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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990 Items found Print
1001 Bugs to Spot
by Emma Helbrough
from Usborne
for Kindergarten-4th grade
in Insects & Arachnids (Location: SCI-BUG)
44 Animals of the Bible
by Nancy Johnson
from Master Books
for Kindergarten-4th grade
in Bible Study & Reference for Kids (Location: BIB-STU)
$9.59
7 Continents: Antarctica
by Jo Ellen Moore
from Evan-Moor Educational Publishers
for 3rd-6th grade
in Evan-Moor Geography (Location: GEO-CUREM)
About Raptors
by Cathryn Sill, illustrated by John Sill
from Peachtree Publishers, Ltd.
for Kindergarten-2nd grade
in Birds (Location: SCI-BIRD)
$4.50 (1 in stock)
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)
$4.00
Africa's Vanishing Wildlife
by Chris & Tilde Stuart
1st edition from Smithsonian Books
for 5th-10th grade
in Africa (Location: HISMC-AFR)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
African Critters
by Robert Haas
from National Geographic
for 3rd-6th grade
in Zoology (Location: SCI-ZOOL)
After the Sun Goes Down
Nature Study Library
by Glenn O. Blough, illustrated by Jeanne Bendick
from Purple House Press
for Kindergarten-2nd grade
in Charlotte Mason Living Science (Location: SCI-CMLS)
$12.99
Akiak: A Tale From the Iditarod
by Robert J. Blake
Reprint from Puffin Books
for 1st-3rd grade
in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI)
Alaskan Wildlife - Coloring Book
Dover Coloring Books
by Jan Sovak
from Dover Publications
for 2nd-6th grade
in Dover Coloring Books (Location: COL-DOV)
$3.39
Album of Birds
by Tom McGowen
from Rand McNally
for 4th-6th grade
in Vintage Nonfiction (Location: VIN-NFIC)
Album of Dinosaurs
by Tom McGowen, illustrated by Rod Ruth
from Rand McNally
for 4th-6th grade
in Vintage Nonfiction (Location: VIN-NFIC)
Album of North American Animals
by Vera Dugdale, illustrated by Clark Bronson
from Rand McNally
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Nonfiction (Location: VIN-NFIC)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
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)
Album of Reptiles
by Tom McGowen, illustrated by Rod Ruth
from Rand McNally
for 4th-6th grade
in Vintage Nonfiction (Location: VIN-NFIC)
Album of Sharks
by Tom McGowen, illustrated by Rod Ruth
from Rand McNally
for 4th-6th grade
in Vintage Nonfiction (Location: VIN-NFIC)
Album of Whales
by Tom McGowen, illustrated by Rod Ruth
from Rand McNally
for 4th-6th grade
in Vintage Nonfiction (Location: VIN-NFIC)
All About Animals and Their Young
All About Books #25
by Ferdinand C. Lane
from Random House
for 4th-6th grade
in All About Books (Location: VIN-ALL)
All About Birds
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by Robert S. Lemmon
1955 Edition from Random House
for 3rd-6th grade
in All About Books (Location: VIN-ALL)
All About Cats
by Carl Burger
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in All About Books (Location: VIN-ALL)
All About Dinosaurs
All About Books #1
by Roy Chapman Andrews
from Random House
for 3rd-6th grade
in All About Books (Location: VIN-ALL)
All About Dogs
All About Books #42
by Carl Burger
from Random House
for 3rd-6th grade
in All About Books (Location: VIN-ALL)
All About Elephants
by Carl Burger
from Random House
for 3rd-6th grade
in All About Books (Location: VIN-ALL)
All About Fish
by Carl Burger
from Random House
for 4th-6th grade
in All About Books (Location: VIN-ALL)
All About Great Rivers of the World
by Anne Terry White
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in All About Books (Location: VIN-ALL)
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All About Horses
All About Books #43
by Marguerite Henry
from Random House
for 3rd-6th grade
in All About Books (Location: VIN-ALL)
All About Monkeys
All About Books #26
by Robert S. Lemmon
from Random House
for 4th-6th grade
in All About Books (Location: VIN-ALL)
All About Moths and Butterflies
All About Books #15
by Robert S. Lemmon
from Random House
for 3rd-6th grade
in All About Books (Location: VIN-ALL)
All About Mountains and Mountaineering
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by Anne Terry White
from Random House
for 3rd-6th grade
in All About Books (Location: VIN-ALL)
All About Strange Beasts of the Past
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by Robert S. Lemmon
from Random House
for 3rd-6th grade
in All About Books (Location: VIN-ALL)
All About Strange Beasts of the Present
All About Books #19
by Robert S. Lemmon
from Random House
for 3rd-8th grade
in All About Books (Location: VIN-ALL)
All About the Desert
All About Books #21
by Sam & Beryl Epstein
from Random House
for 3rd-6th grade
in All About Books (Location: VIN-ALL)
All About the Flowering World
from Random House
for 4th-6th grade
in All About Books (Location: VIN-ALL)
All About the Insect World
by Ferdinand C. Lane
from Random House
for 4th-6th grade
in All About Books (Location: VIN-ALL)
All About the Jungle
All About Books #29
by Armstrong Sperry
from Random House
for 3rd-6th grade
in All About Books (Location: VIN-ALL)
All About Whales
by Roy Chapman Andrews
from Random House
for 4th-6th grade
in All About Books (Location: VIN-ALL)
All the Rain Promises and More
by David Arora
from Ten Speed Press
for Adult
in Field Guides & Nature Handbooks (Location: NAT-FIELD)
All the Water Birds - Pacific Coast
by Jack Griggs
1st edition
for 7th-12th grade
in Field Guides & Nature Handbooks (Location: NAT-FIELD)
$4.50 (1 in stock)
Almost Gone
Let's-Read-and-Find-Out Science Stage 2
by Steve Jenkins
from Scholastic Inc.
