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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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Active Filters: 12th grade (Ages 17-18), Hardcover
American Wild Life
1952nd edition from Wm. H. Wise & Co.
for 8th-Adult
in Vintage Science & Math (Location: VIN-SCI)
$10.00 (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)
$10.00 (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 Washington
by Earl Thollander
from Clarkson Potter Publishers
for 9th-Adult
in Pacific States (Location: HISV-PNW)
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 Prey
A Grosset All-Color Guide
by Glenys and Derek Lloyd, Illustrated by Ken Lilly
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 9th-Adult
in Field Guides & Nature Handbooks (Location: NAT-FIELD)
$7.00 (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)
Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady
by Edith Holden
from Holt, Rinehart and Winston
for 5th-Adult
in Nature Study (Location: NAT-GEN)
Discovery
by John K. Terres
First Ediition from J.B. Lippincott Co.
for 9th-Adult
in Biography Anthologies (Location: BIO-ANTH)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
Dragonfly Beetle Butterfly Bee
by Maryjo Koch
from HarperCollins
for 3rd-Adult
in Insects & Arachnids (Location: SCI-BUG)
Earth for Sam
by W. Maxwell Reed, revised by Paul F. Brandwein
Revised edition from Harcourt, Brace & Company
for 6th-12th grade
in Vintage Nonfiction (Location: VIN-NFIC)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Encyclopedia of Animals
from Fog City Press
for 8th-Adult
in Zoology (Location: SCI-ZOOL)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
Encyclopedia of Mammals
by Professor David Macdonald, editor
from Barnes & Noble
for 8th-Adult
in Mammals (Location: SCI-MAM)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
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)
$6.00 (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)
Hand That Paints the Sky
from New Leaf Press
for 3rd-Adult
in Nature Study (Location: NAT-GEN)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Hunters
by Dr. Philip Whitfield, illustrated by Richard Orr
from Simon and Schuster
for 8th-Adult
in Zoology (Location: SCI-ZOOL)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Instant Guide to Wildflowers
by Pamela Forey and Cecilia Fitzsimons
from Gramercy Books
for 6th-Adult
in Field Guides & Nature Handbooks (Location: NAT-FIELD)
Living Amphibians of the World
by Doris M. Cochran
from Doubleday & Company
for 6th-Adult
in Vintage Science & Math (Location: VIN-SCI)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Living Fossils
by Carl Werner
from Master Books
for 9th-Adult
in Evolution: The Grand Experiment (Location: SCICUR-EVO)
$23.99
Mammals of Grand Canyon
by Donald F. Hoffmeister, illustrated by James Gordon Irving
from University of Illinois Press
for 8th-12th grade
in Vintage Science & Math (Location: VIN-SCI)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Moby-Dick
Everyman's Library
by Herman Melville
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
Realistic Nautical Fiction for 9th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$35.00
Moby-Dick
Reader's Digest World's Best Reading
by Herman Melville
from Reader's Digest
Realistic Nautical Fiction for 9th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
Moby-Dick
Macmillan Classics
by Herman Melville, illustrated by Robert Shore
from Macmillan
Realistic Nautical Fiction for 9th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Moby-Dick
Calla Editions
by Herman Melville
from Dover Publications
Realistic Nautical Fiction for 9th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
Moby-Dick
Modern Library
by Herman Melville
from Modern Library
Realistic Nautical Fiction for 9th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
My First Summer in the Sierra
by John Muir
from Gibbs M. Smith
for 9th-Adult
in 19th Century Literature (Location: LIT6-19)
$16.95
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
Nature Notes of The Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady
1st edition from HarperCollins
for 8th-Adult
in Nature Study (Location: NAT-GEN)
$6.50 (1 in stock)
Our Amazing Birds
by Robert S. Lemmon, illustrated by Don R. Eckelberry
from Doubleday & Company
for 6th-Adult
in Birds (Location: SCI-BIRD)
$3.50 (1 in stock)
Our Historic Desert
by Diana Elaine Lindsay
First Edition from Copley Books
for 5th-Adult
in Landmarks & Symbols of the United States (Location: HISV-LANUS)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
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)
Owls: Their Natural & Unnatural History
by John Sparks and Tony Soper, illustrated by Robert Gillmor
1979 Reprint from Taplinger
for 10th-Adult
in Birds (Location: SCI-BIRD)
Peterson Field Guides: Western Birds
by Noble Proctor, Roger Tory Peterson
2nd edition from Houghton Mifflin
for 7th-Adult
in Field Guides & Nature Handbooks (Location: NAT-FIELD)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Sea Around Us
by Rachel Carlson
from Oxford University
for 9th-Adult
1952 National Book Award (Non-fiction)
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Secrets of Backyard Bird-Feeding Success
by Deborah L. Martin
from Rodale Press
for 7th-Adult
in Birds (Location: SCI-BIRD)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Smithsonian Natural History
2nd edition from DK Publishing
for 6th-Adult
in Nature Study (Location: NAT-GEN)
$50.00
Snow Goose
by Paul Gallico
from Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
for 7th-12th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$19.95 $14.00 (2 in stock)
Strange Birds and Their Stories
Strange Stories From Nature #4
by A. Hyatt Verrill
from L. C. Page & Company
for 5th-12th grade
in Vintage Science & Math (Location: VIN-SCI)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
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
Wild Animals of North America
from National Geographic
for 7th-12th grade
in Vintage Nonfiction (Location: VIN-NFIC)
$6.50 (2 in stock)
Wild Flowers of the Pacific Coast
by Leslie L. Haskin
from Binford & Mort Publishing
for 4th-Adult
in Clearance: Science & Health (Location: ZCLE-SCI)
Wild Life the World Over
by Frank Shay, illustrated by Edward A. Wilson
1953rd edition from Wm. H. Wise & Co.
for 8th-Adult
in Vintage Science & Math (Location: VIN-SCI)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
Wildlife in Color
by Roger Tory Peterson
from Houghton Mifflin
for 6th-Adult
in Vintage Science & Math (Location: VIN-SCI)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Wildlife Portfolio of the Western National Parks
by Joseph S. Dixon
from United States Government Printing Office
for 3rd-Adult
in Vintage Science & Math (Location: VIN-SCI)
$14.00 (1 in stock)
Willamette Landings
by Howard McKinley Corning
from Binford & Mort Publishing
for 7th-Adult
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
World of Fish
by Franco de Carli, translated by Jean Richardson
from Gallery Books
for 4th-Adult
in Field Guides & Nature Handbooks (Location: NAT-FIELD)
World of the Bobcat
Living World Books
by Joe Van Wormer
from J.B. Lippincott Co.
for 6th-12th grade
in Vintage Science & Math (Location: VIN-SCI)
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