Guide: Amphibians
by Brian Cassie
from Scholastic Inc.
for 3rd-6th grade
in Field Guides: Reptiles & Amphibians (Location: NAT-FG06)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
National Audubon Society First Field Guide: Fishes
by C. Lavett Smith
from Scholastic Inc.
for 6th-10th grade
in Sharks & Fishes (Location: SCI-FISH)
$3.20 (1 in stock)
National Audubon Society First Field Guide: Trees
by Brian Cassie
from Scholastic Inc.
for 3rd-6th grade
in Field Guides: Plants & Fungi (Location: NAT-FG08)
$4.80 (1 in stock)
Night Sky - Northern Hemisphere Edition
for 6th-Adult
in Field Guides: Weather & Astronomy (Location: NAT-FG10)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
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)
$14.45
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)
$15.00 $7.50 (1 in stock)
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)
$12.75
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)
$12.75
Pacific Northwest Foraging
by Douglas Deur
from Timber Press, Inc.
for 8th-Adult
in Field Guides: Plants & Fungi (Location: NAT-FG08)
$22.09
Pacific Northwest Insects
Timber Press Field Guides
by Judy Haggard, Peter Haggard
from Seattle Audubon Society
for 7th-Adult
in Field Guides: Insects & Arachnids (Location: NAT-FG04)
$29.71
Pacific Northwest Medicinal Plants
by Scott Kloos
2022 printing from Timber Press, Inc.
for 11th-Adult
in Field Guides: Plants & Fungi (Location: NAT-FG08)
$23.79
Peterson Field Guide Coloring Book: Forests
Peterson Field Guide Coloring Books
by John C. Kricher, Sara Bennett
from Houghton Mifflin
for 4th-6th grade
in Forests & Mountains (Location: SCI-FOREST)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
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)
$10.19
Peterson Field Guide: Mammals - Coloring Book
Peterson Field Guide Color-In Books
by Peter C. Alden & Fiona Reid
from Mariner Books
for 3rd-Adult
in Mammals (Location: SCI-MAM)
$9.34 $5.60 (1 in stock)
Peterson Field Guides: Western Birds
by Noble Proctor, Roger Tory Peterson
2nd edition from Houghton Mifflin
for 7th-Adult
in Field Guides: Birds (Location: NAT-FG01)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Peterson First Guide to Astronomy
Peterson First Guide
by Jay M. Pasachoff
2nd edition from Houghton Mifflin
for 1st-4th grade
in Field Guides: Weather & Astronomy (Location: NAT-FG10)
$10.99
Peterson First Guide to Birds of North America
by Roger Tory Peterson
2nd edition from Houghton Mifflin
for 4th-8th grade
in Field Guides: Birds (Location: NAT-FG01)
$14.99
Peterson First Guide to Butterflies and Moths
by Paul A. Opler
2nd edition from Houghton Mifflin
for 5th-12th grade
in Field Guides: Insects & Arachnids (Location: NAT-FG04)
$8.49
Peterson First Guide to Caterpillars of North America
by Amy Bartlett Wright
2nd edition from Houghton Mifflin
for 1st-4th grade
in Field Guides: Insects & Arachnids (Location: NAT-FG04)
$7.64
Peterson First Guide to Clouds and Weather
by Roger Tory Peterson, Vincent J. Schaefer
from Houghton Mifflin
for 1st-4th grade
in Field Guides: Weather & Astronomy (Location: NAT-FG10)
$7.64 $4.00 (1 in stock)
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: Fish & Water Life (Location: NAT-FG02)
$7.64
Peterson First Guide to Insects
Peterson First Guide
by Christopher Leahy
2nd edition from Houghton Mifflin
for 4th-8th grade
in Field Guides: Insects & Arachnids (Location: NAT-FG04)
$9.34
Peterson First Guide to Mammals of North America
by Peter Alden
3rd edition from Houghton Mifflin
for 3rd-6th grade
in Field Guides: Mammals (Location: NAT-FG05)
$8.49 $4.00 (1 in stock)
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: Reptiles & Amphibians (Location: NAT-FG06)
$8.49
Peterson First Guide to Rocks and Minerals
by Frederick H. Pough
from Houghton Mifflin
for 5th-8th grade
in Field Guides: Rocks & Minerals (Location: NAT-FG09)
$6.76
Peterson First Guide to Shells of North America