for Kindergarten-2nd grade
in Zoology (Location: SCI-ZOOL)
Amateur Naturalist
by Gerald Durrell
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
for 4th-8th grade
in Nature Study (Location: NAT-GEN)
$8.00 (2 in stock)
Amateur Naturalist
by Gerald Durrell
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
for 4th-8th grade
in Nature Study (Location: NAT-GEN)
$8.00 (2 in stock)
Amazing Animal Disguises
by Sandie Sowler
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
for Preschool- 3rd Grade
in Zoology (Location: SCI-ZOOL)
$4.50 (1 in stock)
America's Deserts
by Marianne D. Wallace
1st edition
for 4th-6th grade
in Deserts & Grasslands (Location: SCI-ECO)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Amphibians and Reptiles of the Pacific States
by Gayle Pickwell
from Stanford University Press
in Vintage Science & Math (Location: VIN-SCI)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
Animal Architects
National Geographic Kids Level 3
by Libby Romero
from National Geographic
for 2nd-4th grade
in Early Readers (Location: EAR-MISC)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Animal Babies in Grasslands
from Kingfisher
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Zoology (Location: SCI-ZOOL)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Animal Behavior
by Niko Tinbergen
from Time-Life Books
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Science & Math (Location: VIN-SCI)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Animal Lives - 8 Book Set
by Sally Morgan
from QEB Publishing
for 2nd-4th grade
in Zoology (Location: SCI-ZOOL)
$16.00 (1 in stock)
Animal Lover's Fun-Schooling Journal
by Sarah Janisse Brown, Anna Miriam Brown, Alexandra Bretush
from Thinking Tree
for 3rd-6th grade
in Nature Study (Location: NAT-GEN)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Animal Planet Atlas of Animals
from Millbrook Press
for 3rd-6th grade
in Zoology (Location: SCI-ZOOL)
$7.00 (2 in stock)
Animal School: What Class are You?
by Michelle Lord, illustrated by Michael Garland
from Holiday House
for Kindergarten-2nd grade
in Zoology (Location: SCI-ZOOL)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Animal Tracks
from Waterford Press
for 3rd-Adult
in Field Guides & Nature Handbooks (Location: NAT-FIELD)
Animal World
in Zoology (Location: SCI-ZOOL)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Animals do the Strangest Things
by Leonora & Arthur Hornblow
from Random House
for 1st-3rd grade
in Step Up Books (Location: VIN-STEP)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Animals in Winter
by Henrietta Bancroft
Revised from HarperCollins
for Preschool-3rd Grade
in Zoology (Location: SCI-ZOOL)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Animals Without Backbones: Invertebrates
Come Learn with Me
by Bridget Anderson
from Charlesbridge
for 4th-6th grade
in Zoology (Location: SCI-ZOOL)
$6.00 (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 & Nature Handbooks (Location: NAT-FIELD)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Answers Book for Kids Volume 2
by Ken Ham
from Master Books
for Kindergarten-4th grade
in Worldview & Apologetics for Kids (Location: BIBWV-APK)
$6.39
Ant Cities
Let's-Read-and-Find-Out Science Stage 2
by Arthur Dorros
from HarperCollins
for Kindergarten-4th grade
in Insects & Arachnids (Location: SCI-BUG)
$5.99 $3.00 (1 in stock)
Antarctic Antics
by Judy Sierra
Reprint from HMH Books for Young Readers
for Preschool-1st grade
in Arctic & Tundra (Location: SCI-ECO)
Arctic and Antarctic Life - Coloring Book
Dover Coloring Books
by Ruth Soffer
from Dover Publications
for 2nd-6th grade
in Dover Coloring Books (Location: COL-DOV)
$4.24
Armored Animals
Extraordinary Animals
by Andrew Brown
from Crabtree Publishing
for 2nd-4th grade
in Zoology (Location: SCI-ZOOL)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
At Home in the Rain Forest
by Diane Willow, illustrated by Laura Jacques
from Charlesbridge
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Jungles & Rainforests (Location: SCI-JUN)
$4.50 (1 in stock)
Atlantic Fish - Coloring Book
Educational Read & Color Books
by Peter & Linda Spizzirri
from Spizzirri Press
for 2nd-5th grade
in Educational Read & Color Books (Location: COL-SPIZ)
$3.36
Audubon Society Master Guide to Birding - Volume 2
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
for 8th-Adult
in Field Guides & Nature Handbooks (Location: NAT-FIELD)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Audubon Society Master Guide to Birding - Volume 3
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
for 8th-Adult
in Field Guides & Nature Handbooks (Location: NAT-FIELD)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
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 Dover Coloring Books (Location: COL-DOV)
$4.24
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)
Babes and Cradles
by Maud Wolcott Spalding, illustrated by Lucile Patterson Marsh & Anita Parkhurst
from Southern Publishing Association
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Vintage Picture Books (Location: VIN-PIC)
$11.00 (1 in stock)
Backyard Bird Feeder's Bible
by Sally Roth
from Rodale Press
for 5th-Adult
in Birds (Location: SCI-BIRD)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Backyard Nature - Coloring Book
Dover Coloring Books
by Dot Barlowe
from Dover Publications
for 2nd-6th grade
in Dover Coloring Books (Location: COL-DOV)
$4.24
Balto and the Great Race
Totally True Adventures
by Elizabeth Cody Kimmel
1st Printing from Random House Books for Young Readers
for 1st-3rd grade
in Animal Stories (Location: FIC-ANI)
$5.99
Bat Loves the Night
by Nicola Davies, illustrated by Sarah Fox-Davies
from Candlewick Press
for Kindergarten-2nd grade
in Mammals (Location: SCI-MAM)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Bats
by Lily Wood
from Scholastic Inc.
