Nature Study & Journaling

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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138 Items found Print
Active Filters: Field Guides & Nature Handbooks
1000 Hours Outside
by Ginny Yurich
First Printing from Sunflower House Books
for Adult
in Hiking & Outdoor Adventures (Location: NAT-HIKE)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
All the Rain Promises and More
by David Arora
from Ten Speed Press
for Adult
in Field Guides: Plants & Fungi (Location: NAT-FG08)
Amphibians and Reptiles of the Pacific States
by Gayle Pickwell
from Stanford University Press
for 10th-Adult
in Vintage Science & Math (Location: VIN-SCI)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
Animal Tracks
from Waterford Press
for 3rd-Adult
in Field Guides: Animals (general) (Location: NAT-FG03)
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)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Back Roads of Oregon
by Earl Thollander
from Clarkson Potter Publishers
for 9th-Adult
in Pacific States (Location: HISV-PNW)
Back Roads of Oregon
by Earl Thollander
from Clarkson Potter Publishers
for 9th-Adult
in Pacific States (Location: HISV-PNW)
Back Roads of Washington
by Earl Thollander
from Clarkson Potter Publishers
for 9th-Adult
in Pacific States (Location: HISV-PNW)
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)
$3.50 (1 in stock)
Bird Watching Answer Book
by Laura Erickson, Illustrated by Pedro Fernandes
from Storey Publishing
for 4th-8th grade
in Birds (Location: SCI-BIRD)
Birds of America
by T. Gilbert Pearson (editor), illustrated by Louis Agassiz Fuertes
from Doubleday & Company
for 6th-Adult
in Vintage Science & Math (Location: VIN-SCI)
Birds of Oregon
by Roger Burrows & Jeff Gilligan
from Lone Pine Publishing
for 6th-Adult
in Field Guides: Birds (Location: NAT-FG01)
Birds of Prey
A Grosset All-Color Guide
by Glenys and Derek Lloyd, Illustrated by Ken Lilly
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 9th-Adult
in Field Guides: Birds (Location: NAT-FG01)
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)
$29.99 $18.00 (1 in stock)
Birds of the Pacific Northwest Coast
by Nancy Baron & John Acorn
from Lone Pine Publishing
for 4th-Adult
in Field Guides & Nature Handbooks (Location: NAT-FG07)
Birds of the Puget Sound Region
by Dennis Paulson
from R. W. Morse Company
for 3rd-Adult
in Field Guides: Birds (Location: NAT-FG01)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
Birds of the Willamette Valley Region
by Hall Opperman, Harry Nehls & Tom Aversa
1st edition
for 9th-Adult
in Field Guides & Nature Handbooks (Location: NAT-FG07)
Birds, Nests and Eggs
Take-Along Guide
by Mel Boring
from Northword Press
for 2nd-4th grade
in Field Guides: Birds (Location: NAT-FG01)
$7.95 $5.00 (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)
$18.00 (1 in stock)
Bumper Book of Nature
by Stephen Moss
1st edition from Crown Trade Paperbacks
for 1st-Adult
in Hiking & Outdoor Adventures (Location: NAT-HIKE)
Can You Track It? Mammals
by Maggie Felsch and Shannen Yauger, illustrated by Tanya Glebova and Abram Felsch
from The Good and the Beautiful
for 3rd-6th grade
in GATB Science & Health (Location: CUR-GABSc)
Collins Guide to Bird Watching
2nd edition from William Collins
in Field Guides: Birds (Location: NAT-FG01)
$5.00 (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)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Complete Guide to North American Trees
by Carlton C. Curtis and S.C. Bausor
1971 printing from Collier Books
for 9th-Adult
in Vintage Nonfiction (Location: VIN-NFIC)
$3.00 (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)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
DK Handbooks: Insects, Spiders and Other Terrestrial Arthropods
by Randall Jarrell
from DK Publishing
for 3rd-Adult
1966 Newbery Honor Book
in Field Guides & Nature Handbooks (Location: NAT-FG07)
Familiar Animals of America
by Will Barker, illustrated by Carl Burger
from Harper & Brothers
for 4th-12th grade
in Vintage Science & Math (Location: VIN-SCI)
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)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Familiar Trees of North America - West
National Audobon Society Pocket Guide
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
for 7th-12th grade
in Field Guides: Plants & Fungi (Location: NAT-FG08)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Farm Anatomy
by Julia Rothman
1st edition from Storey Publishing
for 6th-Adult
in Self-Sufficiency (Location: SS-Self)
$18.99
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)
$8.00 (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)
$8.00 (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)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Field Guide to Western Birds
Peterson Field Guides
by Roger Tory Peterson
2nd edition from Houghton Mifflin
for 7th-Adult
in Vintage Science & Math (Location: VIN-SCI)
Field Guide to Wildflowers
by Roger Tory Peterson & Margaret McKenny
in Field Guides & Nature Handbooks (Location: NAT-FG07)
Field Guide to Your Own Back Yard
in Field Guides & Nature Handbooks (Location: NAT-FG07)
First Book of Sea Shells
by Betty Cavanna, Illustrated by Marguerite Scott
from Franklin Watts
for 1st-4th grade
in Vintage Science & Math (Location: VIN-SCI)
Forager's Harvest
by Samuel Thayer
from Forager's Harvest
for 9th-Adult
in Field Guides: Plants & Fungi (Location: NAT-FG08)
$27.95
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)
$2.50 (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: Mammals
by Donald Hoffmeister, Herbert S. Zim
from Golden Press
for 6th-9th grade
in Field Guides: Mammals (Location: NAT-FG05)
$8.99
Golden Guide: Pond Life
by George K. Reid
from Golden Books
for 4th-8th grade
in Field Guides: Animals (general) (Location: NAT-FG03)
$8.99
Golden Guide: Reptiles and Amphibians
Golden Nature Guide
by Herbert S. Zim and Hobart M. Smith, revised by Jonathan P. Latimer and Karen Stray Nolting with J. Whitefield Gibbons
Revised and Updated from St. Martin's Press
for 6th-9th grade
in Field Guides: Reptiles & Amphibians (Location: NAT-FG06)
Golden Guide: Seashore Life
by Herbert S. Zim and Lester Ingle, illustrated by Dorothea and Sy Barlowe
from St. Martin's Press
for 3rd-6th grade
in Field Guides & Nature Handbooks (Location: NAT-FG07)
Golden Guide: Skyguide
Golden Guides
by Mark Chartrand
from Golden Books
for 2nd-7th grade
in Field Guides: Weather & Astronomy (Location: NAT-FG10)
Golden Guide: Stars
by Herbert S. Zim, Robert H. Baker
1st edition from St. Martin's Press
for 4th-8th grade
in Stars & Constellations (Location: SCI-AST)
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)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Golden Guide: Weather
by Herbert S. Zim, Paul E. Lehr, R. Will Burnett
1st edition
for 3rd-6th grade
in Field Guides: Weather & Astronomy (Location: NAT-FG10)
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)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Illustrated Book of Trees
by Eric A. Bourdo Jr., consultant editor
from Salamander Books Lmt.