by Jackie Leatherbury Douglass
2nd edition from Houghton Mifflin
for 1st-4th grade
in Field Guides: Fish & Water Life (Location: NAT-FG02)
$10.19
Peterson First Guide to Trees
by George A. Petrides
2nd edition from Houghton Mifflin
for Kindergarten-4th grade
in Field Guides: Plants & Fungi (Location: NAT-FG08)
$8.49
Peterson First Guide to Urban Wildlife
Peterson First Guide
by Sarah B. Landry
Reissue from Houghton Mifflin
for 1st-4th grade
in Field Guides: Animals (general) (Location: NAT-FG03)
$7.64
Planets, Moons and Stars
Take-Along Guide
by Laura Evert, Illustrated by Linda Garrow
from Northword Press
for 3rd-6th grade
in Field Guides: Weather & Astronomy (Location: NAT-FG10)
$3.20 (1 in stock)
Plant Kingdom
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 6th-Adult
in Botany & Mycology (Location: SCI-BOT)
$3.20 (1 in stock)
Plants of the Pacific Northwest Coast
by Jim Pojar, Andy MacKinnon
Revised from Partners Publishing
for 8th-Adult
in Field Guides: Plants & Fungi (Location: NAT-FG08)
$11.20 (1 in stock)
Pocket Guide to the Outdoors based on My Side of the Mountain
by Jean Craighead George with Twig C. George
from Dutton Children's Books
for 3rd-6th grade
in Field Guides & Nature Handbooks (Location: NAT-FG07)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Roberts Bird Guide
by Hugh Chittenden, Greg Davies, and Ingrid Weiersbye
2nd edition from John Voelcker Bird Book Fund
for 6th-Adult
in Field Guides: Birds (Location: NAT-FG01)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
Rock Hounding Encyclopedia
from Unknown Publisher
for 6th-Adult
in Geology (Rocks & Minerals) (Location: SCI-GEO)
$29.95
Rocks & Minerals
by Nancy Honovich
from National Geographic
for 4th-6th grade
in Field Guides & Nature Handbooks (Location: NAT-FG07)
$4.80 (2 in stock)
Rocks, Fossils and Arrowheads
Take-Along Guide
by Laura Evert, Illustrated by Linda Garrow
from Northword Press
for 3rd-6th grade
in Geology (Rocks & Minerals) (Location: SCI-GEO)
$3.20 (1 in stock)
Starfish
by Marjorie Furlong and Virginia Pill
from ERCO, Inc.
in Oceanography & Marine Biology (Location: SCI-OCEAN)
$2.40 (1 in stock)
Tracks, Scats and Signs
Take-Along Guide
by Leslie Dendy
from Northword Press
for 4th-6th grade
in Field Guides: Animals (general) (Location: NAT-FG03)
$6.76 $3.20 (1 in stock)
Trees & Shrubs of North America
by Bland Crowder
from National Geographic
for 8th-Adult
in Field Guides: Plants & Fungi (Location: NAT-FG08)
$5.20 (1 in stock)
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: Plants & Fungi (Location: NAT-FG08)
$25.49
What's That Bird?
by Joseph Choiniere & Claire Mowbray Golding
from Storey Publishing
for 4th-6th grade
in Field Guides: Birds (Location: NAT-FG01)
$14.95
Wild Flowers
by Matthias Hermann, translated by Grace Jackman, illustrated by Redoute, Besler and several sartists
from Galahad Books
for Adult
in Vintage Science & Math (Location: VIN-SCI)
$16.00 (1 in stock)
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
Peterson Field Guide Coloring Books
by Roger Tory Peterson & Frances Tenenbaum
from Houghton Mifflin
for 6th-10th grade
in Botany & Mycology (Location: SCI-BOT)
$3.20 (1 in stock)
Wildflowers of the Columbia Gorge
by Russ Jolley
from Oregon Historical Society Press
for 8th-Adult
in Field Guides: Plants & Fungi (Location: NAT-FG08)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Wildflowers of the Pacific Northwest
Timber Press Field Guides
by Mark Turner, Phyllis Gustafson
from Timber Press, Inc.
for 4th-Adult
in Field Guides: Plants & Fungi (Location: NAT-FG08)
$25.49
Wildflowers, Blooms and Blossoms
by Diane Burns
from Northword Press
for 1st-3rd grade
in Field Guides: Plants & Fungi (Location: NAT-FG08)
$6.76
Wildlife of the Pacific Northwest
Timber Press Field Guides
by David Moskowitz
from Timber Press, Inc.
for 4th-Adult
in Field Guides: Animals (general) (Location: NAT-FG03)
$25.49