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Early Readers (Location: EAR-MISC)
$2.00 (1 in stock)
Be Nice to Spiders
in Vintage Science & Math (Location: VIN-SCI)
Beach Before Breakfast
by Maxine W. Kumin, illustrated by Leonard Weisgard
from G.P. Putnam's Sons
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Vintage Picture Books (Location: VIN-PIC)
Beak Book
by Robin Page
from Beach Lane Books
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Birds (Location: SCI-BIRD)
$18.99
Bed for the Winter
DK Readers Level 1
by Karen Wallace
1st edition from DK Children
for Preschool- 3rd Grade
in DK Readers (Location: EAR-DK)
$4.99
Bee Tree
by Stephen Buchmann and Diana Cohn, Illustrated by Paul Mirocha
from Cinco Puntos Pres
for Kindergarten-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$3.50 (1 in stock)
Beekeeping
Storey's Guides
by Richard E. Bonney
from Storey Publishing
in Self-Sufficiency (Location: SS-Self)
Beetle Book
by Steve Jenkins
from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Insects & Arachnids (Location: SCI-BUG)
$17.99
Beetle Is Shy
by Dianna Hutts Aston
from Chronicle Books
for 2nd-6th grade
in Nature Study (Location: NAT-GEN)
$16.99
Berenstain Bears' Big Book of Science and Nature
by Stan & Jan Berenstain
from Dover Publications
for Preschool-3rd grade
in Nature Study (Location: NAT-GEN)
$14.99
Between the Tides
by Fran Hodgkins
from Down East Books
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Big Book
by Kathleen Ruckman
from Master Books
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Nature Study (Location: NAT-GEN)
$2.50 (1 in stock)
Big Dinosaur Sticker Book
by Paul Nicholls
from Usborne
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
Big Tree
by Mary Buff, Conrad Buff
1st Edition from Viking Press
for Preschool-2nd grade
1947 Newbery Honor Book
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
Biography of a Grizzly
Thrushwood Book
by Earnest Thompson Seton
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 3rd-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Biology Middle/Upper Grades Reproducible Workbook
by Martha Schmitt
from McDonald
for 6th-9th grade
in Biology (Location: SCI-BIO)
$3.00 (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)
Bird's Eye View: The Natural World
by John Farndon and Paul Boston
from Words & Pictures
for Preschool-3rd grade
in Nature Study (Location: NAT-GEN)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Birding (A Nature Company Guide)
by Joseph Forshaw, Steve Howell, Terence Lindsey, Rich Stallcup
from Time-Life Books
for 4th-8th grade
in Birds (Location: SCI-BIRD)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Birds
Science Nature Guides
by Angela Royston
from Silver Dolphin
for Preschool-3rd grade
in Birds (Location: SCI-BIRD)
$7.50 (1 in stock)
Birds - Coloring Book
Educational Read & Color Books
by Peter & Linda Spizzirri
from Spizzirri Press
for 2nd-5th grade
in Educational Read & Color Books (Location: COL-SPIZ)
$3.36
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 Eat and Eat and Eat
Let's-Read-and-Find-Out
by Roma Gans, Illustrated by Ed Emberley
Bantam Classic Ed from Thomas Y. Crowell & Co.
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Vintage Science & Math (Location: VIN-SCI)
$5.60 (1 in stock)
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)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Birds of North America
by Dr. Phillip Burton
from Usborne
for 4th-6th grade
in Birds (Location: SCI-BIRD)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Birds of Oregon
by Roger Burrows & Jeff Gilligan
from Lone Pine Publishing
for 6th-Adult
in Field Guides & Nature Handbooks (Location: NAT-FIELD)
$14.00 (2 in stock)
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