for 6th-Adult
in Field Guides & Nature Handbooks (Location: NAT-FG07)
Insects of the Pacific Northwest
Timber Press Field Guides
by Judy Haggard, Peter Haggard
from Timber Press, Inc.
for 7th-Adult
in Field Guides & Nature Handbooks (Location: NAT-FG07)
Instant Guide to Wildflowers
by Pamela Forey and Cecilia Fitzsimons
from Gramercy Books
for 6th-Adult
in Field Guides & Nature Handbooks (Location: NAT-FG07)
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)
$6.00 (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)
$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: Plants & Fungi (Location: NAT-FG08)
$29.99
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 Birds: Western Region
National Audubon Society Field Guides
Revised from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
for 8th-Adult
in Field Guides: Birds (Location: NAT-FG01)
$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: Insects & Arachnids (Location: NAT-FG04)
National Audubon Society Field Guide to Insects & Spiders OSI
by Lorus and Margery Milne
Later Printing from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
for 7th-Adult
in Field Guides & Nature Handbooks (Location: NAT-FG07)
National Audubon Society Field Guide to Mammals
by John O. Whitaker
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
for 5th-10th grade
in Field Guides: Mammals (Location: NAT-FG05)
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)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Mammals (old)
by John O. Whitaker
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
for 5th-10th grade
in Field Guides: Mammals (Location: NAT-FG05)
$6.00 (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)
$26.00 $14.00 (1 in stock)
National Audubon Society Field Guide to Reptiles & Amphibians OSI
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
for 4th-Adult
in Field Guides: Reptiles & Amphibians (Location: NAT-FG06)
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)
$12.00 (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)
$27.00
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)
$24.95
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)
$24.95
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)
$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: Plants & Fungi (Location: NAT-FG08)
$23.95
National Audubon Society Field Guide to Trees: Western Region OSI
by Elbert L. Little
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
for 4th-Adult
in Field Guides: Plants & Fungi (Location: NAT-FG08)
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)
$25.95
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)
$24.95
National Audubon Society Field Guide to Wildflowers: Western Region OSI
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
for 7th-Adult
in Field Guides: Plants & Fungi (Location: NAT-FG08)
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)
$5.00 (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)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
National Audubon Society First Field Guide: Shells
by Brian Cassie
from Scholastic Inc.
for 3rd-6th grade
in Field Guides: Fish & Water Life (Location: NAT-FG02)
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)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
National Audubon Society First Field Guide: Weather
by Jonathan D. W. Kahl
from Scholastic Inc.
for 3rd-6th grade
in Field Guides: Weather & Astronomy (Location: NAT-FG10)
Neptune's Garden
from Little, Brown & Company
in Seashore & Tidepools (Location: SCI-ECO)
Night Sky
Usborne Spotter's Guides
from Usborne
for 3rd-12th grade
in Field Guides: Weather & Astronomy (Location: NAT-FG10)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
North American Wildlife
by Jay Ellis Ransom
from Reader's Digest
for 4th-10th grade
in Field Guides & Nature Handbooks (Location: NAT-FG07)
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)
$17.00
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)
$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)
$15.00
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)
$15.00
Our Trees: How to Know Them
by Arthur I. Emerson (photographs), and Clarence M. Weed (text)
1959 Reprint from Garden City Books
for 6th-Adult
in Vintage Science & Math (Location: VIN-SCI)
Pacific Northwest Foraging
by Douglas Deur
from Timber Press, Inc.
for 8th-Adult
in Field Guides: Plants & Fungi (Location: NAT-FG08)
$25.99
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)
$34.95
Pacific Northwest Medicinal Plants
by Scott Kloos
2022 printing from Timber Press, Inc.
for 11th-Adult
in Field Guides: Plants & Fungi (Location: NAT-FG08)
$27.99
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 to Insects
Peterson Field Guides
by Donald J. Borror, Richard E. White
2nd edition from Houghton Mifflin
for 6th-Adult
in Field Guides & Nature Handbooks (Location: NAT-FG07)
Peterson Field Guide to Mushrooms of North America
by Karl B. McKnight, Joseph R. Rohrer, Kirsten McKnight Ward & Kent H. McKnight
2nd edition from Houghton Mifflin
for Kindergarten-4th grade
in Field Guides & Nature Handbooks (Location: NAT-FG07)
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 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)
$10.99 $7.00 (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
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